How to enter the BIOS on any PC: Windows 11, 10, others

In order to change the settings of a motherboard, you will need to access the BIOS (basic input/output system) setup. In this article, we will explain to you all the possible methods depending on your operating system.

How to enter the BIOS on Windows 11?

Open the Settings app, press Windows+i keys simultaneously
On the left sidebar, select System
On the System page, click Recovery
In the Recovery menu, next to Advanced Startup, click Restart Now
A prompt will be displayed to remind you to save your work, click on Restart Now
Your PC will restart and a "Choose an Option" screen will be displayed, go into Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > UEFI Firmware Settings and click Restart

You will then end up in your BIOS menu.

How to enter the BIOS on Windows 10?

Click on the Windows icon on the taskbar
Click on the Settings icon to open the settings menu
Click Update & security
Click Recovery, then Restart now
An options menu will be displayed, click Troubleshoot
Click Advanced options
Click UEFI Firmware Settings
Click Restart

Your computer will restart and you will enter the BIOS menu.

How to enter the BIOS on Windows alternatively?

Click on the Windows icon on the taskbar
Manually press the shift key
Click on Restart (keep the shift key pressed)
Once the restart process has begun, you can release the shift key
An options menu will be displayed, click Troubleshoot
Click Advanced options
Click UEFI Firmware Settings
Click Restart

Your computer will restart and you will enter the BIOS menu.

How to enter the BIOS using the BIOS key?

The BIOS key is a key you can press while your computer is booting (this is a short timespan) before it launches your OS. If your computer ends up launching your OS, you have to restart it and try again. Depending on your computer model, the way you access your BIOS menu will differ. Here is a list of the most common access keys used for this process.

If none of these keys work for your model, have a look here at this list of laptop manufacturers and their respective BIOS setup keys. And if possible, refer to the documentation of your motherboard.

"Delete" key or
Press "Del" or,
"F2" or,
"Ctrl + Alt + Esc" or,
"F1" key or,
"F10" key or,
"Ctrl + Alt + S"

How to reset the BIOS password?

You may end up in a situation where you want to access the BIOS menu, but an unknown password is required (you or another user may have set a boot password).

The first solution we recommend you is to contact your computer or motherboard manufacturers for the steps on clearing the computer password.

The second solution will remove the BIOS password, but also all the BIOS settings, if you have no experience in setting BIOS settings, you may have a hard time: