Dell laptop won t turn off after shutdown

In a situation where you are having troubles turning off your Dell laptop, you will be required to take an unusual alternative step to fully shut down your Dell laptop.

This process will be unusual because you normally don’t turn off your Dell laptop this way. In this article, I’m going to share with you several ways to turn off a Dell laptop, especially when it refuses to shut down.

Let’s get started.

How To Turn On A Dell Laptop Or Desktop

How To Turn off a Dell Laptop

There are normal ways to turn off a Dell laptop and there are several ways to turn off a Dell laptop when it won’t shut down. First and foremost, we will begin with the normal ways for shutting down a Dell laptop.

2 Ways to turn off a Dell laptop:

1. Through Windows Start Menu
2. Through Keyboard Command

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This is the normal and most common way everyone turns off their computer. And, it’s simply by shutting down your Dell laptop through the windows start menu.

Here’s how:

1. Close all programs on your Dell laptop.

2. Press the windows key on your keyboard.

3. Click on the power icon.

4. Select Shut down.

Dell Laptop Power Button Not Working

2. Through Keyboard Command

Aside from being able to turn off your Dell laptop the normal way, there’s another way that requires a keyboard command. All you have to do is to enter the command and follow the instructions carefully.

Here’s how:

1. Hold Ctrl + Alt + Delete on your keyboard.

2. Navigate with the Tab key on your keyboard to the power icon.

3. Click the Enter key when you highlight the power icon.

4. Scroll with the arrow keys to the shutdown option.

5. Click on the enter key to shut down your Dell laptop.

Dell Laptop Brightness Control Not Working

how to turn off a Dell computer with keyboard

It is very possible to turn off a Dell laptop with just the keyboard. This can come in handy when you have issues with your mouse or touchpad. If you are having issues with your trackpad or mouse, this is what you should do.

Here’s how:

1. Close all your computer programs.

2. Hold Alt + F4 on your keyboard to reveal a pop-up box.

3. Navigate with either the tab key or arrow key.

4. Make sure it is set to shut down.

5. Click on Ok by hitting enter.

Dell Beep Codes

Dell laptop won’t shut down

Now you might fall into a situation whereby your Dell laptop just refuses to shut down after trying all the normal processes. In this situation, you will be forced to shut down your Dell laptop by force.

This is not always the best solution because it may have a negative impact on your storage drive overtime. But if you really need this for a one-time sake, follow the instructions carefully.

How to shut down a Dell laptop that won’t shut down:

Press and hold down your power button for 5 – 10 seconds until your Dell laptop goes off completely.

Dell Laptop Battery Light Flashing Orange And White

How to Turn off a frozen Dell Laptop

In a situation where your Dell laptop happens to have been frozen and no button is responding which includes your power button, you will be forced to make a hard choice.

The choice is hard because it will require you to turn off your Dell laptop in a way that you haven’t before and doing this frequently can damage something on your computer.

But, if you have no other option, simply do this:

Take out your Dell laptop battery if it is removable. If it is not removable, open the back of your computer and detach the battery cable.

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Dell laptop Shuts Off Randomly

These are the reasons: why does my Dell computer turn off by Itself?

1. Incompatible hardware
2. Conflicting programs
3. Corrupted driver

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1. Incompatible hardware

If you have made any form of hardware upgrade or changes in the past, this might be a reason why your Dell laptop is turning off by itself.

Hardwares that can cause this problem could be your RAM, Power port or battery. You will need to inspect these hardware’s properly to know which is causing the problem.

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2. Conflicting programs

Have you installed any program recently? If you have, that might be the reason why you are having this problem. The program you installed must have come with some issues that are having some type of conflict with your operating system or other software.

What you need to do is to simply uninstall the program you installed for your Dell computer to work perfectly. If you have trouble uninstalling the program, then you may need to reset your computer completely.

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3. Corrupted driver

Drivers play an important role in a computer to function properly. When a driver is not well installed or outdated, it could cause complex issues on a computer.

In this case, your Dell laptop might be dealing with a corrupted or outdated driver. You should either uninstall or roll back to the previous version to get it back working properly.

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FAQ

You should either hold down your power button until it goes off or you simply eject or detach your battery.

These are the reasons:1. Incompatible hardware2. Conflicting programs

3. Corrupted driver

by Ivan Jenic

Troubleshooting Expert

Passionate about all elements related to Windows and combined with his innate curiosity, Ivan has delved deep into understanding this operating system, with a specialization in drivers and driver troubleshooting. When he's not tackling... Read more

Updated: Mar 3, 2022

• If your Laptop won't seem to shut down, it can be because of both software and hardware-related issues.
• The article below will give you several tips on how to easily solve this problem.
• For more great guides like this one, check out our dedicated Shutdown Hub.
• If you need more help with your laptops, visit our Laptop & PC page.

