Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Antes de reiniciar el portátil, lo desenchufo por un minuto. - Before restarting the laptop, I unplug it for a minute.

Structure
- antes de + infinitive: same subject, more direct and common in speech.
  - Subject is understood as yo: Before I restart the laptop…
- antes de que + subjunctive: often used when the subject can be different, or when you want a more explicit / formal structure.
  - Antes de que yo reinicie el portátil…
Nuance
- With the infinitive, it feels a bit more neutral and streamlined.
- With antes de que + subjunctive, it sounds slightly more formal or emphatic; it also makes the subject clearer if needed.

Both are correct here; the infinitive version is more typical in everyday speech.

Why is reiniciar used instead of encender or apagar?

Because reiniciar means “to restart / reboot” (turn off and start again), which matches the idea of a computer restart.

reiniciar – to restart (a system, device)
encender – to turn on / switch on
apagar – to turn off / switch off

So:

Voy a reiniciar el portátil. – I’m going to restart the laptop.
Voy a encender el portátil. – I’m going to turn the laptop on.
Voy a apagar el portátil. – I’m going to turn the laptop off.

In your sentence you specifically talk about restarting, so reiniciar is the natural verb.

Why is it el portátil and not mi portátil, and is the article el necessary?

El portátil literally means “the laptop”.

Why not “my”?
Spanish does not always mark possession when English does. If it’s clear from context that you’re talking about your laptop, el portátil is fine and very natural.
You can say mi portátil (my laptop) for clarity or emphasis, but it’s not required.
Is the article necessary?
Yes, you normally say:
- el portátil – the laptop
  not just portátil on its own.
In Spanish, singular countable nouns almost always need a determiner (article, possessive, etc.). So reiniciar portátil without el/mi would be incorrect.

What exactly does portátil mean here, and is this the usual word in Spain?

Here portátil means “laptop computer”. Technically it’s short for:

ordenador portátil – portable computer / laptop

In Spain:

The usual word is el portátil (or full form el ordenador portátil).
People will immediately understand portátil as a laptop in a tech context.

In much of Latin America you’re more likely to hear:

la laptop or la computadora portátil

So portátil for “laptop” is especially typical of Spain.

Why do we say lo desenchufo and not la desenchufo?

The direct object pronoun must agree in gender and number with the noun it replaces.

In Spain:

el ordenador (portátil) – masculine
→ direct object pronoun: lo

So:

Desenchufo el portátil. → Lo desenchufo.

If the noun were feminine, you’d use la:

la computadora (LatAm, feminine) → La desenchufo.

In your sentence, because portátil stands for ordenador portátil (masculine in Spain), lo is the correct pronoun.

Why use the pronoun lo instead of repeating el portátil?

Spanish prefers to avoid repeating nouns when they’re already clear from context, just like English does.

Instead of:

Antes de reiniciar el portátil, desenchufo el portátil por un minuto.

you say:

Antes de reiniciar el portátil, lo desenchufo por un minuto.

lo = el portátil

This makes the sentence more natural and less repetitive. The rule: once you’ve introduced a noun, it’s very common to refer back to it using a direct object pronoun (lo, la, los, las) rather than saying the full noun again.

Why is desenchufo in the present tense if this is something I normally do (a habit)?

Spanish uses the simple present for:

Current actions
Habits / routines
General truths

So:

Lo desenchufo por un minuto.
can mean:
- I unplug it for a minute (right now).
- I unplug it for a minute (as a habit whenever I restart it).

Context usually tells you which. If you want to emphasize it’s a regular habit, you can add an adverb:

Siempre lo desenchufo por un minuto antes de reiniciar el portátil. – I always unplug it for a minute before restarting the laptop.

Why is it por un minuto and not durante un minuto or para un minuto?

All of these have different uses:

por un minuto – indicates duration; very natural here
- Lo desenchufo por un minuto. – I unplug it for one minute.
durante un minuto – also indicates duration; correct but a bit more formal/explicit
- Lo desenchufo durante un minuto. – I unplug it for one minute.
In everyday speech, por un minuto is more common and feels lighter.
para un minuto – would sound wrong here. para is used for purpose, destination, recipient, not for simple duration in this context.

So por un minuto is the most natural choice; durante un minuto is possible but less common in casual speech.

Can I change the word order to Lo desenchufo por un minuto antes de reiniciar el portátil?

Yes, that sentence is correct and very natural:

Antes de reiniciar el portátil, lo desenchufo por un minuto.
Lo desenchufo por un minuto antes de reiniciar el portátil.

Both mean the same thing. The difference is only emphasis:

Starting with Antes de reiniciar el portátil highlights the time condition.
Starting with Lo desenchufo focuses first on the action.

In Spanish, moving these clauses around is quite flexible as long as the pronouns still clearly refer to something.

Could I drop the object and just say Antes de reiniciar el portátil, desenchufo?

No, that sounds incomplete or wrong in Spanish.

Desenchufar is normally transitive: it needs a direct object (what are you unplugging?).

Natural options:

Antes de reiniciar el portátil, lo desenchufo por un minuto.
Antes de reiniciar el portátil, desenchufo el cable por un minuto.

Saying only desenchufo without lo or a noun would be unusual unless the object is extremely obvious from the immediate context and has just been mentioned. Even then, most speakers would still include lo.

Is the comma after portátil necessary in Spanish?

In:

Antes de reiniciar el portátil, lo desenchufo por un minuto.

the comma is recommended but not absolutely mandatory.

Spanish usually places a comma after a fronted subordinate clause like Antes de reiniciar el portátil to separate it from the main clause. It:

Makes the sentence clearer
Matches standard punctuation rules

So you should keep the comma; writing it without a comma is not a serious error, but it’s less standard:

Antes de reiniciar el portátil lo desenchufo por un minuto. ✅ understood, but less well punctuated.