How to enter Boot Menu on laptop and computer? How to go to Windows 10 boot options

Out of habit, or out of ignorance, some computer and laptop users use the BIOS or UEFI menu to boot from the device on which the Windows installation files are located, to launch a LiveCD or a system backup. But for this you can use the Boot Menu, especially since this option is more practical and simple. It is enough to call the menu with a special key and select the device (hard disk, USB flash drive, DVD drive) from which the download will be carried out.

You can learn how to enter the Boot Menu on laptops and computers from this guide.

Since manufacturers do not have a specific rule for assigning a button to call the Boot Menu, each of them chooses the one that they think is ideal for this task. This manual lists the keys that, in most cases, will display the boot menu. In addition, here are mentioned the nuances of calling it on laptops with Windows 10 preinstalled and specifically given examples for Asus, Lenovo, Samsung and others laptops, as well as motherboards from Gigabyte, MSI, Intel, and so on.

General information on entering the BIOS boot menu

Manufacturers provide special keys both for entering BIOS or UEFI, and for calling the Boot Menu. In the first case, it can be Del, F2, or the combination Alt + F2... The second can be used Esc, F11 or F12, but there are exceptions, which are listed later in the article. Usually, the prompt for the key to enter the Boot Menu is displayed on the screen during computer startup, but this is not always the case.

Features of Boot Menu Boot on Windows 10

On laptops and Windows 10 computers, the above keys may not work. This is because shutdown in this operating system is not exactly that. This process is more like hibernation. Therefore, when using F12, F11, Esc and other boot menu keys may not appear.

In this case, one of the following methods can help to enter the Boot Menu:

How to call the Boot Menu on Asus

In the case of Asus motherboards, you can enter the Boot Menu using the key F8 immediately after turning on the computer. Actually, as when trying to enter BIOS or UEFI with the keys Del / F9... On ASUS laptops, one of the options can be used - entering the Boot Menu by pressing F8 or Esc.

How to enter the Boot Menu on Lenovo laptops

On almost all monoblocks and laptops from Lenovo, the key is responsible for launching the Boot Menu. F12... It, like on other devices, must be pressed when turned on. There are also models where a separate small arrow button is provided to enter the boot menu. It is often located near the power button.

How to open the Boot Menu on Acer laptops

Acer laptops and all-in-ones have a single key to enter the Boot Menu - F12... However, you can enter this menu only after enabling a special option. To activate it, when you start the computer, you need to get into the BIOS using the key F2 and change the state Disabled on Enabled opposite point F12 Boot Menu in the main BIOS parameters.

Other laptop and motherboard models

Below is a list of keys for entering the Boot Menu on laptops and PCs with motherboards from different manufacturers.

Motherboards:

Gigabyte - F12.
MSI - F11.
Intel - Esc.
AsRock - F11.
American Megatrends - F8.

Laptops and all-in-ones:

HP - F9, or Esc, and then the F9 key.
Dell - F12.
Samsung - Esc.
Sony - F11.
Toshiba - F12.
Packard Bell - F12.

If your operating system has stopped loading, errors in its operation or viruses have appeared, then only Safe Mode will help to cope with them (in English it sounds like Safe Mode). Use this boot option to debug the system. Unlike normal OS startup, in safe mode, a number of functions are simply disabled, which allows you to access system files and find a malfunction. In this article, we will take a closer look at how to enable Safe Mode in Windows 10, what it is and why you need it at all.

Safe Mode is a special way to run Windows operating systems. With its help, you can do things that will not work in normal mode, for example, fix problems with starting the system or its operation. Safe Mode only provides basic functions, services and programs. Only the basic driver components that are required to run Windows are loaded. As soon as the system starts in safe mode, you will see the corresponding inscriptions on the PC desktop. Sometimes the video driver does not load either, as evidenced by the incorrect resolution of the monitor.

