How to Start Windows 8.1 Safe Mode (Windows 8)

Some users may need to enter Windows 8.1 (Windows 8) Safe Mode to resolve issues with the operating system on their computer. There are problems on the PC that cannot be solved by the usual methods.

Safe Mode or Safe Mode is a special mode of operation of the Windows operating system with limited functionality. In safe mode, only the main components of the OS and the necessary drivers are loaded.

Windows 8 Safe Mode will help you diagnose your computer in case of hardware or software problems. Safe mode can detect viruses in programs because many viruses will not affect the system in Windows restricted mode.

The user has two options to enter Safe Mode:

• Directly from a running Windows operating system.
• Before normal Windows startup.

In the first case, the user changes the Windows boot order during normal use of the operating system. The second option involves entering Safe Mode before booting Windows normally.

You can use several methods to enter Safe Mode in Windows 8.1 (Windows 8):

• After changing the boot type in the system configuration.
• Enter Safe Mode from the command line.
• Select safe mode in advanced boot options.
• Enter Safe Mode from the Windows RE Recovery Environment.

Some options work from a running Windows 8.1 (Windows 8) operating system, other methods are suitable for entering Safe Mode immediately after starting the computer.

In this article, you will find instructions that tell you about all the ways to enter Windows 8 Safe Mode.

How to Enter Safe Mode Windows 8.1 (Windows 8) – 1 Method

First, let’s look at the easiest way to enter Safe Mode from a running Windows OS. The built-in system tool will help us with this: the System Configuration utility.

You need to follow these steps:

1. Press the “Win” + “R” keys.
2. In the “Run” dialog box that opens, in the “Open …” field, enter the command: “msconfig” (without quotes).
3. Press the “Enter” key.
4. In the “System Configuration” window that opens, go to the “Download” tab.
5. In the “Boot Options” section, you must check the box in the “Safe Mode” item.
6. Click on the “OK” button.
7. In the “System Configuration” warning window, click on the “Reboot” button to apply the changes.
8. Restart your PC.

After that, Windows 8.1 Safe Mode will start on the computer.

How to enter safe mode in Windows 8.1 (Windows 8) – method 2

The second option to enable safe mode is to run the command from the Windows command prompt. You can do this from the operating system running in normal mode.

You will need to do the following:

1. You need to run command prompt as administrator .
2. In the command prompt window, run the command, and then press the “Enter” key:

bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal

3. Close the command line interpreter window.
4. Restart your computer.

The operating system will enter Windows 8.1 Safe Mode.

If necessary, you can run two more Safe Modes from the command line.

Safe mode with support for network drivers in the graphical interface is started with the command:

bcdedit /set {current} safeboot network

Safe mode with command line support will start after executing two consecutive commands:

bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal

bcdedit /set {current} safebootalternateshell yes

You can exit safe mode using the command executed in the command line interpreter:

bcdedit /deletevalue {default} safeboot

How to start safe mode in Windows 8.1 (Windows 8) – method 3

From a running OS, you can enter advanced boot options mode.

Go through the following steps:

1. Move the mouse pointer to the lower right corner of the screen, click on the “Settings” button, and then on the “Change PC settings” button.
2. In the right sidebar of Computer Settings, first click on Update and Recovery and then on Recovery.
3. In the “Special boot options” option, click on the “Restart now” button.
4. After the computer restarts, in the “Select an option” window, click on “Diagnostics”.
5. In the “Diagnostics” window, click on the “Advanced options” button.
6. In the window that opens, click on the “Download Options” button.
7. In the next window, click on the “Reboot” button.
8. In the “Boot Options” window, use the “F1” – “F9” function keys to select the desired startup mode for the Windows1 (Windows 8) operating system.

Safe Mode is activated using the following keys:

• “F4” – safe mode.
• “F5” – safe mode with loading network drivers.
• “F6” – safe mode with command line support.

“Safe Mode” and “Safe Mode with Networking” work in graphical mode.

“Safe Mode with Command Prompt” works from the Windows Command Prompt. To display the interface of the operating system, you need to run the “explorer.exe” command in the command line.

How to start safe mode when booting Windows 8.1 (Windows 8) – method 4

This method is used when you need to enter safe mode immediately after starting the computer, before the normal boot of the Windows operating system starts.

Do the following:

1. After pressing the PC start button, press the “F8” key several times, and on laptops, in most cases, press the “F8” + “Fn” keys.

If the “F8” key brings up the BIOS (UEFI) menu, select the computer’s hard drive as a boot device, and then immediately start pressing “F8”.

2. In the “Additional boot options” window, use the “↑” and “↓” arrows on the keys to select the appropriate option for starting the operating system.

Three Safe Mode options are available here:

• Safe mode.
• Safe mode with loading network drivers.
• Safe mode with command line support.

3. Highlight the desired mode, press the “Enter” key.

How to boot Windows 8 (Windows 8.1) in safe mode – method 5

If your computer is experiencing problems, in some cases you will not be able to enter normal Windows mode. To fix the problems that have arisen, you need to enter Safe Mode.

You can solve this problem from the Windows RE recovery environment. The recovery environment is available in a Windows image burned to a USB flash drive or DVD, or on a specially created Windows 8 (Windows 8.1) Recovery Disc .

You must enter the Boot Menu (boot menu) of the computer, and then select the boot device (USB flash drive or CD / DVD drive) to boot to the PC.

Next, follow these steps:

1. In the first window of the Install Windows 8 application, click Next.
2. In the next window, click on System Restore.
3. In the “Select action” window, click on “Diagnostics”.
4. In the “Diagnostics” window, click on “Advanced Options”.
5. In the “Advanced Options” window, click on “Command Prompt”.
6. Enter the command in the command prompt window, and then press the “Enter” key:

bcdedit /set {default} safeboot minimal

Starting safe mode with loading network drivers is performed by the command:

bcdedit /set {default} safeboot network

Safe mode with command line support is enabled with two consecutive commands.

bcdedit /set {default} safeboot minimal

bcdedit /set {default} safebootalternateshell yes

Close the command prompt, and then restart your computer.

Article Conclusions

There are situations when users need to enter Windows 8.1 or Windows 8 Safe Mode. Safe Mode – Reduced Functionality Safe Mode helps identify problems with the computer. You can use several methods to enter Windows Safe Mode from a running operating system, or enter Safe Mode before starting the OS on a PC.