> This page location: Administration Tips > Restart PostgreSQL on Windows
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# How to Restart PostgreSQL on Windows

**Summary**: in this tutorial, you will learn how to restart PostgreSQL on Windows using Service Manager, command line, and `pg_ctl` command.

## 1) Restart PostgreSQL using Services Manager (GUI)

The following steps describe how to restart PostgreSQL on Windows using Service Manager (GUI):

### Step 1. Stop PostgreSQL service

- Press `Win+R` to open the **Run** dialog.
- Type `services.msc` and press `Enter`.
- In the `Services` window, locate the PostgreSQL service. Typically, it is something like `postgresql-x64-<version>`.
- Right-click on it and select **Stop** to stop the service.

### Step 2. Start PostgreSQL service

- After stopping the service, right-click on the service name.
- Select **Start** to start the service.

## 2) Restart PostgreSQL from the command line

If you prefer working with command, you can follow these steps to restart PostgreSQL:

### Step 1. Open command prompt

- Press `Win+R` to open the **Run** dialog
- Type `cmd` and `press Ctrl+Shift+Enter` (not Enter). This will allow you to run the command prompt as an Administrator.
- A **User Account Control** pop-up will display, you can click the **Yes** button to acknowledge.

### Step 2. Restart PostgreSQL service

Stop the PostgreSQL service using the following command:

```bash
net stop postgresql-x64-<version>
```

You need to replace `<version>` with your [PostgreSQL version](https://neon.com/postgresql/postgresql-administration/postgresql-version) number. For example:

```bash
net stop postgresql-x64-16
```

Output:

```
The postgresql-x64-16 - PostgreSQL Server 16 service is stopping.
The postgresql-x64-16 - PostgreSQL Server 16 service was stopped successfully.
```

After the service has stopped, type the following command and press `Enter` to start the PostgreSQL service:

```bash
net start postgresql-x64-<version>
```

For example:

```bash
net start postgresql-x64-16
```

Output:

```
The postgresql-x64-16 - PostgreSQL Server 16 service is starting.
The postgresql-x64-16 - PostgreSQL Server 16 service was started successfully.
```

## 3) Restart PostgreSQL using the pg_ctl command (CLI)

PostgreSQL offers the `pg_ctl` utility that allows you to initialize a PostgreSQL database instance, and start, stop, or restart the PostgreSQL database server.

The `pg_ctl` is typically located in the bin directory within the PostgreSQL installation directory.

The following shows you how to execute the `pg_ctl` command to restart PostgreSQL.

It assumes that the `bin` directory is included in the `PATH` environment variable, allowing you to call `pg_ctl` from any directory.

### Step 1. Open a command prompt

- Press `Win+R` to open the **Run** dialog.
- Type `cmd` and `press` `Ctrl+Shift+Enter` to run the Command Prompt as an Administrator.

### Step 2. Execute the pg_ctl command

Type the following `pg_ctl` command and press `Enter`:

```bash
pg_ctl -D "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\<version>\data" restart
```

Note that you need to replace the `<version>` with the actual version of your PostgreSQL and change the data directory path ("`C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\<version>\data`") if it is different.

For example, to restart PostgreSQL 16.x, you can execute the following command:

```bash
pg_ctl -D "C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\16\data" restart
```

This command will restart PostgreSQL.

---

## Related docs (Administration Tips)

- [Reset Password](https://neon.com/postgresql/postgresql-administration/postgresql-reset-password)
- [Describe Table](https://neon.com/postgresql/postgresql-administration/postgresql-describe-table)
- [Show Databases](https://neon.com/postgresql/postgresql-administration/postgresql-show-databases)
- [Show Tables](https://neon.com/postgresql/postgresql-administration/postgresql-show-tables)
- [Practical psql Commands](https://neon.com/postgresql/postgresql-administration/psql-commands)
- [Restart PostgreSQL on Ubuntu](https://neon.com/postgresql/postgresql-administration/postgresql-restart-ubuntu)
- [Get PostgreSQL Version](https://neon.com/postgresql/postgresql-administration/postgresql-version)
- [Check PostgreSQL Uptime](https://neon.com/postgresql/postgresql-administration/postgresql-uptime)
- [Password File (.pgpass)](https://neon.com/postgresql/postgresql-administration/postgresql-password-file-pgpass)
- [Terminate Backend Connections](https://neon.com/postgresql/postgresql-administration/postgresql-pg_terminate_backend)
- [Uninstall PostgreSQL on Ubuntu](https://neon.com/postgresql/postgresql-administration/uninstall-postgresql-ubuntu)