How to Force Shutdown the PS3

If your PS3 is unresponsive and you are unable to use the controller or remote to shut it down (which is the correct way to do so), then you may have to perform a hard shutdown.

To do this, press and hold the power button on the front of the PS3. You will hear it beep once - keep holding it down until it beeps a second time. The indicator lights on the front of the console should go from green to red and you will hear in power down.

Note: Performing a hard shutdown on the PS3 runs the risk of data corruption if you do so while it is performing a system task or writing data to the hard drive. This method for shutting down the console does not always work, either, and you may have to resort to flicking the hard switch at the back of the console instead.