How to Start Windows 11 in Safe Mode (2026)

Safe Mode is Windows at its most stripped-back: no third-party drivers, no startup programs, no unnecessary services, just the kernel and a handful of Microsoft-signed components. It has been the go-to environment for diagnosing driver conflicts, removing stubborn malware, and recovering from botched updates since Windows NT. But Microsoft made Safe Mode harder to reach in Windows 10 and 11 — the old F8 key trick no longer works by default, and if you have never needed it before you may not know where it went.

This guide covers every working method to start Windows 11 in Safe Mode in 2026, ordered from least friction to most. If Windows is currently booting normally, Methods 1 and 2 will get you there in under a minute. If Windows will not boot at all, skip straight to Method 4.

When do you actually need Safe Mode?

Safe Mode is useful in four main scenarios:

• A driver is crashing Windows. If a GPU driver, audio driver, or USB controller update has left you with a blue screen loop, booting into Safe Mode lets you uninstall the driver without the crash happening again.
• Malware is blocking removal. Some malware hooks into normal-mode startup and prevents security tools from removing it. In Safe Mode those hooks do not load, so a scan can clean them.
• A startup program is making Windows unresponsive. If Windows boots but freezes before you can click anything, Safe Mode loads without startup apps so you can find and disable the offender.
• System file corruption. Running sfc /scannow or DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth in Safe Mode avoids the file-in-use conflicts that sometimes interrupt those tools in a normal session.

Method 1: Via Windows Settings → Recovery (easiest, normal boot required)

If Windows 11 is currently running normally, this is the cleanest path. It takes about 30 seconds and does not require any command line work.

1. Press Win+I to open Settings.
2. Go to System → Recovery.
3. Under Recovery options, click Restart now next to "Advanced startup".
4. Windows will restart and show the blue Choose an option screen.
5. Select Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart.
6. After the restart, press 4 for Safe Mode, 5 for Safe Mode with Networking, or 6 for Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

Windows will boot into the selected Safe Mode variant. The desktop will be visibly different — lower resolution, black background, "Safe Mode" printed in all four corners.

Method 2: Shift+Restart from the Start menu (fastest one-click path)

This is the quickest way to reach the Advanced Startup options without opening Settings at all.

1. Click the Start button (or press Win).
2. Click the power icon at the bottom right of the Start menu.
3. Hold Shift and click Restart. Keep Shift held until the screen goes blank.
4. Windows will boot into the blue Choose an option screen.
5. Follow the same path as Method 1: Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart, then press 4, 5, or 6.

You can also Shift+Restart from the Windows Lock screen — useful if the desktop is frozen but you can still reach the lock screen power menu.

Method 3: Using msconfig (the classic way)

msconfig — the System Configuration tool — has been the go-to method since Windows XP. It offers a convenient toggle that forces Safe Mode on every subsequent boot until you turn it off, which makes it useful if you need to reboot multiple times inside Safe Mode (for example, when testing whether different drivers are the cause of a problem).

1. Press Win+R, type msconfig, and press Enter.
2. Go to the Boot tab.
3. Check Safe boot. Choose the variant you need:
   • Minimal — standard Safe Mode, no network.
   • Network — Safe Mode with Networking.
   • Alternate shell — Safe Mode with Command Prompt.
   • Active Directory repair — only relevant on domain-joined enterprise machines.
4. Click OK and choose Restart.

Important: msconfig's Safe boot checkbox stays checked until you go back and uncheck it. After you finish diagnosing and are ready to return to normal mode, re-open msconfig, uncheck Safe boot on the Boot tab, click OK, and restart.

Method 4: From Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) — for broken boots

If Windows will not boot to the desktop at all, you cannot use Methods 1–3. Instead, you need to reach the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE).

Automatic WinRE after failed boots

Windows 11 automatically enters WinRE after two consecutive failed startup attempts. To trigger this deliberately:

1. Turn on the PC. As soon as you see the Windows logo, hold the power button for 5 seconds to force a shutdown.
2. Repeat once more — two interrupted startups in a row should trigger the automatic repair and then the Advanced Startup options screen.
3. On the blue screen, go to Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart, then press 4, 5, or 6.

Booting from a Windows 11 USB drive

If the automatic trigger does not work, you can also reach WinRE from a Windows 11 installation USB:

1. Insert a Windows 11 installation USB (created with the Media Creation Tool from Microsoft) and boot from it — you may need to change the boot order in BIOS/UEFI.
2. On the first screen, click Next, then Repair your computer in the lower left.
3. Go to Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings and select the Safe Mode variant you need.

Method 5: Re-enable the F8 boot menu

In Windows 7 and earlier, pressing F8 during startup brought up a boot options menu that included Safe Mode. This still technically works in Windows 11, but it is disabled by default because fast startup skips the hardware detection phase where F8 would be detected.

To re-enable it, open an elevated Command Prompt or PowerShell (search for CMD, right-click, Run as administrator) and run:

bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes

Wait — the actual command uses curly braces around bootmgr. Type: bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes

After a restart, pressing F8 (or sometimes F11, depending on your machine) just before the Windows logo appears will show a simple text boot menu. Navigate with arrow keys and select Safe Mode. To restore the default fast-boot behaviour later, run bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu no.

