What to Do When Windows 11 Stuck on Restarting Screen

Understanding Why 🪟 Windows 11 Gets Stuck on Restarting

Windows 11 gets stuck on restarting when it can’t close open apps, stop background services, or tell hardware to power down. The cause is usually a stubborn software process, a corrupted system file, a faulty device driver, or a background update that is still trying to finish before the computer shuts off.

Restarting is a checklist. If any one item doesn’t respond, the whole process stops. A frozen program might ignore the shutdown command. A Windows Update might hang while installing system files. An external hard drive might fail to disconnect, so Windows waits for an answer that never comes. While Windows waits on these stuck processes, your computer stays on the restarting screen.

Knowing the likely causes helps you pick a fix. A freeze after an update points to the update or a driver. A freeze that started after you plugged something in points to hardware. A freeze that comes and goes points to Fast Startup or a slow service.

Step 1Wait It Out and Disconnect External Devices

Waiting about thirty minutes and disconnecting all external devices is the best first step. Leaving the computer alone gives it time to finish background updates. Unplugging printers, USB drives, and extra monitors stops hardware from interfering while the system shuts down. Don’t skip the wait. On an older PC with a slow drive, a large update can take a long time. Look at the drive activity light if your PC has one. If it is still flickering, Windows is working.

If thirty minutes pass and the screen still shows the spinning dots, an external device is a likely cause. Windows might be waiting on a USB device that isn’t responding.

1. Unplug all non-essential USB devices. This includes external hard drives, thumb drives, printers, webcams, game controllers, and docking stations. Unplug extra monitors too.
2. Leave only your basic keyboard and mouse connected.
3. Watch the screen for a few minutes. If the computer finishes restarting, you should see the sign-in screen.
4. Once you are signed in, plug the devices back in one at a time. Restart after each one. The device that brings the freeze back is the culprit, and its driver is the first thing to update or reinstall.

Step 2Perform a Safe Forced Shutdown

This cuts power when the normal shutdown routine has failed, so you can turn the PC back on and fix the cause. Use it only after waiting. Cutting power in the middle of an update can occasionally leave Windows needing repair, and any unsaved work is lost. Windows normally recovers on its own at the next boot.

1. Locate the physical power button on your desktop tower or laptop.
2. Press and hold the power button for about ten to fifteen seconds.
3. Wait until the screen goes black and all lights on the computer turn off.
4. Unplug the power cable from the back of your desktop, or unplug the charger from your laptop. If your laptop has a removable battery, take the battery out.
5. Wait sixty full seconds to let the remaining power drain from the components.
6. Reconnect the power cable, or put the laptop battery back in.
7. Press the power button normally to turn the computer back on. You should see the manufacturer logo, then the sign-in screen. If a repair screen appears instead, let it finish.

Step 3Boot into Safe Mode to Remove Faulty Updates or Drivers

Safe Mode lets you remove a faulty update or a broken driver when Windows 11 keeps getting stuck on restarting. It starts your computer with only essential system files and basic drivers. Third-party software can’t interfere, so you can uninstall the bad update or driver that causes the shutdown freeze.

If the computer can’t reach the desktop at all, trigger the Windows Recovery Environment (a built-in troubleshooting menu). To do that, force a shutdown three times during bootup. After the third interruption, Windows should show a repair screen.

1. On the recovery screen, choose Advanced options (if you see See advanced repair options, click that first).
2. Go to Troubleshoot › Advanced options › Startup Settings, then click Restart.
3. When the Startup Settings list appears, press 4 or F4 for Safe Mode. Press 5 or F5 if you need internet access, which is Safe Mode with Networking.
4. Once you reach your desktop in Safe Mode, click the Start button⊞ and open the Settings⚙️ app.
5. Click Windows Update🔃 in the left menu.

   

6. Click Update history to see the list of recently installed updates.
7. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Uninstall updates link. A list of installed updates opens.
8. Find the update that installed right before the freezing started. Select it, then click the Uninstall button next to it.
9. Restart your🔄 computer normally to see if the issue is gone.

Windows may try to install the same update again later. If the freeze comes back after that, pause updates for a short time and check the update’s known issues before retrying. If a driver is the cause instead, open Device Manager in Safe Mode and roll back or reinstall that device’s driver.

Step 4Run System File and Disk Checks

The built-in system file and disk checks repair the corrupted files that often cause Windows 11 to freeze on restart. The SFC and DISM command-line tools scan system storage, find damaged operating system components, and replace them with healthy copies. Run both, and run them in the order below.

1. Click the Start button⊞ and type cmd in the search🔍 bar.
2. Right-click Command Prompt in the results and choose Run as administrator. You need an administrator account for this. Click Yes if a User Account Control prompt appears. A black command window opens with “Administrator” in the title.

   

3. Type this DISM command into the window: DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
4. Press Enter and wait for the scan to finish. It can take several minutes and may seem to pause for a while, so don’t close the window. If it finds damage, it downloads healthy replacement files from the internet, so stay online.
5. Next, type this SFC command into the same window: sfc /scannow
6. Press Enter. This tool scans all protected system files and replaces broken ones. When it finishes, it reports whether it found problems and whether it repaired them.
7. When both scans finish, close the command window and restart your🔄 computer normally.

