How to

How to fix “Don’t turn off” during windows updates

Nicky Mensah August 30, 2022 2 min read

The “Getting Windows ready, Don’t turn off your computer” message appears while Windows is installing updates. Windows will normally finish the installation process if you give it time but, if it’s been hours, you may just need to restart your PC.

If your computer freezes in the middle of an update, you can feel powerless to do anything about it. Depending on which stage of the update you’re stuck on, the classic turning off and on again might not work as intended.

How to fix “Don’t turn off” during windows updates

Check your internet connection. A strong connection is needed throughout the installation period, so if your Wi-Fi has dropped out it may just need resetting to get back up and running again.
Click Ctrl+Alt+Delete. This is the shortcut for the login screen across Windows, and logging in again may help to resume the update.
Restart your PC. It might seem radical, but pressing and holding the power button until your screen turns black may help with a complete refresh. Alternatively, you can press the reset button, which should be located somewhere on the underside of your device.
Carry out a system restore. This will hopefully allow you to reinstate a previous version of Windows onto your device. To do this, go to Safe Mode and then choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > System restore.
Start a repair process. This is more comprehensive than system restores as and may be in order if the previous step didn’t work. In Safe Mode, you should see the option for ‘Reset this PC’ under the Troubleshoot section. Here, you can choose between keeping your files or wiping the device completely.
Test your PC’s memory. This is usually done via third-party software, and may not be possible if you can’t get back to the home screen.
Update the BIOS. It’s relatively unlikely this is the sole cause of the issue, but it might be a number of measures that gets your update up and running again.