Shutting Down or Putting Windows 8 to Sleep

Now that you know all the ins and outs of working with the Windows 8 Start menu, you may be realizing that you’re missing one little detail. How do you turn this thing off? There’s no obvious Shut Down command like there was placed so conspicuously on the Windows 7 Start menu.

The secret is that Windows 8 tucks away the Shut Down command in the Settings Charm in the Windows 8 Charms bar. You can easily turn things off—or just lull your computer to sleep—by selecting the option of your choice from the Settings charm.

>>>step-by-step: Putting Windows 8 to Sleep

When you’re going to be away from your computer for a period of time but you don’t plan—quite yet—to turn everything off for the day, you can put your computer in Sleep mode to conserve energy and protect your files and programs while you’re away.