Advanced Startup makes system troubleshoot, repair, and recovery actions easy. Here is how to boot to Advanced Startup in Windows 11.
Not many know this, but Windows 11 has an Advanced Startup screen like Windows 8 and 10. The Advanced Startup gives you the necessary tools to troubleshoot and repair a damaged system and access advanced tools to run commands, uninstall updates, and perform advanced startup actions.
For example, suppose a recently installed Windows Update is causing a boot loop or some other issue. In that case, you can open the Advanced Startup screen, go to the Uninstall Windows Updates page and uninstall the problem causing update. As you can guess, this will instantly solve the problem, and you start using the computer like before. You don’t have to use the system restore, roll back to a previous backup, or in the worst-case scenario, reinstall Windows 11.
To put it simply, the Advanced Startup is beneficial in Windows 11, and every user should know how to access it.
Being an advanced option, you need to perform specific actions to boot into the Advanced Startup screen. That is where this guide comes into play.
It will show several different ways to boot to the Advanced Startup screen in Windows 11. If you ever need, follow one of the below methods depending on your use case.
So, without delay, let me show you how to boot to the Advanced Startup screen in Windows 11.
Jump to:
- Boot to Advanced Startup from Settings
- Boot to Advanced Startup from Power User menu
- Boot to Advanced Startup from Lock Screen
- Boot to Advanced Startup from installation media
- Boot to Advanced Startup with a hard reboot
1. Boot to Advanced Startup from Settings
Since the Advanced Startup is so helpful, Windows 11 has a special button that allows you to boot to Advanced Startup with a single click. The button is located on the Windows 11 Recovery page.
If you can boot into Windows and open your user account, this is the best way to access the Advanced Startup screen.
Here is where to find the option and how to use it.
- Use the “Win + I” to open Settings.
- Select “Windows Update” on the sidebar.
- Click on “Advanced Options.”
- Click on the “Recovery” options.
- Press the “Restart Now” button next to “Advanced Startup.”
- It will restart the system and boot to the Advanced Startup screen.
2. Boot to Advanced Startup from Power User menu
If you can open your user account, the Power User menu is an alternative way to open the Advanced Startup screen.
If you don’t want to go through different menus and pages in the Settings app and don’t mind remembering a simple shortcut, opening the Advanced Startup screen via the Power User menu is one of the easiest ways.
Here is how to do it.
- Press and hold the “Shift” key on your keyboard.
- Right-click on the Start menu.
- Go to the “Shut down and sign out” menu.
- Click the “Restart” option while holding the “Shift” key.
- With that, the system will restart and boot to Advanced Startup.
3. Boot to Advanced Startup from Lock Screen
If there is some problem with your user account and you cannot unlock it, you can boot to Advanced Startup directly from the lock or login screen.
In fact, the method is very similar to the power user menu method I showed above. That is, we have to use the hold and click method.
Here is how to open Advanced Startup from the lock or login screen.
- Start the computer.
- Click on the login or lock screen.
- Press the “Power” icon on the bottom right corner.
- Hold the “Shift” key on your keyboard.
- Click the “Restart” option while holding the Shift key.
- The system will restart and boot to the Advanced Startup screen.
4. Boot to Advanced Startup from installation media
If you cannot boot into Windows, you can plug in the Windows 11 USB boot drive, boot into it, and then go to Advanced Startup from there. This method is beneficial in situations where you cannot boot for whatever reason, like problems with boot record, corrupted system files, etc. Here is how to do it in simple steps.
1. First, turn off the PC entirely if it is turned on. Next, plug the Windows 11 USB installation drive into the USB drive and turn on the PC. This action will boot the PC into Windows 11 installation media.
Note: If your PC did not boot into the USB drive, you have to change the boot priority so that the USB drive is on top of all boot drives. i.e., increase the USB drive’s boot priority.
2. After booting into the installation media, click the “Next” button immediately. You can select the “language to install” and other options if you want to. It is not necessary, though.
3. Click the “Repair your computer” link at the bottom left corner of this screen.
4. You will be taken to the Advanced Startup screen immediately. In the process, the system might restart itself.
5. Boot to Advanced Startup with a hard reboot
This is the lesser-known way, but if Windows fails to boot several times in a row, it will automatically take you to the Recovery screen, from where you can access the Advanced Startup screen.
When needed, you can force a hard reboot to boot to the advanced startup screen.
Here is how to do it in simple steps.
1. First, if the PC is turned on, press and hold your computer’s power button for over five seconds. When you do this, the PC will turn off immediately.
2. After that, turn on the PC again. When you see the Windows logo, press the power button again to turn off the PC.
3. Do that same thing two more times or until you see the “Diagnosing your PC” message on the boot screen. When you see this message, let the PC boot. It will automatically take you to the “Recovery” page.
4. Here, click the “See advanced repair options” button and click the “Advanced options” button.
5. As soon as you do that, you will be taken to the Advanced Startup screen.
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That is all. It is that simple to boot to the Advanced Startup screen in Windows 11.
I hope this simple and easy Windows 11 how-to guide helped you.
If you are stuck or need some help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible.
