Why Does Turning It Off And On Again Work?
We’ve all heard the term “Have you tried turning it off and on again”. But you may be curious as to why turning your machine off and on again works.
The Short Answer
Rebooting your computer clears off the current state of the software allowing it to start again.
Why does it work?
If your device is causing problems, it’s likely related to software. Every device has processes running in the background, these can get stuck and cause apps to misbehave or even freeze.
Turning off your device will stop all processes and applications that are running on your device. This includes the problematic one. When the device powers back up it will start everything fresh.
That’s the main reason the term is widely used by IT professionals when troubleshooting problems. However, it’s important to understand that there are occasions when this shouldn’t be attempted. For example, if your computer is in the middle of saving a document if the process isn’t complete it can potentially cause corruption.
Turning it off and on again also works on other devices such as smartphones and tablets.
Why should you try turning it off and on again first?
What a great question! Considering the information above, many problems are simply caused by the software misbehaving. Restarting your device is a good starting point that might just solve your issue.
It’s important to note that this may not work on every occasion and setup if you’re in an enterprise environment.
It’s important to note that not all issues can be solved by turning it off and on again and if it fails or just provides a temporary fix, you move on to the next step and if that does not work you move on to another step until the issue is fixed. It’s all about troubleshooting. If you’re in a business environment you may pass it on to your IT team. If it’s a home device, you may take it to a repair shop and so on.
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Have you fixed an issue by turning it off and on again? Let us know in the comments!