<p>I've been using <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_Desktop_Services#Remote_Desktop_Connection" rel="noreferrer">Remote Desktop Connection</a> to get into a workstation. But in this environment, I cannot use the power options in Start Menu. I need an alternative way to shutdown or restart.</p>

<p>How do I control my computer's power state through the command line?</p>

The most common ways to use the
```
shutdown
```
command are:
```
shutdown -s
```
— Shuts down.
```
shutdown -r
```
— Restarts.
```
shutdown -l
```
— Logs off.
```
shutdown -h
```
— Hibernates.
Note:
There is a common pitfall wherein users think
```
-h
```
means "help" (which it does for every other command-line program... except
```
shutdown.exe
```
, where it means "hibernate"). They then run
```
shutdown -h
```
and accidentally turn off their computers. Watch out for that.
```
shutdown -i
```
— "Interactive mode". Instead of performing an action, it displays a GUI dialog.
```
shutdown -a
```
— Aborts a previous shutdown command.
The commands above can be combined with these additional options:
```
-f
```
— Forces programs to exit. Prevents the shutdown process from getting stuck.
```
-t <seconds>
```
— Sets the time until shutdown. Use
```
-t 0
```
to shutdown immediately.
```
-c <message>
```
— Adds a shutdown message. The message will end up in the Event Log.
```
-y
```
— Forces a "yes" answer to all shutdown queries.
Note:
This option is not documented in any official documentation. It was discovered by
these StackOverflow users
.
I want to make sure some other really good answers are also mentioned along with this one. Here they are in no particular order.
The
```
-f
```
option
from
JosephStyons
Using
```
rundll32
```
from
VonC
The Run box
from
Dean
Remote shutdown
from
Kip