Sleep, restart or shut down
Which of the three to choose, where the buttons are, and why restart fixes things that shutting down does not.
You are finished for the evening, the menu offers three words that all sound like "off", and you have been picking whichever one is nearest for years. They do three different jobs, and one of them quietly mends things.
Key points
- Choose sleep for a break, shut down at the end of the day, restart when something is wrong
- Know that shutting down does not clear everything out, and restarting does
- Find Power at the bottom of the Start panel, or in the Apple menu on a Mac
- Decide for yourself what closing the lid should do
What to remember
- Start, then Power, then Restart. On a Mac it is the Apple menu at the top left, then Restart.
- If switching it off overnight did not help, restart it. They are genuinely different actions.
- Sleep on closing the lid suits nearly everybody. It is the setting most laptops arrive with, and worth checking.
Try this
Restart your own computer now, if you have not in the last week. Many people notice it feels quicker straight afterwards.
Practice: Sleep, restart or shut down. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.