What is it needed for

Safe mode can often be used to boot the system when the usual option no longer works. For example, one of your drivers "broke". The system tries to boot and when it comes to a non-working component it crashes. In safe mode, this driver simply does not load - you can log in to the system and fix it. You can search for a problem using the elimination method. It is necessary to turn off the various components one by one and try to restart the PC in normal mode until the source of the breakdown is detected. Just enable and disable various programs and drivers, and when it comes to the problem, Windows will boot again and the problem will be solved.

Activation methods

After we understood what Safe Mode is and why it is generally needed, it was time to proceed to the instructions for activating it. In previous versions of Windows, this was easier. Previously, to enter Windows Safe Mode (up to version 10), you just had to press the F8 key while the computer turned on. In the latest edition of Windows, this feature was disabled by the developers. Now getting to the settings is more difficult, but still there are 5 ways to do this. We'll go over each of them in detail.

Options for starting Windows 10 in SafeMode:

through a reboot;
using the msconfig utility;
using the command line;
special download options;
using a USB flash drive or Windows disk.

Attention! At the very bottom of the article there is a video instruction describing the process of entering the mode we need.

We use the restart key to get into SafeMode

This method is the most simple and convenient, which is why we put it in the first place. The sequence of actions will be as follows:

We do everything as during a normal PC restart: open the "Start" menu and select the restart item, but at the same time hold down the "Shift" button. After that, the picture on the screen will change color and a notification will appear that you need to wait a little.

We will be offered several points. The first allows you to start the OS in normal mode, the second opens a new menu, and the third just exits. We need exactly the second way. It's called: Troubleshooting.

In the next step, select "Advanced options".

There will be many different options, but what we need is the boot parameters. Click on the item indicated in the screenshot.

Everything is ready, now you can start Windows 10 in Safe Mode. All that remains is to restart our system. Click "Restart".

We will have a screen with a choice of option. There are 3 safe modes at once, these are: just SafeMode, with network and command line support. To select the desired one, press the corresponding number on the keyboard.

Windows will reboot into Safe Mode.

Voila! SafeMode is running, as evidenced by the inscriptions on the corners of the desktop. You can move on to solving the problem that bothers you.

Running with msconfig

The msconfig utility is a very useful and powerful tool included with Windows. It is she who will help us visit Safe Mode if the previous method did not work for some reason. Let's get started.

To run the utility, we will use the Run tool included with Windows. This program is capable of launching many useful functions that many users do not even know about. Launch "Run" by simultaneously pressing two buttons Win + R and enter the inscription "msconfig" in the window that appears, and then press the key marked "OK".

Note: You can also find the Run tool through the Start menu or Windows Search.

The system settings window has opened. There are 5 tabs in total, each of which contains different functions. We need the "Download" section - from here you can activate Safe Mode the next time you start.

First, let's choose the operating system we want to run in light mode. To do this, simply left-click on its name. In our case, this is just one entry. In the Boot Options section, check the box next to the Safe Mode entry. There are several variations of it, these are: minimal, different shell, Active Directory recovery and network.

Loading Safe Mode can be supplemented with some options, such as disabling the GUI, logging the boot, basic video, or displaying OS information. Slightly to the right there is an option to set the SafeMode startup delay time.

After you have finished setting up safe mode, you can click the "OK" button. The system will notify us to restart the PC. This can be done later. We press "Restart".

Windows 10 will restart, and we just have to wait a bit.

Ready! Safe Mode is up and ready to troubleshoot your computer.

You can now exit Windows 10 Safe Mode. Reset the msconfig settings to their original position and start the system.

Using the command line

Let's describe another way to reboot your PC or laptop into Safe Mode. This time we will use a more sophisticated way, namely the command line.

You can run it in different ways, but we will choose the simplest one. Left-click on the search button (the icon in the form of a magnifying glass on the taskbar) and enter the word "command line" into the search field. The tool should be run in administrator mode, otherwise we simply will not have enough authority. To do this, call the context menu and select "Run as administrator".

The program we need opens. We enter the following command into it (copy the text and paste): bcdedit / copy (current) / d "Your name". Instead of "Safe Mode" write whatever you want (a name you can understand).

This command will add a new parameter to the "Loading" section of the msconfig utility, which will be named as you put it in quotation marks when typing into the command line.

Now you can reboot into safe mode through the entry you created. You no longer need to change the boot option for the main system. Let's check out how it works. Select the added mode and click "OK". We will again be prompted to restart Windows immediately or postpone the action.

The computer will reboot and the next time it starts it will show two operating systems at once, one of which will be the one we created through the command line. We select it and go to reboot again.

As you can see, everything works. Once again, we got into safe mode, which was activated through the command line.

This feature will be present on your PC or laptop on an ongoing basis. Now it will become much more convenient for you to reboot into safe mode (this can often be needed when debugging Windows). But after we fix the system, we need to disable safe mode and the second OS. To do this, run the msconfig utility again and go to the "Download" section.

Select the entry we created and press the button labeled "Delete".

After that, the unnecessary mode will disappear, and the system will start automatically, without selecting it.

How to login with F8

The described methods are good in that if one of them does not work, the second will help, the second does not work, then the third. But how to fix an annoying misunderstanding and revive Windows 10 Safe Mode at F8 boot? Let's deal with this issue, and the command line, of course, launched in administrator mode, will help us with this again.

In order to return the launch of the mode we need by F8, we need to make some changes to the "Tens" registry.

We start the command line with administrator privileges. To do this, in the search for Windows 10, located on the left side of the taskbar, enter the phrase "command line". Click on the found entry and select the "Run as administrator" item.

Paste the following content: "bcdedit / deletevalue (current) bootmenupolicy" (without quotes) and press Enter. If we did everything correctly, the message "Operation completed successfully" will appear.

Now you can close the window and restart your computer. Once the system starts, press the F8 key until you get into the Windows startup configuration mode. From here you can select the safe mode we need. Select it with the arrows on your keyboard and press Enter.

To cancel loading Windows 10 in Safemode by pressing the F8 button, you need to reopen your favorite command line and insert the code "bcdedit / set (current) bootmenupolicy standart" into it (do not forget to remove the quotes). After pressing Enter, the system will no longer respond to the F8 key.

Special download options

For completeness, we will describe another option for starting Windows 10 in Safe Mode.

We need to open system settings. To do this, expand the notification center and click on the "All parameters" item.

In the window that opens, look for the item "Updates and Security" and click on it.

Next, we find and click on the "Recovery" item.

We press the button "Reload now". Caution, the computer will restart, save all data and close programs.

The computer will offer us a choice of boot mode, which we described in detail in the section "Using the restart key". Then just select the item (activated by pressing the number button on the keyboard) and go into safe mode.

Using the installation distribution

If the system does not start, of course, it will not work to apply one of the above methods. But even in such a case, we have an option - you need to use the Windows 10 installation media. Moreover, it doesn't matter whether it will be a DVD or a flash drive. Follow our instructions.

First you need to acquire the same carrier. You shouldn't download Windows 10 via torrent or third-party resources. The image of the "Tens" should be taken exclusively on the official Microsoft website. We will help you with this: a little below you can download a program that automatically downloads the image and creates a bootable USB flash drive. After the media is ready, insert the USB flash drive into the USB port of the computer or, respectively, the disc into the DVD and boot from it.

This is the first step in installing Windows. Here we just need to click "Next".

Now we click on the inscription "System Restore".

Next, select the item "Troubleshooting" (navigation is carried out by arrows on the keyboard, selection by pressing Enter).

In the next step, select the Command Line tool.

Enter into the black window a statement of the form: "bcdedit / set (default) safeboot minimal" (do not forget to remove the quotes) and press Enter.

We reboot the computer. You can use the mechanical reset button, there will be no harm from this. Our Windows 10 will start again, but this time in Safe Mode.

