Start your PC in safe mode in Windows 10

Safe mode starts Windows in a basic state, using a limited set of files and drivers. If a problem doesn’t happen in safe mode, this means that default settings and basic device drivers aren’t causing the issue. Observing Windows in safe mode enables you to narrow down the source of a problem, and can help you troubleshoot problems on your PC.

There are two versions of safe mode: Safe Mode and Safe Mode with Networking. Safe Mode with Networking adds the network drivers and services you’ll need to access the Internet and other computers on your network.

Select from the following sections to find out how to start your PC in safe mode from Settings, from the sign-in screen, or from a black or blank screen.

Press Windows logo key + I on your keyboard to open Settings. If that doesn’t work, select the Start button, then select Settings .

Under Advanced startup, select Restart now.

After your PC restarts to the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart. You may be asked to enter your BitLocker recovery key.

After your PC restarts, you’ll see a list of options. Select 4 or press F4 to start your PC in Safe Mode. Or if you’ll need to use the Internet, select 5 or press F5 for Safe Mode with Networking.

When you can’t open Settings to get into safe mode, restart your device from the Windows sign-in screen.

On the Windows sign-in screen, press and hold the Shift key while you select the Power > Restart .

After your PC restarts to the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart. You may be asked to enter your BitLocker recovery key.

After your PC restarts, you’ll see a list of options. Select 4 or F4 to start your PC in safe mode. Or if you’ll need to use the Internet, select 5 or F5 for Safe Mode with Networking.

Note: If you’ve encrypted your device, you’ll need your BitLocker key to start in safe mode.

Before you enter safe mode, you need to enter the Windows Recovery Environment (winRE). To do this, you will repeatedly turn your device off, then on:

Hold down the power button for 10 seconds to turn off your device.

Press the power button again to turn on your device.

On the first sign that Windows has started (for example, some devices show the manufacturer’s logo when restarting) hold down the power button for 10 seconds to turn off your device.

Press the power button again to turn on your device.

When Windows restarts, hold down the power button for 10 seconds to turn off your device.

Press the power button again to turn on your device.

Allow your device to fully restart. You will enter winRE.

Now that you are in winRE, you will follow these steps to take you to safe mode:

On the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart.

After your device restarts, you’ll see a list of options. Select option 5 from the list or press F5 for Safe Mode with Networking.

If you need more info on a black or blank screen error, see Troubleshoot black or blank screen errors.

Notes: If you need to exit safe mode, simply restart your device, or:

Press the Windows logo key + R.

Type msconfig in the Open box and then select OK.

Select the Boot tab.

Under Boot options, clear the Safe boot checkbox.

How to enable F8 key & Safe Mode in Windows 10

Windows 10/8 boots real fast, as a result, you may have found that the F8 key does not work. There is a reason for this. Microsoft has reduced the time-periods for F2 and F8 keys to almost near-nil intervals – less than 200 milliseconds if you want to know – as a result of which the chances of it detecting the F8 interrupt is extremely low and users do not get time to press F8 for invoke the boot menu and subsequently enter Safe Mode in Windows.

Safe Mode in Windows 10

While we know how to boot Windows into Safe Mode using the msconfig tool, we have seen how to make Windows show Advanced Boot Options and use it to boot into safe mode. We have also seen how we can display Startup Settings to boot into Safe Mode in Windows 8. In this post, we will see how to enable the F8 key so that we can boot into Windows 10/8 Safe Mode, using this key – as we did in Windows 7 and earlier.

You will have to enable the legacy boot policy. Mind you, when you do this, Windows will start a few seconds later. When you enable this policy on a dual-boot system, you will also be able to select the operating system you wish to boot into. You will no longer need to again follow these steps.

F8 not working in Windows 10

To enable the F8 keep, so that we can use it to start Windows 10/8 in safe mode, open an elevated command prompt window. Type the following and hit Enter:

You will see a message: The operation completed successfully.

You will find that the Windows 8 F8 key which was not working, is now working! You may have to restart your computer to get the setting to work.

