How to Read Shutdown and Restart Event Logs in Windows

You can use Event Viewer to view the date, time, and user details of all shutdown events caused by a shut down (power off) or restart.

The event ID’s below will show you these details.

Event IDDescription
41The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.
1074Logged when an app (ex: Windows Update) causes the system to restart, or when a user initiates a restart or shutdown.
6006Logged as a clean shutdown. It gives the message „The Event log service was stopped“.
6008Logged as a dirty shutdown. It gives the message „The previous system shutdown at time on date was unexpected“.

This tutorial will show you how to view the date, time, and user details of all shutdown and restart event logs in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

Here’s How:

1 Press the Win + R keys to open Run, type eventvwr.msc into Run, and click/tap on OK to open Event Viewer.

2 In the left pane of Event Viewer, open Windows Logs and System, right click or press and hold on System, and click/tap on Filter Current Log. (see screenshot below)

If you have already filtered this log, click/tap on Clear Filter first and then click/tap on Filter Current Log to start over fresh.

Read Shutdown Logs in Event Viewer in Windows-shutdown_event_logs-1.png

3 Enter the event ID’s below into the <All Event IDs> field, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
41, 1074, 6006, 6008

Read Shutdown Logs in Event Viewer in Windows-shutdown_event_logs-2.png
4 You can now view the details of these shutdown event logs filtered by these event IDs. (see screenshots below)

Read Shutdown Logs in Event Viewer in Windows-event_id_1074_power-off.png
Read Shutdown Logs in Event Viewer in Windows-event_id_1074_restart.png
Read Shutdown Logs in Event Viewer in Windows-event_id_6006.png
Read Shutdown Logs in Event Viewer in Windows-event_id_6008.png

5 When finished viewing log details, you can close Event Viewer if you like.