Restarting your laptop using just the keyboard is a useful skill to learn. It allows you to quickly reboot your machine without having to reach for the mouse or trackpad. Restarting can help resolve many common issues like a frozen system, slow performance, or the need to boot into safe mode for troubleshooting.
Why Would I Need to Restart From the Keyboard?
There are a few common scenarios where restarting from the keyboard can come in handy:
- Your system is frozen and not responding to mouse or trackpad input. A keyboard restart lets you reboot it.
- You want to quickly reboot to troubleshoot an issue or flush memory.
- Your laptop doesn’t have a working touchpad/mouse so keyboard shortcuts are needed.
- It’s just faster and more convenient than navigating with the mouse to restart.
Restart Shortcuts for Windows Laptops
On most Windows laptops, including those running Windows 10, 8, and 7, you can trigger a restart with the following keyboard shortcuts:
- Windows Key + X – Opens the Power User menu
- U – Selects “Shut Down or Sign Out”
- R – Chooses the “Restart” option
So the full key sequence is:
- Press the Windows logo key and the X key together
- Press U on the keyboard
- Press R on the keyboard
This will immediately restart the laptop.
Some laptops will prompt you to confirm the restart after pressing R. If so, press Enter to confirm and restart.
Alternative Restart Shortcuts for Windows
Here are a couple other keyboard shortcuts that can be used to restart a Windows laptop:
CTRL + ALT + DEL
The classic Control Alt Delete keyboard shortcut also allows you to restart:
- Press CTRL, ALT, and DEL keys together.
- Click the Power icon in the lower right corner of the screen.
- Click Restart.
This opens the Windows Security screen from which you can restart.
ALT + F4
You can also restart from the Alt F4 shortcut:
- Press and hold the ALT key on your keyboard.
- While holding ALT, press F4.
- Click Restart when prompted.
This closes any open programs and brings up the restart dialog box.
Mac Keyboard Shortcuts for Restart
To restart a Mac laptop, use one of the following keyboard shortcuts:
Control + Command + Power Button
- Hold down the Control and Command keys together.
- Press the Power button (typically upper right corner of keyboard).
- Click Restart when prompted.
This initiates the restart process.
Control + Command + Eject Key
- Hold the Control and Command keys.
- Press the Eject key which is usually located in the upper right section of the keyboard.
- Select Restart.
The Mac will immediately restart after you choose Restart.
Control + Command + Media Eject Key
If your Mac has a Media Eject key instead of an Eject key:
- Press and hold Control + Command.
- Press the Media Eject key which is normally above the top row keys.
- Click Restart when prompted.
This method will also safely restart your Mac.
Chromebook Restart Shortcuts
For Chromebooks, the keyboard restart process is simple:
- Press and hold the Power button.
- Tap Restart.
This will immediately restart your Chromebook.
Some keys to note on a Chromebook:
- The Power button is usually located in the upper right, next to the Back and Forward keys.
- Some Chromebooks require you press and hold the Power button for a few seconds before the Restart option appears.
Follow the on-screen prompts after holding the Power button to restart your Chromebook.
Linux Restart Shortcuts
On Linux laptops, the restart keyboard shortcuts will depend a bit on your distribution but these are some common options:
CTRL + ALT + DEL
This will bring up a menu with Restart as an option for most Linux distributions. Just select Restart to reboot.
CTRL + ALT + F2
This will switch to a text-based virtual terminal on most distributions, from which you can issue the reboot command:
- Press CTRL + ALT + F2 together.
- At the prompt, type “reboot” and press Enter.
This will immediately reboot the system.
sudo reboot
You can also restart by bringing up a terminal window with CTRL + ALT + T (on Ubuntu for example) and running:
sudo reboot
This requires your user password to run the reboot command.
Tips for Restarting from the Keyboard
Here are some additional tips for smoothly restarting your laptop via keyboard shortcuts:
- Save any open, unsaved work first – restarting will close all open programs and unsaved work will be lost.
- Close any other running apps you may need after restarting to speed up the reboot process.
- If you have updates waiting to install, restarting will often install them during the reboot process.
- You can restart into Safe Mode on Windows by pressing and holding SHIFT as you select Restart or press the Power button.
- To restart instead of shut down on Mac, press and hold Control as you press the Power button.
Restarting via the keyboard is usually very fast. So if your system is acting sluggish or won’t respond to mouse or trackpad input, quickly rebooting from the keyboard can help get it back up and running again.
Conclusion
In summary, restarting your laptop from the keyboard is easy once you know the correct shortcuts. On Windows machines use shortcuts like Windows Key + X followed by U then R. On Macs, hold Command + Control and press the Power or Eject buttons. Chromebooks and Linux just require holding down the Power button and confirming Restart.
Knowing how to safely reboot using the keyboard can solve many common issues like a frozen system or need to boot into Safe Mode. It’s a good troubleshooting skill for any laptop user to learn. Just be sure to save your work first and close any programs to ensure the quickest restart.