When the system is fixed, you can turn off safe mode and return the boot to its original state. To do this, again on the command line, enter "bcdedit / deletevalue (default) safeboot" without quotes and press Enter.

If the process will be conducted from the command line under a running Windows, do not forget to run the utility as an administrator.

This concludes our story on how to start Windows 10 Safe Mode. We tested all the methods described in this manual on our PC and each of them worked for us. Depending on the situation, "hardware" or the degree of damage to the system, everything may be different, but in any case, one of the methods that we have described will definitely help you.

Video

Do you want to boot your computer from a USB stick or disk? To do this, you do not need to go to the BIOS settings. Especially if you don't understand much about this. There is an easier way. In this case, it is enough to enter the Boot Menu and change the boot priority of the devices. This is done in 10 seconds. And most importantly - no shamanism in BIOS.

Boot Menu - what is it?

What do users usually do to reinstall Windows? Typically, a licensed digital copy is recorded on, and then executed.

Boot Menu (or boot menu) is an extremely useful BIOS option. It can be used to quickly set the boot priority of devices. Simply put, launching the Boot Menu brings up a small window in which you can immediately put the USB flash drive (or DVD) in the first place, and the hard drive in the second. In this case, you will not need to enter BIOS.

In addition, changing the settings in the Booth Menu does not affect the BIOS settings. That is, this option is triggered once - for one activation. And when you restart your PC, Windows will boot from your hard drive (as usual). If you need to run the Windows installation from a USB flash drive again, call the Boot Menu again.

If you remember, when changing the settings in the BIOS, it was necessary to go into it again and change the boot priority of the devices back (i.e. put the hard disk in the first place). And in the case of Booth Menu, this is not necessary.

How to call the Boot Menu

It's very simple - to click one key when Windows starts. Which one? It depends on the:

BIOS versions;
motherboard;
laptop models.

That is, the situation is exactly the same as with BIOS. For example, so that you need to press the Del or F2 button, and to open the Boot Menu, you need to click another.

Most often it is Esc or F12. Although, as mentioned above, the call button may differ on different PCs.

Therefore, below we will consider how to run Booth Menu on popular brands of laptops and personal computers.

How to enable Boot Menu on Lenovo laptops

Lenovo laptop owners shouldn't have any difficulties. After all, the Boot Menu on Lenovo is launched very simply - by pressing the F12 key when Windows starts up.

Plus, on the case of many models there is a special button with a curved arrow. You can click it if you want to select additional. download options.

Launch Boot Menu on PC with mat. Asus board as easy as shelling pears

You must press the F8 key when it boots (at the same time when you usually enter the BIOS).

And there is a bit of confusion with Asus laptops. It seems that the manufacturer is the same, but there are several buttons to launch the Booth Menu. After all, the launch of the Boot Menu on Asus laptops is carried out using one of two keys:

Most often this is the Esc key, although it can be F8. However, there are only 2 keys.

Boot menu on Acer opens by pressing F12

But there is one small nuance here. The fact is that usually the launch of the Boot Menu on Acer laptops is disabled. And when you press F12, nothing will happen. To make it work, you need to do the following:

Go into the BIOS (when booting the laptop, press the F2 button).
Go to the "Main" tab.
Look for the line "F12 Boot Menu" and change the value "Disabled" (disabled) to "Enabled" (enabled).
Save the changed parameters and exit the BIOS.

The system will reboot and you can enter the boot menu on your Acer laptop using F12.

How to enable Booth Menu on Samsung laptops

On Samsung, you need to press the Esc key. But Samsung laptop owners need to know one feature. The fact is that to call the Booth Menu, you need to click the Esc button once! If you double-click, the window will just close.

Therefore, you have to get used to knowing exactly when to press the Esc key. Although there is nothing complicated here - just a couple of attempts.

HP also has its own specifics

Launching the Boot Menu on HP also has its own specifics. After all, the opening of the Booth Menu is carried out in a slightly different way.

When you turn on Windows, immediately press the Esc key.
The startup menu will be displayed - press the F9 button.
Ready.

After that, the boot menu of the HP laptop will open, and you can set the priority of turning on the devices (using the arrows).

Boot menu on Windows 10 or 8

If Windows 8 or Windows 10 is installed on a PC or laptop, then you most likely will not be able to turn on the Booth Menu.

The fact is that these operating systems have a small peculiarity - by default, they have “Quick Start” enabled, so they are not completely turned off. This is called hibernation (sort of like sleep mode). Therefore, when you boot your PC or laptop, you will not be able to open this menu on Windows 10.

There are three ways to fix this:

Hold Shift when turning off your laptop or PC. After that, it will turn off normally (in the usual sense of the word). And then you can launch it on Windows 10 by pressing the desired key.
Instead of shutting down your PC, you can restart it. And at the moment of switching on, simply press the specific key corresponding to your brand of laptop or motherboard.
Disable Fast Startup. For this:

That's it - now you can easily enter the Boot Menu on Windows 10 or Windows 8.

For your convenience, below is a screenshot showing the keys to launch the Boot Menu for popular laptops and PCs.

For example, for computers running on a mat. on the MSI board, this is the F11 button. And the launch of the Booth Menu on Sony VAIO laptops is carried out using F12. In general, you will figure it out for yourself - the table is simple and straightforward.

Also, for convenience, buttons for entering the BIOS are written. If for some reason you cannot open the Boot Menu, you can always change the boot priority of devices in the standard way - through BIOS.

Any OS, including Windows 10, is not immune to sudden failures. Only often such problems are "treated" exclusively by reinstallation, without even caring about more loyal solutions. Needless to say, the classification of such "tyzhprogrammers" leaves much to be desired.

It's much easier to go into Windows 10 Safe Mode and try to solve everything differently. This option will fix many problems:

reinstalling / removing the problem driver;
rollback to last known good configuration
cleaning from viruses;
resetting the user's password;
account activation;
fight against BSoD.

There are several ways to call the safe mode in the top ten. The easiest is to reboot and then press "F8", but in Win10, alas, it no longer works. But there is one trick. For now, we will choose from the following:

options;
command line;
System Restore.

The latter method works even if the system does not boot. True, you need a boot-flash drive with the system, but more on that later.

Launch via "special boot options"

This method can be interpreted in two ways. To enter the parameters, your Windows must be running, or at least starting. The general picture is as follows. To get started, click on the icon with notifications and press "All parameters".

Here you need to enable "recovery", and on the right, where the "special boot options" field is located, you need to start a reboot.

After the system has restarted and entered the menu with parameters, you can do 3 operations:

exit the menu and start Windows in normal mode;
find and eliminate malfunctions (required parameter);
turn off the PC.

It is necessary to select the second item, and then click "additional options". After that, click on item 5 (2 in column 2), which is responsible for the system boot parameters on a PC or laptop.

Now you have access to a full-fledged safe mode, which will appear when you turn it on after a restart. Here we are interested in teams 4,5 and 6. Select one of them by pressing the keys F4-F6 respectively.

Command line login

The second method is somewhat simpler than the previous one, since it does not require lengthy fiddling with parameters, settings and numerous sub-options. The configurator will help here “ msconfig". To activate it, click " Start", Or a combination Win + R, we write in the line “ msconfig"And click OK.

Here we are waiting for another dialog box, in which there are 5 tabs. We are interested in the second one, which is called "Loading". We do the following:

select the OS that should start in safe mode;
put a check mark in front of this item;
select the desired configuration (minimal, with shell, network).

The same principle applies here as with the keys. F4-F6... "Other shell" - command line support.

Next, we reboot in normal mode by selecting the desired item via “ Start". Remember to follow the same steps to exit this parameter. In other words, until you uncheck the box from "safe mode", you will not return to normal mode.

