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You are here: Home / Computer Tips / Enable the F8 key for booting into Safe Mode in Windows 8.1

Enable the F8 key for booting into Safe Mode in Windows 8.1

Posted on April 29, 2013

windows-8-logoWhen Microsoft designed Windows 8/8.1 they optimized the boot process in order to make Windows load faster.

While this was a welcome change from previous Windows versions, the faster boot time made it impossible to use the F8 key to load the Boot Menu for booting into Safe Mode.

If you prefer the convenience of being able to boot into Safe Mode in Windows 8 by pressing the F8 key at startup over the faster boot process, you can re-enable the F8 key and have it work just like it always has. Here’s how: 

1 – Press the Windows+X key combination to open the Power User Tasks Menu.

2 – Click on Command Prompt (Admin).

3 – Type the following line at the command prompt and then press the Enter key:

 bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy

If you entered the above line correctly you should see this message:  “The operation completed successfully.” If not, repeat step 3 by copying and pasting the text at the command prompt.

4 – Once you see the “completed successfully” message, restart your PC. You should now be able to boot into Safe Mode by pressing F8 on your Windows 8 computer!

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