If SFC says it found corrupt files it couldn’t fix, run the DISM command again, then run SFC a second time.

Step 5Disable Fast Startup to Prevent Future Freezes

Disabling Fast Startup can prevent future shutdown freezes. Fast Startup saves part of the system state to disk instead of fully shutting down. Turning it off forces a clean, full shutdown every time, which stops leftover state from causing problems. A normal Restart already skips Fast Startup. This fix helps most when the freeze also shows up after Shut down followed by a power-on.

1. Click the Start button⊞, type Control Panel🎛️ in the search🔍 bar, and click to open it.

   

2. In the top right corner of the Control Panel🎛️ window, set View by to Large icons or Small icons.
3. Click the Power Options icon.

   

4. In the left column, click Choose what the power buttons do.
5. Near the top of the new window, click Change settings that are currently unavailable. You need administrator rights for this. The options under Shutdown settings were greyed out and should now be clickable.
6. Under Shutdown settings, uncheck Turn on fast startup (recommended). If the option isn’t listed, hibernation is probably turned off on your PC, and Fast Startup isn’t active.
7. Click the Save changes button at the bottom.

To undo this, come back to the same window and tick the box again. Expect slightly slower cold boots, especially on a hard drive.

Unique Expert Tips: Fixing the Background Service Hang

Advanced users often hit a deeper problem, where a stubborn Windows service refuses to stop during the restart sequence. Here are two methods for that case. Both change system settings, so take care and make a note of each original value so you can reverse it.

Unique Method 1: Adjusting the Wait Time for Closing Apps

Lowering the wait time for services tells Windows 11 to force-close stubborn background services sooner, so they can’t hold the restart on the spinning dots. The setting is a registry timeout value. The registry holds core Windows settings, so change only what is listed here. You need an administrator account.

1. Click the Start button⊞, type regedit, and press Enter. Click Yes on the User Account Control prompt. The Registry Editor opens.
2. Optional but wise: click File › Export to save a backup of the registry before you change anything.
3. In the left sidebar, expand Computer > 🗝️HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINEcopy > SYSTEM › CurrentControlSet, then click Control.
4. Look at the list of values in the right pane for one named WaitToKillServiceTimeout.
5. If it doesn’t exist, right-click an empty space in the right pane, select New, and choose String Value. Name it exactly WaitToKillServiceTimeout.
6. Double-click WaitToKillServiceTimeout and change the Value data from its current number to 2000. That is two thousand milliseconds, or two seconds. Write down the old number first. The usual default is 5000.
7. Click OK and close the Registry Editor.
8. Restart your🔄 computer so the change takes effect.

To undo it, set the value back to the number you wrote down. Don’t set it too low. A very short timeout can cut services off before they finish saving data.

Unique Method 2: Clearing the Page File at Shutdown

Clearing the page file at shutdown makes Windows 11 wipe the virtual memory data every time you shut down or restart. This removes leftover data from the page file that might be hanging around. It is a last-resort fix. It makes every shutdown and restart noticeably slower, because Windows has to overwrite the whole file. The policy is part of Local Security Policy, which is available in Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education but not in Home. Home users should skip this method.

1. Click the Start button⊞, type Control Panel🎛️, and open it.
2. Type Advanced system settings in the search🔍 box at the top right of the Control Panel🎛️ and click the result to open it. You need administrator rights. The System Properties window opens.

   

3. On the Advanced tab, find the Performance section and click the Settings button.
4. In the Performance Options window, open the Advanced tab and click the Change button under Virtual Memory.

   

5. Uncheck Automatically manage paging file size for all drives only if you want to set the page file size yourself. The policy below works without this change. If you leave the box checked, click Cancel to close the dialogs and make no changes. If you do uncheck it, set a size for the drive and click OK. Otherwise Windows will have no page file.
6. Click the Start button⊞, type secpol.msc, and press Enter. You need administrator rights. The Local Security Policy window opens.
7. In the left menu, click the arrow next to Local Policies to expand it, then click Security Options.
8. Scroll down the right list to Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile.
9. Double-click it, select Enabled, and click OK. The policy applies at the next shutdown or restart.

To undo it, repeat the steps and select Disabled.

Summary

A Windows 11 computer stuck on the restarting screen can usually be fixed with simple steps. These include waiting out updates, disconnecting external USB devices, forcing a shutdown, removing a bad update in Safe Mode, running system repair scans, disabling Fast Startup, and adjusting the service timeout. None of these should cost you your files.

Start with the simplest fixes, waiting and disconnecting peripherals, before moving on to the advanced ones. To keep the problem from coming back, keep Windows up to date, update your drivers regularly, and consider leaving Fast Startup off. If you want to learn more about keeping your system healthy, check out our related guides on optimizing Windows 11 performance and troubleshooting boot errors.

For more tutorials on everyday computer problems, explore our main Windows section for step-by-step guides written in plain language. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control