In this tutorial we’ll show you a simple way to fix the “Windows 10 Safe Mode F8 not working” issue, get the F8 key to work with Windows 10 again.

How to Fix “Windows 10 Safe Mode F8 Not Working”?

1. Press the Windows key + X to open the Quick Access menu. Select “Command Prompt (Admin)“.
2. Copy the follow command and paste it in the Command Prompt:
   bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy

   

3. Once you’ve executed the command, restart your computer. Repeatedly press the F8 key on your keyboard as soon as your computer is powering on, you can then see the Advanced Boot Options. From there you can select the Safe Mode.

   

If you want to disable the F8 Safe Mode Boot Menu again in future, you can open the elevated Command Prompt, then type this command:
bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy standard

That’s all! Feel free to share your feedback or ask any question regarding this tutorial in your comment.

How to Add Safe Mode to Boot Menu in Windows 10 or 8?

1. Open an elevated Command Prompt by pressing the Windows key + X and then selecting “Command Prompt (Admin)“.
2. Enter the following command or copy and paste the command in the Command Prompt window, and press the Enter key.
   bcdedit /copy {current} /d "Safe Mode"

   

   This command clones the current OS boot settings to a new boot entry named “Safe Mode”. Close the Command Prompt after the command above is executed.

3. Press the Windows key + R to bring up the Run box. Type msconfig and press OK.
4. In the System Configuration window, click on the Boot tab, select the newly-created boot entry “Safe Mode” from the list. Check the box labelled Safe boot (under Boot options), and set the Timeout to 30 seconds.

   

5. Click OK, then apply changes. Restart your PC and the Safe Mode option would now appear in the boot selection menu.

   

   The boot screen menu will automatically disappear after 30 seconds to boot into Windows. Note that, when you select the Safe Mode option, your PC will reboot once again and bring you to Safe Mode automatically.

How to Get F8 Key to Work Again for Safe Mode in Windows 10 / 8?

After getting into Windows 10 / 8, press Windows + X key combinations to bring up the Power User Menu. Click on Command Prompt (Admin) option. It will launch a command prompt which runs with administrator privileges.

To get that classic F8 key to work again we need to restore the legacy boot menu policy. When the command prompt opens, run the following command:

bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy

That’s all there is to it. Now restart your computer. Press F8 key during Windows startup, you will see the Advanced Boot Options menu from which you can select Safe Mode.

If you want to disable the legacy boot menu again, simply run this command at the Command Prompt:

bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy standard

How to Boot Windows 8/10 into Safe Mode?

Turn on your computer and wait until it boots into the Windows 8/10 login screen. If the computer logs on to your user account automatically, you need to manually log off in order to bring up the login screen.

Hold down the SHIFT key and click on the Power icon visible on the bottom right of Windows 8/10 login screen, then click Restart option. In a moment you’ll see the recovery screen. click on the Troubleshoot option.

Now select Advanced Options.

In a moment you’ll see the Advanced options screen, as shown below. Select the Startup Settings option.

Next hit the Restart button.

Wait while your computer restarts. You don’t need to do anything here or hit any keys. After a while, you should see the Startup Settings menu. You’ll see a number of advanced ways to start Windows 8/10, all aimed at assisting you in solving a Windows startup problem.

Press F4 key on your keyboard to enter into Safe Mode. There’s nothing to do here but wait. Next up will be the login screen you normally see when your computer starts. Log on as administrator and now Windows 8/10 is running in Safe Mode.

Note: If you forgot the administrator password and can’t log into Safe Mode, you can easily reset the lost password using a Windows Password Reset boot CD/USB drive.