How to boot into Safe Mode in Windows 10

There are times when you need to boot into Windows' stripped-down Safe Mode. But Windows 10 complicates the process.

One of the first steps to troubleshooting a Windows computer is to boot into Safe Mode. In Safe Mode, only the most essential files and drivers are loaded. Using this approach, we can eliminate as many variables as possible, and we can ensure that the problem does not originate here. For instance, we can scan here for malware.

The traditional way of entering Safe Mode -- starting the PC and pressing F8 at the exact right time -- rarely works with Windows 10. Instead, you can:

In most cases, if you can boot into Windows, you can enter Safe Mode - if you know how.

Click the Start button, then click or tap Power. When you select Restart, hold down the Shift key.

Choose Troubleshoot>Advanced options>Startup Settings from the full-screen menu that appears.

• Tap Restart when prompted. The PC will restart, and Startup Settings will appear.
• Using the arrow keys on your keyboard, select Enable Safe Mode or Enable Safe Mode with Networking.
• But what if you can't boot your operating system because the situation is so bad?
• Boot anyway. In the lower-right corner of the login screen, you'll find a power icon. Follow the instructions there.

What if you can't access the login screen? There's a good chance that Windows is so damaged that it couldn't boot into Safe Mode. However, here's a trick that might help:

Hopefully, you created a Windows 10 Recovery Drive while your PC was working. Select your keyboard layout and boot up the Recovery Drive. Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt. Enter the following three lines into the command prompt, hitting Enter after each line:

• c:
• bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy
• exit

Click Turn off your computer. Press and release F8 repeatedly until the Advanced Boot Options menu appears. From there, choose Safe Mode or Safe Mode with Networking.