It may be somewhere else, though, so make sure to find it. The Function key is often located between the Ctrl key and the Windows key. On my keyboard, for example, I can increase the brightness of my display screen by holding down the Function key and pressing the right arrow key until I am satisfied with the intensity of the light on my screen. The main reason why it exists is because of the compact nature of laptops –it helps to perform certain actions using your keyboard. The Function key (Fn, or FN on some keyboards) is used as a modifier, and it is present on most – if not all – laptops.

However, if restarting your computer does not solve the problem, try the next solution. You can also use the Windows Security toolbar to restart your PC. One way is to click the Start button, then click the Power symbol, and then choose Restart.Īnother way is to press and hold the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to open Task Manager, then click the File menu and click Restart. There are a few ways to restart your Windows PC if the ALT + F4 shortcut is not functioning. Anyway, restarting your computer should be your first action when you encounter any confusing issue on Windows 10. Sometimes, you can resolve the Alt + F4 shortcut problem on Windows 10 by restarting your computer. If it does not solve the problem, keep trying other solutions until you have found the one that works. So much for two simple keys on your keyboard, right? When you press the Alt + F4 shortcut on your keyboard and it does nothing, try any of the easy fixes below. Simply press the Alt key and F4 key and then scroll down to the action you want your computer to perform. You can also use the Alt and F4 keys to shut down a system, hibernate it, put it to sleep, or even change users (depending on what you have allowed in the shutdown menu options via your computer’s control panel). For example, you don’t need to use a mouse to close a Microsoft Word document window – press the Alt and F4 keys and watch your computer do the trick for you. The Alt + F4 command usually closes an existing window (quite similar to what the “Esc” key does, which is to interrupt a process that is running). Something could have gone wrong on your PC, and that’s why you should learn how to fix the “Windows Alt + F4 not working” error in Windows 10. If that is what happened to you, don’t begin to think that you got the shortcut wrong or that you didn’t press it the right way.

It might be a real shocker if your computer does nothing when you use the Alt + F4 combo. When I was much younger, I had to remind myself regularly, “Use Alt + F4 to close a window or to shut down a computer system.” Even before I became fully conversant with using a personal computer, I had already learned the Alt + F4 command.

Shortcut key to shutdown computer