How to add Safe Mode to Windows 11’s Boot Menu

Although Microsoft Windows 11 may be the latest and greatest version of Microsoft, but it can still fail to boot. To troubleshoot Windows not starting properly, many users will use Safe Mode, which eliminates the loading of irrelevant applications, systems, and drivers. It is a very easy and effective troubleshooting method.

However, if you have frequent boot failures, then you should add Safe Mode to your list of boot options (boot menu). This will be less annoying than trying to remember to enter Safe Mode every time you restart your PC. Using the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) editor, we can change the default settings to add Safe Mode to the boot menu.

How to add Safe Mode to the Windows 11 Boot Menu

Click the Windows 11 search icon on the taskbar and type cmd in the search box. Select Run As Administrator from the options menu on the right.

From CMD, enter the following command:

bcdedit /enum /v

Copy the identifier number to the clipboard. It is the number in brackets under the Windows Boot Manager heading. This number is unique to your PC.

Next, enter this command:

bcdedit /copy {your identifier number} /d "Windows (Safe Mode)"

You will be notified as below if the copy is successful.

We can add details to our new Safe Mode configuration using the app msconfig. Type msconfig at command prompt and press enter to open.

Click the Boot tab on the msconfig application. As you can see, we have added Safe Mode to the boot menu. Select Make All Boot Settings Permanent to keep the new configuration intact.

From this configuration menu, you can modify the Safe Mode settings to include network drivers, which can be important for your troubleshooting. Select Safe Boot and then select Network.

When you’re done, click the Apply button and then the OK button. The next time you reboot or start up your Windows 11 PC, you’ll be given the choice of default booting or Safe Mode. If you do nothing for 30 seconds, the system will choose default boot.

When you no longer need the Safe Mode option, run the msconfig application again, click the Boot tab, select the Safe Mode item, and then click the Delete button. Apply the changes and click OK to complete the process. Your PC will now revert to the default boot process.