How to Restart a Computer Using PowerShell?

I will show you here how to restart a computer using PowerShell. We will see different cmdlets with examples.

To restart a computer using PowerShell, you can use the Restart-Computer cmdlet. For a local restart, simply run Restart-Computer in an elevated PowerShell session. To restart a remote computer, use Restart-Computer -ComputerName “RemoteComputerName” and provide credentials if necessary.

Table of Contents

Restart a Computer Using PowerShell

Now, let me show you how to use different methods to restart a computer using PowerShell.

Method 1: Using the Restart-Computer Cmdlet

The Restart-Computer cmdlet is the best way to restart a computer using PowerShell. This cmdlet is available on the Windows platform and can be used to restart both local and remote computers.

Restart the Local Computer

To restart the local computer, simply open PowerShell with administrative privileges and run the following command:

Restart-Computer

This command will prompt the computer to restart immediately.

Restart a Remote Computer

To restart a remote computer, specify the computer name and ensure you have the necessary permissions. Use the following command:

Restart-Computer -ComputerName "RemoteComputerName"

Replace "RemoteComputerName" with the actual name of the remote computer. You may also need to provide credentials if you are not running the command as an administrator:

Restart-Computer -ComputerName "RemoteComputerName" -Credential (Get-Credential)

This command will prompt you to enter the credentials for the remote computer.

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Method 2: Using the shutdown.exe Command

Another method to restart a computer is by using the shutdown.exe command, which can be called from within PowerShell. This method is useful if you encounter issues with the Restart-Computer cmdlet.

Restart the Local Computer

To restart the local computer using shutdown.exe, run the following command in PowerShell:

shutdown.exe /r /t 0

/r: Specifies a restart.
/t 0: Sets the time delay to 0 seconds.

Restart a Remote Computer

To restart a remote computer using shutdown.exe, use the following command:

shutdown.exe /r /m \\RemoteComputerName /t 0

Replace \\RemoteComputerName with the name of the remote computer.

Method 3: Restart with a Warning Message

If you want to provide users with a warning message before restarting, you can use a script to display a pop-up message and then restart the computer. Here’s an example:

Add-Type -AssemblyName PresentationFramework
[System.Windows.MessageBox]::Show('The computer will restart in 5 minutes. Please save your work.', 'Restart Warning', 'OK', 'Warning')
Start-Sleep -Seconds 300
Restart-Computer

This script will display a warning message and wait for 5 minutes before restarting the computer.

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Method 4: Restart Multiple Computers

To restart multiple computers simultaneously, you can use a loop in your PowerShell script. Here’s an example:

$computers = @("Computer1", "Computer2", "Computer3")
foreach ($computer in $computers) {
    Restart-Computer -ComputerName $computer -Force
}

This script will restart all computers listed in the $computers array.

Conclusion

As a PowerShell administrator, you might need to restart a computer using PowerShell. I have explained here how to restart a computer using PowerShell using different methods like: