Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10  

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    Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10

    Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10

    How to Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10
    Published by Category: Installation & Upgrade
    26 Mar 2022
    Designer Media Ltd

    How to Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10


    If you have a problem with your PC, you can troubleshoot by starting it in safe mode. Safe mode starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and services. If a problem doesn't reappear when you start your PC in safe mode, you can eliminate the default settings and basic device drivers and services as possible causes.

    There are three different safe mode options:
    • Safe Mode: Starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and services.
    • Safe Mode with Networking: Starts Windows in safe mode and includes the network drivers and services needed to access the Internet or other computers on your network.
    • Safe Mode with Command Prompt: Starts Windows in safe mode with a command prompt window instead of the usual Windows interface.

    Starting with Windows 10 build 18995, Microsoft is taking another step forward in the Passwordless sign-in journey by adding Windows Hello PIN sign-in support to Safe mode, so that you no longer have rely on your password when troubleshooting your device.

    Having safe mode added to your boot options now will make it much easier to boot to safe mode in the future if needed.

    This tutorial will show you how to add Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, and/or Safe Mode with Command Prompt to the boot options of your Windows 10 PC.

    You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to add safe mode to your PC's boot options

    You will only be able to sign in using your account's password while in Safe Mode unless you enable passwordless sign-in for a Microsoft account.



    Contents

    • Option One: To Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10
    • Option Two: To Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Command Prompt at Boot
    • Option Three: To Remove Safe Mode from Boot Options in Command Prompt



    EXAMPLE: "Windows 10 Safe Mode" added to boot options
    Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10-choose_an_os_windows_10_safe_mode.png






    OPTION ONE

    To Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10


    1 Open an elevated command prompt while running Windows 10.

    2 Copy and paste the command below for the safe mode you want to use into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

    You can substitute the part of the command in red with any desciption you like. This is what will show on the boot options screen.


    bcdedit /copy {Current} /d “Windows 10 Safe Mode

    OR

    bcdedit /copy {Current} /d “Windows 10 Safe Mode with Networking

    OR

    bcdedit /copy {Current} /d “Windows 10 Safe Mode with Command Prompt

    Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10-add_safe_mode_to_boot_options_command.png

    3 Close the elevated command prompt.

    4 Press the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog, type msconfig into run, and click/tap on OK to open System Configuration.

    5 In System Configuration, and click/tap on the Boot tab. (see screenshot below)

    A) Select the Windows 10 Safe Mode description at the top. This will be the same desciption you used in step 2 above.

    B) Check Safe boot, and select (dot) Minimal (safe mode), Alternate shell (safe mode with command prompt), or Network (safe mode with networking) for the same command you used in step 2 above.

    C) Enter how many seconds you want for the Timeout value to have available to choose an operating system at boot before your default OS automatically boots.

    D) Check the Make all boot settings permanent box, and click/tap on OK.

    Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10-add_safe_mode_to_boot_options_msconfig-1.png

    6 Click/tap on Yes to confirm. You can ignore the warning since this can be removed. (see screenshot below)

    Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10-add_safe_mode_to_boot_options_msconfig-2.png

    7 Click on either Restart or Exit without restart. The next time you restart the computer, you will see the safe mode boot option available. (see screenshot below)

    Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10-add_safe_mode_to_boot_options_msconfig-3.png






    OPTION TWO

    To Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Command Prompt at Boot


    You could also do this option using an elevated command prompt in Windows 10, but it would be easier to use Option One above from within Windows 10 instead.


    1 Open a command prompt at boot.

    2 Type bcdedit in the command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

    A) Look for the Windows 10 description under a Windows Boot Loader section, and make note of it's identifier (ex: {default} ).

    Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10-add_safe_mode_to_boot_options_command_boot-1.png

    3 Type the command below for the safe mode you want to use into command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

    bcdedit /copy {identifier} /d “Windows 10 Safe Mode”

    OR

    bcdedit /copy {identifier} /d “Windows 10 Safe Mode with Networking”

    OR

    bcdedit /copy {identifier} /d “Windows 10 Safe Mode with Command Prompt”

    Substitute identifier in the command above with the actual identifier from step 2A above.

    For example: bcdedit /copy {default} /d “Windows 10 Safe Mode”

    Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10-add_safe_mode_to_boot_options_command_boot-2.png

    4 Make note of the safe mode identifier (ex: {9692da4e-4524-11e5-b831-f410e240349c} ) that the entry was successfully copied to. (see screenshot above)

    5 Type the command below for the same safe mode used from step 3 above into the command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

    (safe mode)
    bcdedit /set {identifier} safeboot minimal

    OR

    (safe mode with networking)
    bcdedit /set {identifier} safeboot network

    OR

    (safe mode with command prompt)
    bcdedit /set {identifier} safeboot minimal

    and

    bcdedit /set {identifier} safebootalternateshell yes

    Substitute identifier in the command above with the actual identifier from step 4 above.

    For example: bcdedit /set {9692da4e-4524-11e5-b831-f410e240349c} safeboot minimal

    Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10-add_safe_mode_to_boot_options_command_boot-3.png

    6 When finished, restart the computer.






    OPTION THREE

    To Remove Safe Mode from Boot Options in Command Prompt


    1 Open an elevated command prompt in Windows 10, or open a command prompt at boot.

    2 Type bcdedit into the command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

    A) Look for the Windows 10 Safe Mode description that you used under a Windows Boot Loader section, and make note of it's identifier (ex: {b062e727-2cb4-11e5-8738-b504ff7d474f} ).

    Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10-remove_safe_mode_from_boot_options_command-1.png

    3 Type the command below into the command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

    bcdedit /delete {identifier}

    Substitute identifier in the command above with the actual identifier from step 2A above.

    For example: bcdedit /delete {b062e727-2cb4-11e5-8738-b504ff7d474f}

    Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10-remove_safe_mode_from_boot_options_command-2.png

    4 When finished, you can close the command prompt if you like, or restart the computer if this was from a command prompt at boot.


    That's it,
    Shawn Brink






  1. Posts : 3,367
    W10 Pro x64/W7 Ultimate x64 dual boot main - W11 Triple Boot Pending
       #1

    When going to add the entry on the second build I couldn't that remotely I thought until realizing the "{identifier}" was replaced by "{current}" when simply trying to copy and paste the entries in one at a time. That saw immediate results from another guide well done! :)

    Add Safe Mode to Boot Options in Windows 10-w10-safe-boot-entries-added.jpg

    Since 7 when selected from the dual boot menu will have all the F8 options come up right away I simply shortened the entries down a bit to Safe Mode, Safe Mode with... etc. since it will be 10's Safe mode being the default OS. Now to see this taken care of on the latop that just saw the upgrade to 10! :)
      My Computers


  2. Posts : 1
    Windows 10 preview
       #2

    {id} needed quotes for me


    Thanks for the tutorial.
    I got an error in the bcdedit commands unless I put the "{id}" in double quotes.
    Running Windows 10 preview build 10532, but I am not sure that was the issue. I could not find a normal 'command prompt', so I was using 'Windows Powershell'. It probably would not hurt to include quotes always. It was complaining about the 'dash' or 'minus sign':

    PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> bcdedit /copy {24321313-59ed-11e5-95fd-ea1f39b7ff3b} /d "Windows 10 normal"
    At line:1 char:25
    + bcdedit /copy {24321313-59ed-11e5-95fd-ea1f39b7ff3b} /d "Windows 10 n ...
    + ~
    You must provide a value expression following the '-' operator.
    At line:1 char:25
    + bcdedit /copy {24321313-59ed-11e5-95fd-ea1f39b7ff3b} /d "Windows 10 n ...
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Unexpected token '59ed-11e5-95fd-ea1f39b7ff3b' in expression or statement.
    + CategoryInfo : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ExpectedValueExpression


    PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> bcdedit /copy "{24321313-59ed-11e5-95fd-ea1f39b7ff3b}" /d "Windows 10 normal"
    The entry was successfully copied to {53deb8a9-5a7c-11e5-abfd-b1d211df29f1}.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 68,667
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Hello Bob, and welcome to Ten Forums. :)

    Yep, the issue was that you were using PowerShell instead of an elevated command prompt.

    https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2...dows-10-a.html
      My Computers


  4. meh
    Posts : 69
    Windows 9 (aka Windows 10)
       #4

    Yours are the best tips on the internet. And I've been around. Always clear and accurate. Thank you.

    Edit: After posting, I realized I probably gave you (and potentially others) an update notification just for my stupid "thank you," then tried to delete it. I cannot. Sorry about this.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 68,667
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #5

    That's ok meh. I'm glad it could help. :)
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 7
    Linux
       #6

    Doesn't work. Did MS manage to *break* this in newer builds? It's the sort of thing they would do (either through malevolence and/or incompetence). Ran the commands in an elevated command prompt, set the options, set the timeout to 10 seconds and checked the box to make the settings permanent and then rebooted. It still comes up without any boot menu. MS seem to be under the delusion their OS is flawless and doesn't need any options to fix failures.
      My Computer


  7. meh
    Posts : 69
    Windows 9 (aka Windows 10)
       #7

    The issue I've been having is that in msconfig, on the General tab, I select "Normal startup", but it doesn't stick. It reverts to "Selective startup" every time I reopen it. Also, my settings for "Safe Mode" and/or "Safe Mode with Networking" change for no apparent reason. Just now I noticed that the latter had changed so that "Safe boot" is no longer selected, and I know it was selected previously.

    I do not have the Win10 Anniversary update installed. But I'd have to opine that they have made a mess of this somehow.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 68,667
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #8

    jelabarre59 said:
    Doesn't work. Did MS manage to *break* this in newer builds? It's the sort of thing they would do (either through malevolence and/or incompetence). Ran the commands in an elevated command prompt, set the options, set the timeout to 10 seconds and checked the box to make the settings permanent and then rebooted. It still comes up without any boot menu. MS seem to be under the delusion their OS is flawless and doesn't need any options to fix failures.
    Hello Jelabarre59, :)

    Please go ahead and post back with your bcdedit to see if anything may look wrong with it.

    In addition, double check to make sure that you have enough time set to display OS boot options at startup using an option in the tutorial below.

    Operating Systems Time to Display at Startup - Change in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums
      My Computers


  9. Posts : 68,667
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #9

    meh said:
    The issue I've been having is that in msconfig, on the General tab, I select "Normal startup", but it doesn't stick. It reverts to "Selective startup" every time I reopen it. Also, my settings for "Safe Mode" and/or "Safe Mode with Networking" change for no apparent reason. Just now I noticed that the latter had changed so that "Safe boot" is no longer selected, and I know it was selected previously.

    I do not have the Win10 Anniversary update installed. But I'd have to opine that they have made a mess of this somehow.
    Hello Meh, :)

    Did you check the Make all boot settings permanent box?
      My Computers


 

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