Since, the popular F8 Key Method of booting a Windows Computer into Safe Mode has been disabled in Windows 10. We are providing below other methods of Starting Windows 10 in Safe Mode.
What is Safe Mode
Safe Mode can be described as diagnostic mode that makes it easy to fix most problems on your Computer.
Safe Mode makes a Windows Computer start with only the most essential applications, allowing you isolate and identify programs or drivers that might be causing problems on your computer.
There are multiple ways of starting a Windows 10 Computer in Safe Mode, you will find below the steps for the following methods to boot your Windows 10 Computer into Safe Mode.
1. Safe Mode Using System Configuration App
2. Safe Mode Using Shift + Restart
3. Safe Mode Using Windows 10 Recovery Drive
1. Start Windows 10 in Safe Mode Using System Configuration app
This method of starting Windows 10 Computer in Safe Mode can be used if you are able to log in to your computer with an Admin Account.
1. Type msconfig in the Windows 10 search bar.
2. Next, click on System Configuration Desktop App as suggested by Windows 10 search (See image below)
3. On the next screen, click on the Boot tab and then select Safe Boot and Minimal options (See image below)
3. After selecting Safe Mode and Minimal Options, click on Apply and OK (See image above)
4. Next, you will see a pop-up asking, if you want to restart your system. Click on Restart, to start the process of Starting your Computer in Safe Mode.
As you can see from the System Configuration Screen, there are other Boot Options that you can make use of, depending on your requirements.
Minimal: Starts Safe Mode in standard Windows GUI (Graphical User Interface) with only the most essential services and drivers.
Alternate Shell: Starts Safe Mode in Command Prompt Mode. Use this only if you have advanced knowledge of commands.
Active Directory Repair: Starts Safe Mode with access to hardware information. This option is used for repairing corrupted hardware data.
Network: Starts Safe Mode in Standard Windows GUI, with required services and drivers for networking.
Turn OFF Safe Mode
Once you are done fixing the problems on your Computer, it is important to turn OFF the Safe Mode option in the System Configuration App, otherwise your Computer will continue to boot in Safe Mode, every time you Restart.
Access the System Configuration Desktop App, the same way as described above and uncheck the Safe Boot checkbox.
Now, you can Restart your computer and it will boot in normal mode.
2. Start Windows 10 in Safe Mode Using Shift + Restart
This method of Booting Windows 10 Computer into Safe Mode works right from the Windows 10 sign-in screen, you do not have to login to any of your User Accounts.
1. Click on the Power Button located at the bottom right corner of your Login Screen. It will bring up three options: Sleep, Shut down and Restart (See image in item 2 below)
2. Hold Down the Shift Key on the keyboard of your Computer and click on Restart. (See image below)
3. Continue holding the Shift key till the Computer completely Reboots.
4. Your Computer will Restart and present you with three options: Continue, Troubleshoot, Turn off your PC. Click on the Troubleshoot option (See image below)
5. On the next screen, click on Advanced Options
6. On the Advanced options screen, click on Startup Settings.
7. On the Startup Settings Screen, click on the Restart button to move to the next screen (See image below).
8. On the next screen, you will see a bunch of Startup options. Press the F4 Key to Start your Windows 10 Computer in Safe Mode (See image below).
As you can see from image above, you can also boot your computer into Safe Mode with Networking and Safe Mode with Command Prompt options by pressing F5 and F6 keys.
3. Start Windows 10 Computer in Safe Mode Using Recovery Drive
Booting from a Windows 10 Recovery Drive is your best option in case you can’t even get to the Login screen and you are unable to use the methods as described above to start your Windows 10 Computer in Safe Mode.
Luckily, you can easily make a Windows 10 Recovery Drive right now by going to another computer running Windows 10 operating system, in case you haven’t made one yet.
Assuming that you have a Windows 10 Recovery Drive, follow the steps below to Enable Safe Mode on a Windows 10 Computer using a Recovery Drive.
1. First, confirm that your Computer is capable of booting from a USB drive. You may have to change the boot sequence on your computer by getting into the BIOS settings, in case it is not set up to boot from a USB drive.
Changing BIOS settings is not difficult, just follow the steps outlined in: How to Enable USB Boot in BIOS.
2. Insert the Windows 10 USB Recovery Drive into the computer and Restart your computer
3. Once your Computer Boots up from the Recovery Drive, you will be asked to select a Keyboard Layout.
4. On the next screen, click on the Troubleshoot option (See image below).
5. On the Troubleshoot screen, click on Advanced Options.
6. On the Advanced Options screen, click on Startup Settings.
7. On the Startup Settings screen, you will see a bunch of Startup option. Press the F4 key to start your Windows 10 Computer in Safe Mode.
As you can see in the image above, you can also start Windows 10 in Safe Mode with Networking and Command Prompt Modes by pressing F5 and F6 Keys.