How to hold a device restart while you work on it
Hold a device's restart for 1, 4 or 24 hours, release it, and read why a restart waited.
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How to do it
Open the device and stay on the Overview tab.
Find the Health issues card. The Hold restarts menu shows only if you can edit devices and the device has a live agent.
Open Hold restarts and pick 1 hour, 4 hours or 24 hours.
A new pick replaces your last one. The card then shows one line. It starts Restart held until, gives the time, then held by and your name.
Click Release to end the hold at once.
It sits beside the line. When a hold ends, the restart goes ahead on its own.
To find out why a restart waited, read that line.
Elise is working on this device: a troubleshooting session is open. Restarts wait until it closes and for 15 minutes after. No restart prompt appears in that time. held by and a name: that person placed a hold. The prompt can still ask the user. Restart postponed by the signed-in user: the person at the device pressed Wait. That is not a hold.
Read the Restart postponed line.
It looks like Restart postponed by the signed-in user (1 of 3) until, then a time. The device does not report who pressed Wait. The numbers are the Waits used and the limit set in How many times Wait is honored. The time is when it asks again. It comes from Ask again after this many hours. At the latest it ends at the Restart anyway after this many days deadline, plus two days of grace. The last allowed Wait shows no line. The device restarts after a notice.
What you will have
- Stop a device restarting while you work on it.
- Release a hold early.
- Find out why a device did not restart after patching.
- Read the Restart postponed line.
Why it works this way: How to hold a device restart while you work on it
A hold only moves the restart later. It does not change the patch policy.
The person at the device can still click Restart now. That always wins.
If it did not work: How to hold a device restart while you work on it
- You do not see Hold restarts. You cannot edit devices, or the device has no live agent.
- A hold ran out and the device restarted: that is expected. The restart goes ahead when the hold ends.
- A restart forced by its deadline can be held only until 48 hours after the deadline. Then it goes ahead even if held.
Questions this page answers
How do I stop a computer restarting while I work on it?
On the device Overview, open Hold restarts. Pick 1, 4 or 24 hours.
Why did a device not restart after patching?
Read the line on the Health issues card. A hold, a troubleshooting session or a Wait by the user can delay it.
Can a hold stop the user restarting the device?
No. A hold only moves the restart later. If the user clicks Restart now, the device restarts.
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