Recovery tools

How to access Advanced startup options on Windows 10 to troubleshoot and fix your PC

Five ways to access the Advanced startup options to boot in Safe Mode, change UEFI settings, use System Restore or System Recovery image to get your PC working again.

Avatar for Mauro Huc
@pureinfotech
Pureinfotech Logo
Advanced startup options on Windows 10

On Windows 10, eventually, you’ll need to troubleshoot or configure certain system settings that you won’t be able to change when the operating system is running. In these scenarios, you can use the “Windows Start Settings,” or “Advanced startup” options (formerly known as “Advanced boot options”) to troubleshoot, diagnose, and fix virtually any problem with your PC.

Advanced startup offers a number of different ways in which you can troubleshoot and fix your device, and because problems can strike from many different directions, Windows 10 provides several ways to access these options.

In this guide, you’ll learn five ways to access Advanced startup options, either when you’re still running the operating system, or when your computer isn’t starting to access the troubleshooting tools to fix any issues.

How to access Advanced startup using Settings

When Windows 10 is running, you can quickly access the Advanced startup options using the Settings app with these steps:

  1. Open Settings.

  2. Click on Update & Security.

  3. Click on Recovery.

  4. Under “Advanced startup,” click the Restart button.

    Windows 10 Advanced Startup settings
    Windows 10 Advanced Startup settings
    Note: The Advanced startup option in the Settings app won’t be available through a Remote Desktop Connection.

Once you’ve completed the steps, this action will log you out immediately of your current session to access the Advanced startup experience.

How to access Advanced startup using Power menu

Start Power menu

Similar to the previous method, you can also access the Windows Startup Settings through the Power menu in the Start menu.

  1. Open Start.

  2. Click the Power button.

  3. Press and hold the Shift key and click Restart button.

    Start Power menu
    Start Power menu

After completing the steps, the action will trigger Windows 10 to access the Advanced startup menu.

You can also use this method in the power menu available in the Power User menu (Windows key + X).

Task Manager Power menu

While in Windows 10, you can also open the Task Manager menu to access the advanced startup menu using these steps:

  1. Use the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keyboard shortcut to bring up the menu.

  2. Click the Power button in the bottom-right corner.

  3. Press and hold the Shift key and click Restart button.

    Ctrl+Alt+Del Power menu in Windows 10
    Ctrl+Alt+Del Power menu in Windows 10

Once you’ve completed the steps, you’ll be logged out from your current session, and Windows 10 will open the Advanced startup options.

Lock screen Power menu

Alternatively, you can also use the Power menu in the Lock screen to access the Advanced startup experience using these steps:

  1. Open Lock screen.

  2. Access the Sign-in screen.

  3. Click the Power button in the bottom-right corner.

  4. Press and hold the Shift key and click the Restart button.

    Login screen Power menu Shift+Restart Windows 10

How to access Advanced startup using Command Prompt

You can also access the troubleshooting and recovery options using Command Prompt with these steps:

  1. Open Start.

  2. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, select the Run as administrator option.

  3. Type the following command and press Enter:

    shutdown /r /o /f /t 00

    Command line to access Advanced startup in Windows 10

After completing the steps, Windows 10 will access the recovery environment.

How to access Advanced startup using Windows 10 installation media

If you can’t boot Windows 10, you can use a USB bootable media to access the Windows Startup Settings.

You’ll need to create a bootable installation media, and then use these steps:

  1. Start computer with the USB bootable media.

  2. Click the Next button.

    Windows Setup (Windows 10)

  3. Click the Repair your computer option in the bottom-left corner.

    Repair your computer - Windows 10 Setup

Once you’ve completed the steps, the Windows Setup will open the Advanced startup environment.

How to access Advanced startup using Automatic Repair

If your PC isn’t loading Windows 10, and you don’t have the operating system installation files, you can use the following steps:

  1. Press the power button.

  2. Immediately after the Power-On Self-Test (POST), press the power button again to shutdown.

  3. Repeat the previous steps No. 1 and No. 2 twice, and in the third restart the operating system should enter into the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE), where a number of diagnostics will be performed to try fix any booting issues, but you will also get an option to access the Windows Startup Settings.

    Preparing automatic repair - Windows 10

  4. Select your account, enter the your password.

  5. Click the Continue button.

    Automatic repair - account settings

  6. The diagnostic will begin, and then you will have the option to get access to the Advanced startup environment. Click the Advanced startup button to continue. 

    Automatic Repair - Advanced options

After completing the steps, Windows 10 will open the Advanced startup environment.

While on the first “Advanced startup” screen, click the Troubleshoot option, and you will be able to access the Reset this PC feature, which will help you reinstall Windows 10 without losing your files, settings, and programs or you can also perform a clean install of the operating system.

Troubleshoot menu (Advanced Startup)

In the Advanced options screen, you can access to a number of troubleshooting options, such as “System Restore” to restore your PC to a previous good working condition. You can also access the “System Image Recovery” tool, which let you recover Windows 10, settings, and programs from a specific full system backup. And you can fix various common problems, like bootloader issues that stops the operating system from loading using “Startup Repair”.

Advanced options (Advanced Startup)

In addition, you can also launch the “Command Prompt” to perform advanced troubleshooting. The “Startup Settings” option let you boot in Safe Mode to repair your Windows 10 PC from bad drivers or problems with certain applications. Lastly, there is an option to roll back to the previous build when the current version of Windows 10 is causing issues after an upgrade.

While the different methods to access the troubleshooting tools aim to fix Windows 10, you can also use the same instructions to troubleshoot and repair issues with Windows 8.1.

If you’re using BitLocker, you will need to turn the security feature off before you can access the Advanced startup options.

Update August 28, 2018: Originally published on January 2016, updated in August 2018 to reflect the new changes.