How to Open BIOS on Windows 11 (Every Brand)

Hold Shift while clicking Restart. Not from the Start menu power button — Win+X, Shut down or sign out, hold Shift, click Restart. The screen says “Please wait” then drops you into the blue recovery menu. Troubleshoot, Advanced options, UEFI Firmware Settings, Restart. Machine reboots straight into BIOS. This works on every Windows 11 computer regardless of manufacturer because it tells Windows to set a firmware flag before rebooting.

The old way — mashing a key during POST — still works but Windows 11 boots so fast with NVMe drives and Fast Startup that the window to hit the key is about 200 milliseconds. You basically have to hold the key down before the machine even starts showing anything on screen. And the key varies by manufacturer, which is the annoying part.

Dell: F2. Tap it repeatedly the instant you press the power button, before anything appears on screen. Some Dell laptops use F12 for boot menu (different from BIOS) — F2 is BIOS setup, F12 is one-time boot device selection.

HP: F10 for BIOS setup. HP also has an intermediate screen if you press Esc first — “Startup Menu” that lets you pick F1 System Information, F2 System Diagnostics, F9 Boot Menu, or F10 BIOS Setup. Pressing Esc first gives you a wider timing window.

Lenovo ThinkPads: F1. Lenovo IdeaPads and consumer laptops: F2. Lenovo desktops: F1 or the tiny Novo button — a pinhole on the side of the chassis that you press with a paperclip.

ASUS: Del or F2. Desktop motherboards are almost always Del. ASUS laptops use F2.

MSI: Del for desktop boards. MSI laptops use Del or F2 depending on model.

Acer: F2 or Del. Some older Acers use Ctrl+Alt+Esc which nobody remembers.

From Inside Windows

If you can’t catch the POST key — and on modern NVMe systems it’s genuinely hard — Windows 11 gives you a reliable path that doesn’t depend on timing.

Settings, System, Recovery, Advanced startup, Restart now. Same blue recovery menu. Troubleshoot, Advanced options, UEFI Firmware Settings, Restart. This is functionally identical to the Shift+Restart method but with more clicks.

If Windows won’t boot at all and you need BIOS to change boot order: interrupt the boot three times. Press and hold the power button during the Windows loading animation until the machine shuts off. Do this three times. On the fourth boot, Windows enters Automatic Repair mode and you get the blue recovery menu with the same UEFI Firmware Settings option.

Fast Startup makes the POST key window even shorter because the machine isn’t doing a full POST — it’s resuming from a partial hibernation. If you need to access BIOS regularly (overclocking, boot order changes, hardware diagnostics), turn off Fast Startup: Control Panel, Power Options, Choose what the power buttons do, Change settings that are currently unavailable, uncheck Turn on fast startup. Now the machine does a full cold boot every time and the POST key window is a normal 1-2 seconds.

What to Do Once You’re In

BIOS menus vary wildly between manufacturers and even between BIOS versions on the same manufacturer, so I can’t give you a universal walkthrough. But common things people go into BIOS for:

Boot order: usually under Boot tab or Boot Priority. Drag your NVMe/SSD to the top, or USB if you’re doing a clean install. Some boards have both a “Boot Priority” and a “Boot Override” — Boot Override is a one-time boot that doesn’t change the saved order.

XMP/EXPO: under Overclocking or Advanced Memory settings. Enabling this runs your RAM at its rated speed instead of the JEDEC default. If you’re getting WHEA blue screens after enabling XMP, disable it and test at stock speeds.

Secure Boot: under Security or Boot. Windows 11 requires Secure Boot enabled. If you’re troubleshooting boot issues, check that it’s on. If you need to boot a Linux USB, you might need to temporarily disable it.

Virtualization: Intel VT-x or AMD SVM, usually under Advanced or CPU Configuration. You need this for Docker, WSL2, and Android emulators — our virtualization guide covers the full setup.

TPM: under Security. Windows 11 requires TPM 2.0. On Intel it’s called PTT (Platform Trust Technology), on AMD it’s fTPM (firmware TPM). Both are usually enabled by default on modern boards but worth checking if Windows 11 says your hardware doesn’t meet requirements.

Don’t change settings you don’t understand. BIOS has options that can brick the board if set wrong — wrong CPU voltage, disabled essential controllers, corrupted CMOS. If you change something and the machine won’t boot, most boards have a CMOS reset: unplug power, remove the coin battery on the motherboard for 30 seconds, put it back. Or look for a CLR_CMOS jumper or button on the board.