If you wish to reverse the setting, type the following and hit Enter:

You will again see a message: The operation completed successfully. The settings will be restored back to Windows 10/8 defaults.

If you need to boot to safe mode or access the diagnostic & troubleshooting tools frequently, you may want to enable the F8 key; but as mentioned, your Windows 10/8 could start a few seconds slower, and so you should be prepared to lose those few seconds.

NOTE: Juan Antonio Diaz of Microsoft has posted another way on how to enable it on TechNet on how to enable safe mode in Windows 10/8. Using this method you can set it so that pressing F8 will boot into safe mode and you can make this setting permanent. To do so, follow these steps:

Close all the application that is open.

From the Home screen just type “CMD” and right-click on it then on the bottom of the screen you’ll see advance click on it and click “Run as administrator

Then type in the following command:

Now you’ll see tow descriptions, look under “Windows Boot Loader” and copy the Identifier entry. In my case, it starts with

Using this, I type in this command:

Replace the GUID with the one you copied.

Now from the same command prompt type in “MSCONFIG”. Then go to the Boot Tab and check the box where it says “Make all boot settings permanent” click on Apply and click OK.

Reboot your System you now when you press F8 you should see this Windows

Click on “Use another operating system” then select Safe Mode then your system will restart and login to Safe Mode.

Windows safe mode command key

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How to Start Windows 10 in Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Lawrence Abrams

• January 25, 2017
• Read 450,757 times

Windows Safe Mode with Command Prompt is a special startup mode that allows you to access Windows in a stripped down session where many drivers are not loaded, there is no networking, and the desktop is not loaded. From this mode, you can perform fixes, diagnostics, or any other task that you could normally do from a command prompt.

This mode is especially useful when you are trying to remove a computer infection that loads their own program instead of the normal desktop. Using the Windows Safe Mode with Command Prompt you can start Windows before the malware is loaded and then easily remove it.

Unfortunately, in order to increase the boot speed of Windows 10, Microsoft sacrificed easy access to Windows Safe Mode. Now instead of pressing F8 to access Safe Mode, like you did in prior operating systems, you have to go through a variety of steps in order to startup in Safe Mode. These steps are outlined below.

How to Start Windows 10 in Safe Mode with Command Prompt

The easiest way to begin the process of booting into Safe Mode with Command Prompt is from the Windows 10 login screen. To access this screen, you can either log out, reboot your computer, or press the Ctrl+Alt+Delete keys a the same time.

Once you are at the Windows 10 sign-in screen, you should hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and not let it go. While holding down the Shift key, click on the Power button ( ) and then click on Restart.

When Windows 10 restarts, you will be at the Choose an Option screen as shown below.

At the above screen click on the Troubleshooting button to access the Troubleshoot options screen.

At the above screen, now click on the Advanced Options button to access the Advanced Options screen as shown below.

At the above screen, click on the Startup Settings option and you will now be presented with the Startup Settings screen.

At the above screen, click on the Restart button. Windows will now begin to start, but you will be presented with a screen, as shown below, that provides various options you can select to specify how Windows should be started.

At this screen you should press the number 6 key on your keyboard to enter Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

Windows 10 will now boot and you will be presented with the normal login prompt. Enter your password, and you will be brought directly to a Windows Command Prompt rather than the normal Windows desktop as shown below.

From this prompt you can enter commands that you wish to execute and they will run directly from the command prompt. You can also start programs like the Registry Editor (regedit.exe), Task Manager (taskmgr.exe), or the Windows Explorer by typing Explorer.exe and pressing enter.

When you are ready to reboot back into normal mode, once again press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to access the security screen and then shutdown or restart your computer from the power button.

What should I do if I can’t access the login screen?

If you attempt to start Windows and it is unable to properly start, after a few attempts Windows will display a recovery screen similar to the one below.

At this point, you should follow the steps from this point. Doing so will allow you to access the Safe Mode selection screen without first booting into Windows and accessing the login screen.

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