How to use safe mode in Windows 8? Already tried keyboard shortcut F8 or Shift+F8, but nothing appears? If you are facing such a situation, you must be wondering how to boot into safe mode while using Windows 8. Right? Well, it is not that hard. First, forget about F8, which you used with earlier Microsoft Windows operating systems. As the new Windows 8 operating system starts pretty fast, there is no use of such shortcut. But there are simpler ways though! Find below more details on how to start Windows 8 in Safe Mode and use other advanced startup features.
Start Windows 8 in Safe Mode:
If you are not signed in to Windows, it’s just a few steps away:
- Click or tap the Power icon in Windows sign-in screen.
- Hold Shift, and then click or tap the Restart button.
- On the Startup Settings screen select Safe Mode option from multiple options.
If you are signed in to Windows, follow the steps below:
- Press the Windows key + C (or swipe in from the right edge of the screen to open Charms)
- Click or tap Settings, and then on Change PC settings.
- Under the PC settings, click or tap on General.
- Go to Advanced startup, click or tap Restart now.
- From the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot.
- In the Advanced options, select Windows Startup Settings.
- Click or tap Restart. Wait till Windows restarts.
- On the Startup Settings screen, choose Safe Mode or other startup option you want. You need to press the corresponding number for that particular option.
- Sign in to your Windows 8 computer with administrator account.
- Do what you wanted to in Safe Mode.
Hugh on 12th Jan, 13 05:01am #
I don’t have windows 8 but it would seem that having to start regular windows to get into safe mode would be kind of stupid. What is you had a virus or something else that loaded with regular windows and could hijack the OS reboot and still reload itself in safe mode? Going into safe mode before anything else is loaded (like the good old days) would, at least on the surface, make more sense from a security standpoint.
No thanks Microsoft. All of my current software works just fine. I’m not about to spend hours (or days) trying to see if I’m going to take a productivity hit trying to get my things to work again under a new OS. Not just software but hardware like printers and scanners. I took a huge hit when my mobile scanner didn’t work ever again after upgrading from XP. The manufacturer (Canon) decided they would not be updating the drivers. I’m never going to go through that load of crap again.
I love technology and been in the IT field for 25 years … but there isn’t anything in Windows 8 that is worth the pain and frustration of having to start from scratch again. We’ve all been screwed in one way or another by OS upgrades. Let Windows 8 mature for 2-3 years and then consider upgrading. I for one will not be hopping on board and neither will my company. The security updates are endless. We have better things to do with our time and resources. Let some other fools upgrade their OS and then find that they have to upgrade a bunch of other hardware and software. Good luck to them. We’ve been screwed too many times by that particular scenario.
Thanks Microsoft, but no thanks. Things are stable and working just fine. Check back with us in several years.