It’s really easy to shut down Windows 10. The power options are located in the Start Menu and they’ve been there for years. It’s not just a Windows 10 UI thing. The power options have been there since before Windows 7. On Windows 10, the power options can also be accessed from the lock screen which means, regardless if someone is signed in or not, Windows 10 can be shut down from the lock screen. That said, if there are no power options on the lock screen, there’s a simple fix.
Power options on lock screen
You should see power options on the lock screen regardless if you’re on Windows 10 Home or Pro. If you don’t, the fix for both will be different.
Windows 10 Pro
In order to fix no power options on the lock screen on Windows 10 Pro, you have to go through the Local Security Policy, and you need to do so with admin rights. Use the Win+R keyboard shortcut to open the run box. Enter the following and tap Enter.
secpol.msc
In Local Security Policy, go to Security Settings>Local Policies>Security Options, Look for and enable the following policy.
Shutdown: Allow system to be shut down without having to log on
That should do the trick. Lock your system and the lock screen should have power options for shutting down, sleeping, and restarting your PC.
Windows 10 Home
On Windows 10 Home, you have to go through the Windows registry editor to get power options on the lock screen. Open the run box with the Win+R keyboard shortcut. Enter the following and tap Enter.
regedit
In the registry editor, navigate to the following key.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
Under System, look for a value called “shutdownwithoutlogon”. If it isn’t there, right-click the System key and select New>DWORD (32-bit) value. Name it “shutdownwithoutlogon”. Double-click it, and set its value to 1.
That should do the trick. Normally, a system restart isn’t necessary however, if the power options don’t appear on the lock screen, give your system a restart.
It’s unclear why this option is sometimes missing from the lock screen. On Windows 10 Pro, it might be because the policy has been set that way but it’s generally odd for the option to be missing on Windows 10 Home. Regardless, there’s a fix for it. Also, if you’d like to remove the power options from the lock screen, you can disable the option by disabling the relevant policy, or removing the DWORD value that adds it back.