When shutting down a computer and the “X app is preventing the computer from shutting down” prompt appears along with a “Shut Down Anyway” button, why does the computer shut down anyway without pressing said button?

Question

Clearly, the app *isn’t* preventing the shut down or, at the very least, the user’s authority is not needed to “shut down anyway.” What’s happening?

Edit: thanks everyone!

In: 13

Answer 1

During this time, a copy of what you were working on might be done depending on the app, which might allow you not to lose your work. The app might also do some other essential tasks before closing.

If you are fast enough, you can cancel the shutdown before the computer closes your app and shutdown.

It’s a good idea to have an app open that is slow to shutdown while playing an online game on a Windows for this reason. It increases the chance that you can avoid your computer shutting down your apps and updating.

Clicking on shutdown anyway is usually a bad idea. The OS will close the apps pretty fast anyway and they might be doing useful work during this second like saving your progress, finishing updating some files, etc. Only click on it if somehow, the app is still blocking shutdown after a while (Waiting 30 seconds should be enough). It would only happen if there is a bug or it’s a malware.