Method 6: From an elevated Command Prompt (no restart intermediate)

If you are comfortable with the command line, you can trigger a reboot directly into Advanced Startup from any elevated terminal:

shutdown /r /o /f /t 0

This forces an immediate restart into the Choose an option screen. From there, follow the same Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings path as in Methods 1 and 2.

What to do once you are in Safe Mode

Safe Mode is a starting point, not an end state. Here are the most common tasks:

Uninstall a problematic driver

Press Win+X and open Device Manager. Find the device with the broken driver (it will usually have a yellow warning icon), right-click it, and choose Uninstall device. Check the box to delete the driver files too. On the next normal restart, Windows will attempt to reinstall a basic driver automatically, or you can install the correct version manually.

Disable startup programs

Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager, go to the Startup apps tab (Windows 11) or Startup tab (Windows 10 UI), and disable anything suspicious or recently installed. This is also a good companion step to a broader File Explorer and system maintenance routine.

Run System File Checker

In Safe Mode with Command Prompt, or in a Command Prompt opened from Safe Mode's normal desktop, run:

sfc /scannow

This scans all protected system files and replaces corrupt or missing ones from the Windows component cache. If sfc reports it cannot repair some files, follow it with the DISM command to refresh the component store first.

Scan for malware

In Safe Mode with Networking, open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Scan options and run a Full scan or Microsoft Defender Offline scan. The offline scan restarts Windows one more time into a pre-OS environment where Defender can target rootkits that hide during a normal session.

Returning to normal mode

Simply restart your PC normally. If you used Methods 1, 2, 4, or 6 (one-time Safe Mode), Windows will boot normally on the next restart.

If you used Method 3 (msconfig with the Safe boot checkbox), you must go back into msconfig and uncheck Safe boot before restarting — otherwise Windows will continue to boot into Safe Mode every time.

For a related guide on restoring Windows to a working state after driver or software issues, see our post on how to reset or reinstall Windows 11 — Safe Mode is often the first step before deciding whether a reset is actually necessary.

Which method should you use?

• Windows is running normally and you want Safe Mode once: Shift+Restart (Method 2) — fastest.
• You need to reboot multiple times within Safe Mode: msconfig (Method 3) — keeps Safe Mode enabled across restarts until you turn it off.
• Windows will not boot: Force WinRE by interrupting startup twice (Method 4).
• You want F8 back permanently: bcdedit command (Method 5).

Safe Mode is one of the most powerful troubleshooting tools in Windows. It has not been removed in Windows 11 — it is just a few more clicks away than it used to be. Once you know where to look, you can be inside a Safe Mode session in under two minutes from a running desktop, or in about five minutes from a machine that will not boot.

For ongoing system health monitoring — so problems announce themselves before they become boot failures — consider adding a system stats widget to your desktop to keep an eye on temperatures and CPU spikes. And if you want a clean, minimal desktop that loads faster and gives you fewer startup issues, our minimalist Windows desktop guide walks through which startup programs are genuinely worth keeping.

FAQ

What is the difference between Safe Mode and Safe Mode with Networking?

Standard Safe Mode loads Windows with only the minimal set of drivers and services — no network connectivity whatsoever. Safe Mode with Networking adds the drivers and services required to connect to a local network or the internet, which is useful when you need to download a driver, run an online malware scanner, or reach a network share to grab a repair tool. Safe Mode with Command Prompt replaces Explorer with a bare command line session, which is the right choice when Explorer itself is broken or infected.

Why does Windows 11 not boot into Safe Mode when I press F8?

The legacy F8 boot menu is disabled by default in Windows 11 (and Windows 10 before it) because the fast-boot mechanism writes a hibernation image rather than doing a cold POST sequence, leaving no time for the BIOS to detect a keypress. You can re-enable the legacy boot menu by running the command: bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes in an elevated Command Prompt. After that, F8 (or F11 on some machines) will show the menu again. The downside is a marginally slower startup.

Can I enter Safe Mode if Windows 11 will not boot at all?

Yes. If Windows fails to boot three times in a row, it automatically enters Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) and presents the Advanced Startup Options screen. From there choose Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart and select Safe Mode (option 4), Safe Mode with Networking (5), or Safe Mode with Command Prompt (6). You can also force WinRE by holding the power button to interrupt startup twice during the Windows logo phase.

Will Safe Mode delete my files or reset my settings?

No. Safe Mode is purely a diagnostic startup mode — it loads fewer drivers and disables most third-party services, but it does not touch your documents, applications, or user settings. Everything will be exactly as you left it when you restart normally. The only thing that changes between Safe Mode and normal mode is which drivers and services are active during the session.

How do I exit Safe Mode and return to normal Windows 11?

The simplest way is to restart the PC while holding nothing down and let Windows start normally. If Windows 11 keeps booting back into Safe Mode — which can happen if a startup repair tool left a flag set — open msconfig (press Win+R, type msconfig), go to the Boot tab, and uncheck the "Safe boot" checkbox, then click OK and restart.

Can I run antivirus scans in Safe Mode on Windows 11?

Yes, and it is often the best way to remove stubborn malware. Windows Defender (Microsoft Defender Antivirus) is available in Safe Mode with Networking. Open Windows Security, go to Virus & threat protection, and run a Full scan or an Offline scan. Third-party AV tools vary — many require their services to be running, which Safe Mode prevents, so the built-in Defender scan or a bootable rescue disk from Kaspersky, ESET, or Malwarebytes is usually the better option for deep cleaning.