How to Hide or Unhide Restart in Windows 11

Hiding or unhiding the Restart option in Windows 11 lets you control who can reboot your PC from the Start menu.

The Restart button normally appears on the power menu. Clicking it closes all open programs and restarts your computer, which is useful for applying updates or fixing issues. However, if you don’t want someone to accidentally restart and lose their work, you can remove this button.

Windows 11 includes the Restart option by default. You might want to hide it on a shared computer to prevent accidental reboots. Conversely, keeping it visible makes it easy for you to restart when needed.

Add or remove the Restart option on the start menu

As we’ve discussed, Windows allows you to hide or show the Restart option on the Start menu.

Applying this policy hides “Restart/Update and restart” from the power button menu.

Here’s how to accomplish this.

To do that, open the Windows Registry editor, and navigate to the folder key below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Start\HideRestart

If you don’t see the HideRestart folder, right-click the Start parent key (the key directly above the one you’re looking at), then create a new subkey, which is a new folder within the parent key, named HideRestart.

Right-click the HideRestart folder key’s right pane and select New -> String Value (a type of registry entry). Type a new item named value.

Double-click the new item you created (value) and update the Value data:

• To unhide Restart, type 0.
• To hide restart, type 1.

That’s it! Restart your computer to apply the changes.

Reference:

Microsoft.com

Conclusion:

• Hiding or unhiding the Restart option on the start/power menu in Windows 11 can help tailor access to this feature based on specific needs, such as in office environments.
• Following the provided guidelines in the article, users can easily prevent accidental loss of unsaved work and ensure a smoother computing experience.
• The flexibility provided by Windows 11 to customize the start/power menu options offers users greater control over their computing environment.
• For further details or additional insights, readers are encouraged to refer to the provided Microsoft reference or contribute via the article’s comments section.