Remotely Reboot an Intune-Managed Device via Microsoft Graph

When to use this recipe

End users occasionally report that their Windows device is unresponsive after a feature update, a policy deployment, or a long-running install. Rather than walking the user through a hard power-off (which risks data loss and filesystem corruption), an IT admin can issue a graceful remote reboot through Intune. The device receives the command on its next Intune check-in (or immediately if it is online), closes sessions cleanly, and restarts.

Typical triggers:

• Device is stuck on a spinning wheel, login screen, or post-update screen
• Applications fail to launch and a restart would clear the state
• A required policy or configuration needs to take effect after reboot
• The user is remote and cannot reach the power button (e.g., a remote VM)

This recipe covers locating the user's device, issuing the rebootNow action via Microsoft Graph, and verifying that the device checked back in afterward.

After completing this recipe you will have:

• Identified the correct Intune-managed device for the target user
• Triggered a remote reboot using the Microsoft Graph rebootNow action
• Confirmed Intune accepted the reboot command (HTTP 204 response)
• Verified the device checked back in by inspecting the updated lastSyncDateTime
• A repeatable PowerShell workflow for future reboot requests

Warnings and gotchas

• Unsaved work will be lost. rebootNow does not prompt the end user — it forces a restart. Where possible, notify the user first (Teams message, email) and give them a few minutes to save.
• Endpoint naming matters. Use /v1.0/deviceManagement/managedDevices/{id}/rebootNow. The beta graph does not expose a /reboot segment and will return HTTP 400 - Resource not found for the segment 'reboot'.
• The command is queued, not synchronous. A 204 response means Intune accepted the request. The device must be online (or check in) before it actually reboots. For offline devices, the command can sit for hours.
• lastSyncDateTime lag. Immediately after issuing the reboot, the sync timestamp will still show the pre-reboot time. Wait 5–15 minutes and re-check before concluding the device is unresponsive.
• Platform support. rebootNow is supported on Windows 10/11 and macOS. It is not supported on iOS/iPadOS or Android personal profiles.
• Privileged operation. The reboot action requires the DeviceManagementManagedDevices.PrivilegedOperations.All scope — treat it as a change action and log it in your change record.
• Do NOT loop reboots. If the first reboot doesn't resolve the issue, investigate (event logs, Intune diagnostics) before issuing another. Repeated forced reboots can interrupt update sequencing and leave the device in a worse state.