Windows stuck on Restarting screen [Fix]

Is your Windows 11/10 PC stuck on the Restarting screen and not restarting properly after an Update, Blue Screen, Black Screen, or at any time? If you face this issue, this post will help you resolve the problem.

There are different scenarios for this issue, which are as follows:

• PC is working normally, but they can’t use the Restart option from the Start menu.
• PC won’t restart after installing Windows updates.
• Windows doesn’t restart after the Blue screen.
• Windows doesn’t reboot after a black screen.
• Windows is not restarting in Safe mode.
• PC gets stuck at the restart screen.
• Windows is not restarting after the BIOS update.

Windows is stuck on Restarting screen and won’t restart

If Windows 11/10 is stuck on the Restarting screen and not restarting properly after Update, Blue Screen, Black Screen, or at any time, here are the working fixes that you can use to resolve the issue:

1. Unplug external USB devices.
2. Close unresponsive apps.
3. Force restart your PC.
4. Update your BIOS.
5. Uninstall updates from Advanced Options.
6. Perform a system restore in Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE).
7. Use Startup Repair.
8. Fix system corruption using some commands.

1] Unplug external USB devices

If your computer is working fine, but the Restart function is not working, try disconnecting external devices and then restarting your PC to see if the problem is fixed.

2] Close unresponsive apps

You can also check your background apps and see if some unresponsive apps are causing problems in restarting your PC. So, open Task Manager using CTRL+SHIFT+ESC and then close background apps with the End task button. After that, check if you can restart your PC.

3] Force restart your PC

If the Restart option from the Power menu is not working properly, you can force restart your computer and see if the issue is fixed. You can use Command Prompt to restart your PC. Here’s how:

First, open the Command Prompt with administrator rights. Now, enter the below command to reboot your PC:

shutdown -r

Check if the PC restarts correctly now. If yes, see if you can restart your computer normally or not.

Read: Windows crashes or freezes even in Safe Mode.

4] Update your BIOS

You can also update your BIOS and see if the issue is resolved. Ensure you don’t interrupt the update process and correctly update your BIOS.

5] Uninstall updates from Advanced Options

If the problem occurs after installing a Windows update, Quality Update or Feature Update, you can uninstall the updates. You can do that using the Advanced Startup options if you are stuck at Blue or Black screen. Here are the steps to do that:

• First, access the Advanced Startup options.
• Now, choose the Troubleshoot option from the Windows Recovery environment.
• Next, click on the Advanced options > Uninstall Updates option.
• After that, select either the Uninstall latest quality update or Uninstall latest feature update option, as per your requirement.
• Then, use the prompted instructions to complete the process and then check if Windows is restarting correctly.

See: Computer freezes when printing in Windows PC.

6] Perform a system restore in Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE)

You can also try performing a system restore in the Windows recovery environment to restore a healthy state of your computer and fix this issue. This is applicable if your computer is not restarting after the Blue screen or gets stuck at the Black screen. Here’s how:

You can go to the Advanced Startup options and then click on the Troubleshoot > Advanced options.

Now, choose the System Restore option and select the user account to perform this action on. Then, enter the password of the account and click on Continue.

After that, select the restore point, press Next, and continue with the onscreen instructions to complete the process. See if this helps.

If you can’t use the Restart feature when your system is switched on, you can easily perform a system restore by opening the System Restore window using Search.

See: Fix Computer freezes when watching videos.

7] Use Startup Repair

You can also boot into Advanced Startup options and run Automatic Startup Repair to check if the problem is resolved.

8] Fix system corruption using some commands

System file corruption might trigger this problem and prevent Windows from restarting correctly. Hence, you can try running some commands by opening Command Prompt from the Advanced Startup screen and see if the issue is resolved.

Here’s how:

First, enter the Windows Recovery environment as mentioned in the above fixes, and then go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options and choose the Command Prompt option.

In Command Prompt, you can use the following commands:

chkdsk C: /f /r /x

to fix bad sectors and hard drive errors.

You can execute

sfc /scannow

to run a System File Checker (SFC) scan for repairing system files.

You can execute

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

to perform the DISM scans.

Once the commands are executed successfully, restart your computer and see if the problem is resolved.

These commands can be run when your computer works normally, but the Restart option is not working.

Related reads:

• Windows PC will not Shutdown or Restart
• Windows computer is taking forever to restart or shutdown

How do I force restart my Windows computer?

Press the Ctrl + Alt + Delete hotkey to force restart your Windows computer. Then, press the Power button and restart your PC. Another method to restart your computer is to use Windows PowerShell and enter the Restart-Computer command. You can also press and hold the Power button on your computer until the PC’s fans go off.

Read: Windows computer restarts after selecting shutdown

Why is my Windows not responding to restart?

If your Windows computer freezes or becomes unresponsive, it could be due to system corruption. So, you can restore your PC to a previous healthy state and see if it helps. If not, you can try running Junk Cleaner to delete junk files, update your Windows PC, disable the Indexing Service, and switch off Aero to resolve the issue. Besides that, you can update your device drivers, disable Fast Startup, perform SFC and DISM scans, or reset your PC.

Now read: Windows freezing or rebooting due to Hardware problems.