Windows 10: How to find the cause of an Unexpected Shutdown on Windows 10

Windows 10, an improved version of series of operating systems by Microsoft has a huge fan following. It is easy to use, provides better security, compatible with most of the software programs, and most importantly keeps a track of every activity of the system. Many users have reported a problem of automatic shutdown of your PC without any warning or reason. Using the system tracking feature of Windows 10 we can find out why your PC shut down for no reason Windows 10.

Find out why computer shut down


The unexpected shut down may occur in many ways, sometimes putting your PC at sleep for a longer period may lead to random shut down. The system may or may not notify you about the shutdown. In some cases, users have received a message regarding the sudden requirement of shutdown in 10 minutes or 30 minutes even if all the drivers are updated. Let us find out the root of this unexpected behavior of Windows 10. In this article, you will learn three methods using which you can find the cause of unexpected shutdown on Windows 10.

1. Through Event Viewer
2. By using PowerShell
3. Using Command Prompt

Let’s now see them in detail:

1] Through Event Viewer


To find the cause of the unexpected shutdown using Event Viewer, use the following suggestions:

Click on Start, type Event Viewer, and then select the result from the top of the list.

After heading into Event Viewer, expand Windows Logs from the left and then select System.

Now do right-click on System and select the Filter Current Log option.



Inside the Filter Current Log window, select the Filter tab. Then go to the All Event ID textbox and enter the following ID number separated by a comma as shown in the below snapshot.

• 41: It indicates that your system is crashed, power lost, or not responding which in turn leads to incorrect shutdown using the clean shutdown option.
• 1074: This event is logged for manual shutdown or restart. It is also applied for the event when the system automatically restarts to install new updates to your computer.
• 6006: It is triggered after the new update installation, especially when the system is lost during the shutdown.
• 6005: This is an error that occurs when the system goes for a reboot.
• 6008: This event is a clear indicator of random automatic shutdown, which may be caused due to error 41.

Now click the OK button and then double-click a log to verify the information.

As soon as you complete the above steps, you will see the real causes of your device shut down unexpectedly.

Read: How to check the Shutdown and Startup Logs.

2] By using PowerShell


Another method to find the cause of the unexpected shutdown on Windows 10 is using Windows PowerShell. So, if you prefer a command-line interface over GUI, you can use the following instructions to do so:



Open an elevated PowerShell prompt

Once it opens, type the following command and press

Enter:

Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{ LogName = 'System'; Id = 41, 1074, 6006, 6605, 6008; } | Format-List Id, LevelDisplayName, TimeCreated, Message

Go to the log description section and know the possible causes and time for the shutdown.

Let us talk about them in detail.

First of all, open an elevated PowerShell prompt. To do so, right-click on Start and select Windows PowerShell (Admin) option from the menu list.

If a UAC prompt is triggered and asks for your permission, click on the Yes button.

Inside the elevated PowerShell app area, copy and paste the following command and hit Enter:

Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{ LogName = 'System'; Id = 41, 1074, 6006, 6605, 6008; } | Format-List Id, LevelDisplayName, TimeCreated, Message

After running the above command, the possible causes and times for the shutdown will be listed. To do this, you can go to the log description section and check them.

Related: Computer shuts down unexpectedly and restarts automatically.

3] Use Command Prompt


To find the real cause and time of the unexpected shut down of your computer, follow the below suggestions:



Run Command Prompt as administrator on your computer.

Type the following command and hit Enter:

wevtutil qe System /q:"*[System[(EventID=41) or (EventID=1074) or (EventID=6006) or (EventID=6005) or (EventID=6008)]]" /c:100 /f:text /rd:true

Now press the Enter key and you’re done. You will see all the possible causes that had led your computer to shut down unexpectedly.

If you need, you can read the above steps in detail form.

So, to find the cause of the unexpected shutdown of your computer, you first need to open an elevated command prompt.

To do so, right-click on the Start menu and open the Run dialog.

In the text field, type cmd to search for Command Prompt. Then press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to open Command Prompt with admin privileges. Also, click the Yes button if a UAC prompts on the screen.

Now copy and paste the following command-line and press Enter:

wevtutil qe System /q:"*[System[(EventID=41) or (EventID=1074) or (EventID=6006) or (EventID=6005) or (EventID=6008)]]" /c:100 /f:text /rd:true

If you want to view more or fewer event logs, you can do it by doing some minor changes in the above command line. To do that, set /c:100 with your preferred number and run the command again.

You will see the possible causes and times for the shutdown that occurred on your computer. You can go to the log description section and check them.

Hope it helps.

Related: Schedule Shutdown or Restarts using the Task Scheduler.


This article How to find the cause of an Unexpected Shutdown on Windows 10 first appeared on TheWindowsClub.com.

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PC is Suffering Unexpected Shutdowns

Most important detail to me would be whether these shutdowns are sudden, in which case it's likely a short or PSU issue (capacitor aging maybe?) or graceful windows style shutdowns, which suggests software interference.

It could also be overheating components if it's a sudden shutdown. What are your thermals like?

 

The previous system shutdown was unexpected

Hi,

Welcome to Microsoft Community. Your interest in Windows 10 is much appreciated.

I’m sorry to know that your Computer shuts down automatically and gets error code
6008, "The previous system shutdown was unexpected".

I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you and I appreciate the efforts who took to resolve the issue. I will be happy to assist you with this.

Please refer the suggestions given by
Ronald K using the below link and check if that helps.

The previous system shutdown was unexpected.

Also refer the suggestions given by Shinmila H using the below link and check if that helps.

unexpected shutdown "event id=6008"

Note : This article applies to Windows 10 also.

Please let us know, if you need any further help and we would be glad to assist you further.

Thank you.

 

Unexpected Shutdown

Hi

Please see response to your questions below

• Did you make any changes on the computer prior to this issue?
  

No changes other than about a month ago reinstalling W10.

• What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?

Other than checking updates have successfully installed, none as not sure approach to take.

• What was the exact error code/message you have received?

No error code or message received. On the first occasion I was looking at outlook and without any warning the PC shutdown. It was almost as if it was a desktop (it is a laptop) and the power stopped. The laptop was plugged into the mains and in addition
the battery had a full a full charge.

On restarting the laptop no error message came up and I only noted a small difference in boot up, that for a short period a blue screen was displayed (not normally seen on boot up) and then the start screen appeared for me to log in.

As mentioned previously the only reference to this is from the log which in the summary states that there was an unexpected shutdown.