How to Restart an HP Laptop

Whether it needs an update or a forced shutdown

By
Jon Martindale
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Jon Martindale
Writer
Jon Martindale has been a feature tech writer for more than 10 years. He's written for publications such as Digital Trends, KitGuru, and ITProPortal.
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Updated on June 12, 2021
Reviewed by
Ryan Perian
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Reviewed by Ryan Perian
  • Western Governors University
Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12+ years' experience working in the IT industry support and management positions.
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What to Know

  • Select the Start Button > Power symbol > Restart
  • If your HP laptop is frozen, press and hold the power button to perform a hard shut down.
  • If you shut down your laptop, use the power button to boot it back up again.

This guide will walk through the quick steps on restarting your HP laptop, whether it's working just fine and needs an update or is stuck and needs a forced shutdown.

How to Restart an HP Laptop

Restarting or rebooting an HP laptop is done the same way you would most laptops and desktop PCs: through the Windows start menu.

  1. Select the Windows Start button.

    Windows desktop with Start icon highlighted

  2. Select the Power icon—it looks like a circle with a vertical line through the top half.

    Windows 10 start menu open with the power icon highlighted

  3. Select Restart.

    Windows 10 power menu with the Restart option highlighted

You may need to close some applications or agree for them to be forced to shut down before the restart completes.

Your HP laptop should then reboot back to Windows. You can also reboot to the Advanced Startup Options to gain some additional insight into what's going on with your computer (especially if you're restarting to solve a problem). If you want to reboot to the Advanced Startup Options menu, you can press Shift+Restart.

How Do I Force Restart my HP Laptop?

If your HP laptop has locked up, frozen, or you can't get it to restart using the above method, then you may need to force a restart. To do this, press down the Power button on your HP laptop and wait five to ten seconds. The computer will shut down and turn off entirely. 

Wait 30 seconds to allow any onboard memory to completely clear, then press the Power button again to boot it back up to Windows. 

How Do I Restart My HP Laptop When the Screen is Black?

If your HP laptop's screen is black, you may not need to restart it. Try tapping one of the keys on the keyboard or pressing on the touchpad—it might be hibernating, or the screen may have turned off as a power-saving measure. 

You can also try pressing the Windows key+Ctrl+Shift+B to restart the graphics driver because if the graphics driver has failed, this will sometimes turn the screen on again.

If none of that works, force a shut down by pressing and holding the Power button for five to 10 seconds and wait for the system to shut down. Once it has done, wait a minute for the memory to completely clear, then press the Power button again to start the system back up. The screen should then turn on, and your HP laptop will boot back to Windows.

If the screen remains black, you may need to troubleshoot black screen issues in Windows to see if there's another problem you might be able to fix.

FAQ
  • How do I restart my HP laptop in safe mode?

    To enter safe mode on your HP laptop running Windows 10 or Windows 8, access Startup Settings from the Advanced Startup Options. If you’re unable to reach Startup Settings, force restart Windows in safe mode. 

  • How do I restart an HP laptop by returning it to factory settings?

    If your computer is unresponsive to various restarting methods and you’ve exhausted your HP laptop troubleshooting options, reset it from Settings > Update & Security > Reset this PC. You can also use the Windows 10 Recovery Environment by pressing F11 after restarting your computer or holding down Shift+Start and choosing Power > Restart > Troubleshoot. Learn more about how to factory reset an HP laptop. 

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