Why did my computer restart last time?

danderson400 said:

I was in the middle of something and the computer just went Restarting... right in the middle. Why?

That would depend on a lot of things.
One possible is your computer downloaded a update for Windows or a third party program
that required a restart.
Without any knowledge of what your computer is (make and Model) and your version of Windows
it is hard to diagnose .
Basic thing to check are running SFC /scannow from an elevated command prompt
to see if all your system files are in order.
checking the device manager for any devices not working.


Open Elevated Command Prompt in Windows 10

See here: How to View Reliability History in Windows 10

See what it shows you.

Hello @danderson400,

System Specifications

Please update your system specifications [ system AND hardware ] by editing your profile . . .

> How to Fill in your System Specs at Ten Forums.

To make this process easier for you, there is an automated method that you can use by clicking the Download button at the top of the Tutorial. It contains a standalone .exe file delivered in a ZIP file. You just need to unzip the file and run the SystemInfo.exe file. As this file is a standalone file, there is nothing saved to your computer.

It will allow us to give you more specific advice and help!

Thanks.

You might get a bit of a clue from your event log:

Windows: Shutdown/Reboot Event IDs - Get Logs - ShellHacks
Read Shutdown Logs in Event Viewer in Windows

Could be (as some have suggested above):
- an update needing a restart (hint: do you have Active Hours configured in Settings - Windows Update?)
- and see your Update History and see if you can match the date/time
- a hardware failure (crash) - see event id's
- a software crash of some sort (see Reliability History)