How to Start Windows 8 Safe Mode – Boot into Safe Mode
Windows 8 brought with it many new features and made it easier to use, but unfortunately made the process of booting into the all important safe mode more difficult. Safe mode is the handy minimal boot mode of Windows in which only the most basic drivers and services are loaded so that problems caused by external agents can be fixed. Unlike the previous editions of Windows where you could simply hit F8 during boot to get the safe mode menu, Windows 8 requires a little bit more effort. You can start Windows 8 safe mode in 3 different ways, read on to see what they are!
How to Start Windows 8 Safe Mode – Method 1:
Method 1 is for users who can access their desktop but want to boot into safe mode for a little tinkering around. Here’s what you need to do:
Step 1 – Go to Start>Run, or right click the bottom left corner in Windows 8 and select Run.
Step 2- Type “msconfig”.
Step 3 – Go to the Boot tab, select “Safe Mode”, click Apply and restart your PC.
Now your computer will boot up into safe mode by default, so when you want to get back to regular boot, follow the same procedure and uncheck the Safe Mode option.
How to Start Windows 8 Safe Mode – Method 2:
The second way is simpler and in fact better when you just need to boot into safe mode once, or also access advanced troubleshooting options.
Step 1 – Right click your profile picture in the Start menu on the top right and select either Lock or Sign Out.
Step 2 – On the user selection screen, click the Power icon on the bottom right.
Step 3 – Now, hold shift and right click restart to boot into the Advanced Options menu like the one below where you can choose to boot into Safe Mode under Troubleshoot>Advanced Options and then Windows Startup Settings.
How to Start Windows 8 Safe Mode – Method 3:
The third method is basically two way. When Windows 8 detects that there’s a problem with booting, it automatically goes into the same Advanced Options menu as the method above. You can choose Safe Mode from here in the same way. If that isn’t working, you can also insert a Windows 8 installation disk, boot from it and again access the same menu as above.
So that was how to Start Windows 8 Safe Mode, do let us know if you have any questions or if you’d like to add something to it.
About The Author
Rahul Gondane
Rahul Gondane is a technophile and gamer, who has been obsessed with everything tech ever since he started dabbling in it in early 2000. He also enjoys reading books, listening to music and watching movies. Rahul is the Chief Operating Officer of Pyrite Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Thank you for bringing this info. Its been a long time now was searching for this mode. However, your first method did not work. The 2nd and 3rd are easy and work great. Thanku once again for making things easy for Win8 users
You’re welcome! I’ve tested all 3 and they work, make sure to apply the changes after you check Safe Mode in the Boot tab and when it asks you to restart, do so.
Nice article, Using safe mode always been a safe option for me whenever i started using windows, so for that view i guess the 2nd option looks good to me. Cheers.
Thanks mate!