# Performing Power Operations on Virtual Machines
## **Overview**
You can perform power operations on virtual machines, such as powering on or off a virtual machine, suspending or resetting a virtual machine, or shutting down the guest operating system of a virtual machine.
## **Procedure**
{% tabs %}
{% tab title="I. Power on a Virtual Machine" %}
**Step 1:** On the **Virtual Data Center** dashboard screen, click the card of the virtual data center you want to explore, and from the left panel, select **Virtual Machines**.
**Step 2:** Click **card view**
**Step 3:** On the card of the virtual machine that you want to start, click **ACTIONS > Power > Power On**.
A powered-on virtual machine displays a Powered-on status in green.
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="II. Shut down Guest OS, Power off, Reset a Virtual Machine" %}
* The Shut Down Guest OS for VM action shuts down the guest operating system and powers off the virtual machine. VMware Tools must be installed and running on the VM.
* Powering off a virtual machine is the equivalent of **powering off a physical machine**.
* Resetting a virtual machine clears the state (memory, cache, and so on), but the virtual machine continues to run. Resetting a virtual machine is the equivalent of pushing the reset button of a physical machine. It initiates a hard reset of the operating system without changing the virtual machine's power state.
**Step 1:** On the **Virtual Data Center** dashboard screen, click the card of the virtual data center you want to explore, and from the left panel, select **Virtual Machines**.
**Step 2:** Click **card view**
**Step 3:** In the card of the virtual machine that you want to power off, click **ACTIONS** > **Power** > **Power Off**\\**Shut Down Guest OS**\\**Reset**
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="III.Suspend a Virtual Machine" %}
* Suspending a virtual machine preserves its current state by writing the memory (RAM) to disk.
* The suspend and resume feature is useful when you want to save your virtual machine's current state (RAM) and continue work later from the same state.
**Step 1:** On the **Virtual Data Center** dashboard screen, click the card of the virtual data center you want to explore, and from the left panel, select **Virtual Machines**.
**Step 2:** Click **card view**
**Step 3:** In the card of the virtual machine that you want to start, click **ACTIONS** > **Power** > **Suspend**.
The virtual machine is suspended, but its state is preserved.
**Attention:** From the **VM Suspended state**, just **power on** if you need the VM to run with the current memory.
{% endtab %}
{% tab title="IV. Discard the suspended state of a Virtual Machine" %}
If a virtual machine is in a **suspended** **state** and you no longer need to resume the use of the machine, you can **discard the suspended state**. Discarding the suspended state removes the saved memory and returns the machine to a **powered-off state**.
**Step 1:** On the **Virtual Data Center** dashboard screen, click the card of the virtual data center you want to explore, and from the left panel, select **Virtual Machines**.
**Step 2:** Click **card view**
**Step 3:** In the card of the virtual machine that you want to start, click **ACTIONS > Power >** **Discard the suspended state**.
The state is discarded, and the virtual machine is **powered off**.
