Start Windows 10 in Safe Mode

Technology has been changing drastically, so as a way of using such technology.

The shortcut keys and commands that used to work in Windows XP might not work in Windows 10 because there have been lots of changes made to Windows 10.

While it was easy to boot into the operating system earlier by pressing F8, it might not work in Windows 10.

This post explains different ways to start Windows 10 in safe mode.

However, it’s not like it has become difficult to start a PC in Safe Mode in Windows 10.

The company has included several new features in Windows 10 that make starting a PC in Safe mode easier and by using different methods.

Also see: How to get help in Windows 10

We will be discussing several ways of doing so and I guarantee everyone including those with not much technical knowledge can follow these methods and boot Windows 10 in Safe Mode.

Here is how you can go about it:

How to Start Window 10 in Safe Mode:

We aren’t going into details as to why anyone would need to start Windows 10 in Safe mode as different people could have different reasons.

However, If you have to troubleshoot a PC to fix some program error, Safe Mode allows you to open a limited version of the Windows operating system and blocks the execution of unwanted software (virus).

Safe Mode is helpful in case you have to uninstall any program or a driver that preventing your PC from functional normally or booting normally.

So, whatever the reason is, here are methods of starting Windows 10 in Safe Mode:

METHOD #1– Start Windows 10 in Safe Mode with “msconfig”

This is one of the easiest methods to boot Windows 10 in Safe Mode as its a pretty straightforward method. It involves only 3 steps and you can restart the PC in Safe Mode. Take a look:

1. Press Win + R.
2. Type “msconfig.exe” and hit enter or press “OK”. Alternatively, type “msconfig.exe” to Cortana on the bottom left corner as below and you will have “System Configuration” comes in search results. Click it and you will be able to open system configuration.
3. By default, you will see controls from the “General” Tab. Click on the “Boot” Tab.
4. Under “Boot Options” tick the checkbox that reads “Safe boot”. Leave the other things as it is. Click Ok or hit Press Enter.
5. Now you have two options, either to restart right away or boot when you restart your PC later. Chose any of these and you are done!

Since you have tick the “safe boot” checkbox it wouldn’t un-check itself on re-start. Hence, once you start Windows 10 in Safe Mode and restart your PC believing you will see the normal Windows, it wouldn’t happen.

What to do then to start Windows back in normal mode?

You need to go back to System Configuration and uncheck the “boot option” and restart the PC. It will now boot in normal mode.

METHOD #2– Boot into Windows 10 in Safe Mode with Troubleshoot

This is interesting to know that we have several options to boot Windows 10 in Safe Mode and this is yet another way of doing that. Here is what you need to do:

1. Go to the start menu and click the “Power” button.
2. Press the “Shift” key and while keep pressing the Shift key, click “Restart“.                                                                                                                                                             Alternatively, You can perform the same operation from the Sign-in screen as well.                                            
3. On the restart, you will be asked to choose an option. Chose “Troubleshoot”                                         
4. After TroubleShoot, choose “Advance options”                                                                                                  
5. You will then taken to Advanced options. There will be several options to chose from. The first option can be used to restore the system from a restoration point however you can go to the command prompt as well. We now need to select “Startup Settings”                                                                   
6. Then Startup Settings will open. Press the “Restart” button and the system will computer will restart.                              
7. On the restart, you can choose any from options 4, 5, & 6 depending on your need. Chose Option 4- “Enable Safe Mode” in case you want to restart Windows 10 in safe mode with minimal version, which doesn’t allow you to open any program. Chose Option 5 – “Enable Safe Mode with Networking” in case you want to restart in Safe mode with network ability. This is an ideal option if you need to search for help on the internet. Chose Option 6- “Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt” if you need a big command prompt screen to fix the problem in case you know the commands to do so.

METHOD #3– Start Windows 10 in Safe Mode from “All Settings“

This method is pretty much similar to the above method. We will see how to reach “Choose an Option” as we did in step 3 in the above method (method #2). From “Choose an Option“, the process will remain the same as the above method. Here we go:

1. Click on the “notification” box on the bottom right side just adjacent to the date & time and then click “All settings“
2. The settings panel will be opened. Click “Update & security“. 
3. Select “Recover” from the left-hand side menu and then click “Restart” from Advanced Setup.
4. When the computer is restarted, you will see the same screen as in step-3 in the above method (method #2). Follow the same steps from this point to boot in Windows 10’s safe mode as we did in method #2.

Apart from these methods, you can boot into Windows 10’s Safe Mode with Bootable Pendrive,  by improper shutting down the PC thrice (not recommended though) as well.