Stuck at “restarting”

Dell updates don't cause the circling dots.  Only Windows updates cause that, so it sounds like some Windows updates scheduled themselves to be installed during your next restart.  If the update is Windows 10 1903, then a long restart cycle might be expected, although I admit that 2 hours is quite long.  If you decide you can't wait it out any longer, you can force your system to power off by holding down the Power button.  If Windows doesn't come back up properly, once it fails to boot normally twice in a row, it should start Automatic System Recovery, which should allow you to roll back the update.  If you don't already do this, you might want to consider capturing periodic system image backups in order to mitigate the risk of ending up with an unbootable system after an update that goes sideways -- or a malware outbreak or accidental operation, or anything else.  There are several tools that can do this.  Macrium Reflect is a popular choice, and it has a free version that would be just fine for this purpose if you just want to have a system backup every now and then.  If you decide you want to start using it as a full backup solution by capturing images more frequently, then the paid version has some additional features that you might decide you want.

That worked. This is my first laptop, I didn’t know that holding the start button long enough forced a reboot. 

Thank you again. 

Thank you, I will try holding down the start button and be patient. 

I mostly use the laptop to remotely access my desktop with all my files, so I’m not concerned with losing any data, all is saved on my desktop. 

Thank you, I will try holding down the start button and be patient. 

I mostly use the laptop to remotely access my desktop with all my files, so I’m not concerned with losing any data, all is saved on my desktop. 

---

@ATopCowboy wrote:

That worked. This is my first laptop, I didn’t know that holding the start button long enough forced a reboot. 

 

Thank you again. 

---

@ATopCowboy  glad you're all sorted.  But fyi it's the Power button, not the Start button.  The latter is just an icon within Windows. :)  But yes, holding down the Power button for several seconds has been an industry standard way to force PCs to shut down for around 20 years now since the ATX power supply standard was introduced to replace the ancient AT power supply standard.

@jphughanHi. I am stuck with the same problem and I've tried pressing 'power' button but it still seems to be stuck at restarting.

My laptop is stuck on "Restarting." I have tried the solutions in this chain, and nothing works. No matter how many times I attempt to turn off the power, the start-up menu does not come up; the "Restarting" just continues to spin. I have pressed F8 more than 50 times, and nothing happens. I do not know what else to do. Can anyone assist me or do I need to just take the laptop back to the store?

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

I am in the same boat...nothing is working to resolve this issue. It has been 24 hours and I still have the spinning restart circle of death. This is my 2nd Dell Inspiron laptop - the 1st one the power button stuck, Dell sent a tech, the tech broke part of the laptop while repairing and tried to hide it. I took pictures and had our IT staff try to fix. Dell refused to replace it with a new one - instead, they sent me a refurbished Laptop. This despite 15 years as a commercial customer. I feel Dell's quality and customer service both have slipped dramatically. I even have pro support so I don't get offshored when I call in with problems.  This is one more frustrating nail in the coffin from my perspective. 

Hi I have Dell XPS 13 9365. I also have the same problem of "Stuck at Restart". How can I forcibly shut the laptop. I had tried several times by holding the small button in the right side (Power Button), but the laptop did not shut off. Please suggest me a solution to solve the issue "Stuck at Restart".

I have initiated for system repair, after repair it asked for restart, I have clicked for restart, it is alomost an hour it keeps boot, how long it will take, or is there any problem 

@ATopCowboy​ this worked for me as well thank you!!