System Restore

The last method on the list will only work if you have a bootable USB flash drive with the system. You can create it yourself, but this is a topic for a separate article. To begin with, we do the following:

We go through bios and reconfigure the startup priority of devices. USB-HDD should start first, then HDD;
We follow all the instructions for starting Windows until we reach the option with a single "Install" button.

You need to register one of two commands to choose from:

bcdedit / set (default) safeboot minimal- normal mode;
bcdedit / set (default) safeboot network- network support.

Returning F8

Why have you removed the old way of choosing boot and restore commands? Windows developers say that the system has begun to start up so quickly that it simply does not have time to respond to the click on the button. But the process is reversible and the command can be returned. A small drawback is the sacrifice of a few seconds of OS startup time.

You will need a working Win10 to return. Right-click on the icon “ Start". In some versions, you can select "Command line (administrator)". If there is none, then open Start, write in the search bar “ CMD", Then right-click on the search result and click" as administrator ".

Next, we write the command bcdedit / set (current) bootmenupolicy legacy and press Enter. Now we are back to the classic version, familiar from previous versions of Windows. There is one nuance: the "Last Known Good Configuration" item is not provided here, since all parameters are a text variation of the graphical representation, which is the default in Win10.

To return to the original mode, an inverse command is provided, which is also entered exclusively under the administrator: bcdedit / set (current) bootmenupolicy standard.

Option "for the lazy"

Few people know that Safe Mode can be displayed as a separate item in the boot menu. If you use the function often, then this upgrade will be to your liking. Wherein F8 will no longer be needed.

To begin with, you should go to the command line, and only under the administrator. Required to enter the command bcdedit / copy (current) / d “Safe Mode”... In other words, the account will copy the existing account in safe mode. By the way, the inscription in quotation marks can be changed at your discretion.

Here we go to the "Download" and see already 2 entries:

our "safe mode";
standard Windows 10.

We are interested in a newly made copy. In the parameters, set the "safe ..." mode and additionally prescribe the timeout for choosing between the two options (3 seconds minimum).

Save changes and reboot. Now you will see 2 OSes (formally). During the time, while the timeout is in effect, you can switch between 2 accounts. Windows 10 sends you to Standard Boot. Well, "safe" calls the mode that we set in the configurator.

If you want to remove your own customization, re-register msconfig via Win + R and remove the extra line.

The downside is that load times increase in direct proportion to the timeout you set initially.

By adjusting the Windows boot options, you can invoke Safe Mode in Windows 10. To open the Windows boot options settings, you need to start the Select Action window, and there are two ways to do this:

Using the Shift key and the system restart button.
Using System Recovery Options.

In the first method, press the key on the keyboard Shift and without releasing it, click on the button on the taskbar Start and select in the menu that opens Reboot.
In the second method, open the Settings by clicking the button on the taskbar Start and choosing Options in the form of a gear.

How to enter Safe Mode in Windows 10

In the parameters go to the category Updates and security.

In Windows 10, enter safe mode through the Parameters

How to restart Windows 10 in safe mode

After completing any of the above actions, after a few seconds a window called Select Action will open. In this window you need to select the item Troubleshooting.

Reboot Windows 10 in Safe Mode

The next window titled Diagnostics will open. In this window you need to select the item Extra options.

To go to Windows 10 Safe Mode, open additional options

The following window will open titled Advanced Options. In this window you need to select the item Boot options.

How to restart Windows 10 in safe mode in advanced options

The following window will open titled Boot Options. In this window you need to click the button Reboot.

How to make Safe Mode on Windows 10

After that, the computer will reboot and during system boot a window will open in which you can select the boot option you need.

Start the computer in Windows 10 Safe Mode with the F4, F5, F6 keys

Choosing, for example, safe mode using the F4 key, you need to press Enter on the keyboard. After that, the computer will start turning on in Windows 10 Safe Mode.