You can now shut down your PC without having to wait for it to finish installing an update. The buttons “Shut down” and “Restart” finally do what they are supposed to do, even after a Windows update has finished downloading.
To be honest, this was a long-overdue fix and should’ve always been this way. In case you didn’t understand what just changed: after a Windows update finished downloading, either in the background or after you clicked the “Download now” button, if you clicked the Shut down button, your PC would first install the update, restart, and then wake up in the process.
After several consistent experiences of these buttons not working as they should, I have conditioned myself to this behaviour and always expect my PC to install the update and restart whichever button I press.
But when I clicked Shut down after downloading the August 2026 Optional Update, my PC just shut down, instead of installing the update and restarting as it did till now.
I’m not exactly surprised because I knew this change was coming, as we already tested it in an Insider build in late April.
Microsoft separates Shut down and Restart from forced updates
Back in April, Microsoft said that they finally fixed the Windows update experience and explained that the Power menu would clearly separate power actions (shut down and restart) from update actions going forward.
“With this change, the Power menu will always show the standard Restart and Shut down options, meaning you will always have a choice to just restart or shut down your device without having to install the pending update,” Microsoft wrote. “At the same time, update-specific choices like Update and restart and Update and shut down will still be available when applicable. This gives you four clear options, and full control over what your device does next.”
And four clear options there were!
- Shut down
- Restart
- Update and shut down
- Update and restart
Choosing Shut down or Restart does just that. If you want the update installed, you pick one of the other two.
“This change is about making the Power menu more predictable” Microsoft added.
Windows Latest tested this in April on Windows 11 Build 26300.8289, when it was still Insider-only. Thankfully, the update fix has now hatched into production, which means your PC might’ve already got it or may get it very soon.
The work to fix these began much earlier, though, because back in November 2025, Microsoft said they fixed “Update and shut down” button, which used to restart your PC instead of powering it off. The latest change was for just the Shut down and Restart buttons. But there’s more…
One restart a month, and a sleep fix in August
Microsoft has also been chipping away at how often Windows Update forces our PCs to restart. Starting with updates released on and after July 28, Windows now combines driver, .NET, and firmware updates together with the monthly security update, so your PC has to restart only once a month.
Of course, if you want, you can also pause updates for longer with an improved Pick a date option in the Pause updates section.
The August 27 optional update, KB5120998, shipped a sleep fix during updates. Microsoft’s changelog says: “This update improves restart behavior so PCs that were manually put to sleep return to sleep after completing an update, even when automatic sleep is set to Never.”
It helps if you manually put your PC to sleep and it wakes itself up to finish installing an update, then just stays awake instead of going back to sleep.
It’s a small fix, but we can’t deny that we think this should’ve always been the way. Either way, Windows 11 is on a marathon to fix every part of the OS, and Updates are now predictable and controllable.
