You are in the middle of work, and then suddenly you’ve got a message “You’re about to be signed out”. The box also carrying information that Windows will shut down in a few minutes. Even worse, there’s no ‘cancel’ button to prevent the schedule from running.
Why did this happen and how to cancel that?
Why I saw “You’re about to be signed out” message?
In some situations, Windows may force to restart/shutdown the system to apply certain updates that regarded as ‘important’. This also can be caused by an antivirus program that usually needs a reboot to finish their scanning progress. The same issue also appears when Windows Defender Application Control is enabled.
This action is generally not a sign of the computer being infected by viruses. Restarting the device is ‘merely’ a step before Windows can move on to the next tasks. You may cancel the upcoming shutdown schedule and perform a reboot once you have done with your work later.
How to cancel the scheduled shutdown?
To cancel the scheduled shutdown on Windows, press CTRL+R to launch the Run window. Then, type shutdown -a and press Enter. This command will abort any shutdown schedule available on the Task Scheduler, though you might not see anything when the command is registered.
How to prevent it from happening in the future?
It’s far from certain how to prevent the autopilot shutdown from happening. You can disable Windows Defender Application Control which could reduce the possible causes of the problem. However, third-party programs (antiviruses) may have a different approach when deciding what is the best time to shutdown the system.
I suggest you starting your computer in safe mode to see if the issue still persists. Another way to investigate the problem is by performing a clean boot which helps eliminate software conflicts by running Windows with bare minimum drivers and programs.
