When all open windows are minimized or the desktop is active, pressing Alt+F4 keys will open the Shut Down Windows dialog. The default option is Shut down. Today we will show you 2 methods to change the default setting to Restart, Sleep, Hibernate, Sign out, or Switch user in Windows 10.

Method 1: Change Default Setting for Alt+F4 Shut Down Windows Dialog via Group Policy

1. Open Local Group Policy Editor and go to: User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Start Menu and Taskbar. On the right, double-click the policy called “Change Start Menu power button“.

   

2. Click on Enabled. In the Options section, you can select Restart or other action from the drop-down list as the default setting.

   

3. Click Apply and then OK. Restart your PC to see the changes.

Method 2: Change Default Setting for Alt+F4 Shut Down Windows Dialog via Registry Editor

1. Open Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer. On the right pane, right-click the blank space and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value.

   

2. Name the newly-created DWORD as PowerButtonAction, then double-click it and change its value data to one of the following values (hex) depend on your choice:

   

   • 1 = Sign out
   • 2 = Shut down
   • 4 = Restart
   • 10 = Sleep
   • 40 = Hibernate
   • 100 = Switch user
3. Close Registry Editor and reboot your computer.

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