When you long-press the power button on a Windows 10 tablet or phone, a “slide to shut down” interface appears automatically. This screen allows you to quickly turn off your device by swiping an overlay downwards, as the name implies.
You’ll almost certainly never see this screen unless you have a touchscreen device with a physical power button. It isn’t accessible from the rest of Windows’ power options, and there isn’t a built-in way to enable it. There’s nothing stopping you from using it with a mouse if you want another shutdown option. This tutorial will show you how to assign a shortcut key to “slide to shut down” so that you can use it on any device that meets the minimum hardware requirements.
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How to use “slide to shut down” on any Windows 10 device
SlideToShutDown.exe is the program that provides the Slide to Shut Down screen. As a result, getting to the interface is as simple as starting the program. Because it’s in Windows’ System32 folder, you should be able to find it and run it by typing “SlideToShutDown” into the Start menu.
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If you use this feature frequently, typing this name will quickly become tedious. Instead, create a new desktop link to the program. The link can then be assigned a keyboard shortcut, allowing you to access the interface from anywhere in Windows.
Start by typing “Run” into the Start menu to open the Run utility. Type “system32” (without the quotes) in the box that appears and press Enter. In File Explorer, the System32 folder will appear. This directory contains thousands of important Windows system files, so proceed with caution.
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“SlideToShutDown.exe” can be found by scrolling or searching. Next, right-click the file and select Send to > Desktop from the context menu (create shortcut). The Send to Shut Down interface can now be accessed via your new desktop shortcut.
Finally, give your link a keyboard shortcut. Choose “Properties” from the context menu of the shortcut on your desktop. Press the keyboard shortcut you want to use in the “Shortcut key” input field – we’re using Ctrl+Alt+S, but you can use whatever sequence works best for you. To close the properties window, click Apply and then OK.
Final Word
You should now be able to use your keyboard shortcut to bring up Slide to Shut Down at any time. In our case, the overlay is launched by pressing Ctrl+Alt+S from anywhere in Windows. As if you were using a Windows phone or tablet, you can then click or tap and drag downwards to shut down your device.
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