This short article explains how to sign out of your Windows 10 based computer properly. Signing out helps to ensure all of your documents and programs are closed and your user profile is correctly saved back to the server. Failing to sign out of your computer can result in lost data, particularly if your computer is restarted.
To sign out of your computer follow these steps:
- Move your mouse to the Window icon at the bottom left of your screen and press the left hand mouse button – this opens the Windows Start Menu as shown to the right.
- Once the Windows Start Menu is open, move your mouse upwards until it is over the icon that looks like a head and shoulders.
- Click on this icon and you should find the ‘Sign out’ option will appear.
- Press sign out and you’ll be returned to the Windows 10 sign in screen.
What if you need to power off or reboot without signing in again?
Due to poor interface design it’s not immediately clear how to shut down the computer from this ‘logged off’ state because you’ll be given a Windows 10 background and no option to power off. You can resolve this by clicking a button on the mouse, or by pressing the ‘Esc’ escape key at the top left of your keyboard. When you do that you’ll see the power icon appear in the bottom right hand corner, like that shown below. Press that and choose either Restart or Shut down depending upon your needs.
If you have any questions about this process please do contact us using the usual methods.