If your laptop won’t shut down after you’ve installed Windows 10, you probably have some problems with Hybrid Shutdown. This default Windows feature is usually good, because it decreases the shutdown time, but it also could cause some problems.

The inability to shut down your laptop can be a big problem. However, users also reported the following issues:

• Laptop won’t shut down or restart, hibernate, lock
  • Many users reported various problems with their laptop.
  • According to users, their laptop won’t shut down, restart, hibernate or lock.
  • This can be a big problem, but you should be able to fix it using our solutions.
• Laptop won’t shutdown keeps restarting
  • Several users reported that their laptop won’t shut down.
  • Instead of shutting down, their laptop just restarts.
• The laptop will not shut down when the lid is closed
  • According to users, their laptop won’t shut down when the lid is closed.
  • This is a minor problem and it can be fixed by changing your power settings.
• Laptop won’t shut down with power button
  • Few users reported this problem while trying to turn off their laptop with the power button.
  • This issue is caused by your power settings and it can be easily resolved.
• Laptop won’t shut down the black screen
  • Some users reported a black screen while trying to shut down their laptop.
  • This can be a big problem, but you can fix it using our solutions.
• Laptop won’t sleep, turn off
  • Sometimes your laptop won’t sleep or turn off at all.
  • This issue can cause many problems, but you should be able to fix it by changing your power settings.

What can I do if Windows 11 laptop won’t shut down?

This is a well-known issue, and we have a dedicated guide on what to do if Windows 11 is not shutting down, so we recommend that you read it for in-depth solutions.

Keep in mind that this issue affects desktop PCs, and many reported that their computer won’t shut down. This is likely due to certain Windows settings that need to be disabled.

Many users have a different problem, and they reported that Windows 11 shutdown box keep appearing frequently. Luckily, there are ways to fix the shutdown problems, and today we’re going to show you how.

What can I do if my Windows 10 laptop won’t shut down?

In newer versions of Windows [8,8.1 and 10] Microsoft has introduced the new method of the shutdown, called Hybrid Shutdown. This feature is enabled by default, and it decreases the PC’s shutdown time.

Hybrid Shutdown decreases the shutdown time by hibernating the kernel session, instead of completely closing it. When the PC is powered on again, the kernel session is revoked from the hibernation, so it decreases the booting time as well.

But besides increasing the performance, Hybrid Shutdown feature may also cause some errors or even prevent Windows from shutting down completely.

When this happens, many computers freeze or hang when you try to shut them down, and the reason for this is that Hybrid Shutdown is enabled by default.

So, logically, to solve this issue, you’ll need to disable this feature. When you disable it, the kernel session won’t be hibernated on shutdown anymore, but it will be completely closed.

This might increase the shutting time of your PC, but the problem will definitely be solved.

1. Disable Hybrid Shutdown Manually

Follow these steps to manually disable the Hybrid Shutdown feature:

1. Go to Search, type Control Panel and click on
2. If needed, click on Change settings that are currently unavailable, under Define power buttons and turn on password protection.
   
   
   
3. From the enabled options under Shutdown settings section, uncheck Turn on fast startup [recommended] check box to disable Hybrid Shutdown. Click the Save changes button to save the modified settings.
   
4. Close Power Options window when done.

You can’t open Control Panel on Windows 10? Take a look at this step-by-step guide to find a solution.

Windows is playing tricks on you and won’t let you turn off Fast Startup? Disable it right now with a few simple steps.

2. Perform a Full Shutdown

Another way to turn off your computer without Hybrid Shutdown is to perform a full shutdown, to do that, follow these steps:

1. Right-click on your Desktop.
2. Go to New and click on Shortcut.
   
   
   
3. For Type the location of the item input this:
   • shutdown -F -T ## -C “Your message here” [## can be any number from 0 and 315360000, and “Your message here” could be any text you want]].
4. Click Next.
   
5. Name the shortcut as you want and click on Finish.
   
6. Optional: Right-click the shortcut on from your desktop and click Properties. Change the icon of the shortcut by your desire, just for the aesthetic reasons.
   
7. Optional: Pin the shortcut to your start menu and you’re good to go.

After doing that, simply click the newly created shortcut to perform a full shutdown. Keep in mind that this is just a workaround, but it might help you with this problem.

Speaking of shortcuts, if you’re interested in creating one in My Computer or Control Panel, check out this guide to learn how you can do it fast and easy.

3. Run Windows Update troubleshooter

According to users, sometimes problems with Windows Update can prevent your laptop from shutting down, and to fix this issue you need to run Windows Update troubleshooter by doing the following:

1. Press Windows Key + S and enter the control panel. Select Control Panel from the list.
   
2. When Control Panel starts, select Troubleshooting.
   
3. In the menu on the left select View all.
   
4. Select Windows Update from the list.
   
5. When Troubleshooter window opens, click on Advanced. Now click on Run as administrator.
   
6. Troubleshooter will now restart. Click on Next to start the scan.

After the scan is finished, check if the problem is resolved. Several users reported that running the Power Troubleshooter fixed the issue for them, so be sure to try that as well.

If the Troubleshooter stops before completing the process, fix it with the help of this complete guide.

4. Reset your BIOS to default

If your laptop won’t shut down, the problem might be your BIOS settings. To fix the issue, you just need to enter BIOS and reset its settings to default. This is relatively simple and you can do it in a matter of moments.

For more information on how to access your BIOS and how to reset it to default, we strongly advise that you check your motherboard manual for detailed instructions. After resetting the BIOS to default, the issue should be completely resolved.

5. Use a built-in audio card

If your laptop won’t shut down, the problem might be your audio device. Many users tend to use USB sound cards in order to enhance the audio quality, but sometimes these cards aren’t fully compatible with Windows 10.

To fix the issue, you need to disconnect your sound card from your laptop and use the built-in sound card instead. If you want to continue using your external sound card, be sure to download the latest drivers for it and see if that helps.

6. Clean your laptop from dust

Many users reported that their laptop won’t shut down, and in order to fix the problem, you might have to clean your laptop. Sometimes dust inside your laptop can cause overheating issues and prevent your device from shutting down.

To fix the issue, you need to check your laptop temperature and if the temperature is above normal values you need to clean your laptop from dust. If you don’t know how to properly do that, you might have to contact a technician.

7. Reset your power plan to default

Sometimes the cause of this problem might be your power plan settings. If your laptop won’t shut down, you need to reset power plan settings to default by doing the following:

1. Open Control Panel and go to Power Options.
   
2. Locate your current power plan and click Change plan settings next to it.
   
3. Click on Change advanced power settings.
   
4. Now click on Restore plan defaults button. Click Apply and OK to save changes.
   

After resetting your power plan to default, the issue should be resolved.

You can’t find your Power Plans? Get them back by following the easy steps in this article.

8. Change Intel Management Engine Interface settings

According to users, if your laptop won’t shut down, you need to change your power options. To do that, follow these simple steps:

1. Press Windows Key + X to open the Win + X menu and choose

If that doesn’t help, you might have to uninstall the Intel Management Engine Interface. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Locate Intel Management Engine Interface in Device Manager and right click it. Choose Uninstall device from the menu.
   
2. When the confirmation dialog appears, click on Uninstall.

After removing the driver, restart your PC and check if the problem is resolved.

Windows can’t automatically find and download new drivers? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

9. Remove your laptop battery

If your laptop won’t shut down, you might be able to fix the problem by removing the laptop battery. Few users reported that their battery was the problem, but after removing it and inserting it back again, the issue was resolved.

10. Install the latest updates

If your laptop won’t shut down, you might be able to fix the problem by installing the latest updates. Windows installs the necessary updates automatically, but you can check for updates manually by doing the following:

1. Press Windows Key + I to open the Settings app.
2. When Settings app opens, go to Update & security section.
   
3. Now click on Check for updates button.
   

Windows will now check for the missing updates. If any updates are available, Windows will download them automatically in the background. Once the missing updates are installed, check if the issue still persists.

If you’re having trouble opening the Setting app, take a look at this article to solve the issue.

Having trouble updating your Windows 10? Check out this guide!

11. Disable Intel Rapid Technology service

Sometimes the cause for this problem can be Intel Rapid Technology, and to fix this problem you need to disable its service. To do that, just follow these steps:

1. Press Windows Key + R, enter services.msc and press Enter or click OK.
   
2. When Services window starts, locate Intel Rapid Technology service and double click it.
3. Now set the Startup type to Disabled and click the Stop button to stop the service. Click Apply and OK to save changes.
   

After disabling this service, restart your PC and check if the issue reappears. If the issue still persists, uninstall Intel Rapid Technology and check if that solves the problem.

On the other hand, if you feel like it’s time to get yourself a brand new laptop, then we suggest browsing through this wide selection of and check out what’s trending over at the Microsoft Store.

If you have any other suggestions or questions, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section below and we’ll be sure to check them out.

This article covers:Topics:

• Fix Laptop issues
• Shutdown issues
• windows 10

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