Change the boot order in Windows Boot Manager step by step

If you need to change the boot order in Windows Boot Manager To boot from another system, select a USB/DVD, or reorder menu entries, here's a complete and up-to-date guide that will guide you through. We've compiled procedures for using BCDEdit, accessing the UEFI/BIOS, Tricks useful from Windows and third-party tools, as well as how to repair UEFI boot when something goes wrong.

You will find everything from key concepts such as what a boot entry is to advanced methods to create, copy, sort, and delete BCD entries, along with simple alternatives in Windows Setup, key combinations, and options designed for UEFI and Legacy BIOS systems. We also include differences between Windows 10 and 11, why you might want to change your boot device, and utilities for creating bootable media.

What is a boot entry and how is it managed in Windows?

Windows organizes boot information in the BCD (Boot Configuration Data) store, where each “boot entry” describes how to load a system or option.You can have multiple entries for the same system with different parameters (for example, with debugging), and Windows creates a standard one during installation. It's recommended to keep the original entry and create custom copies for your testing.

Entries are displayed in the bootloader menu and their order determines what you see and in what sequenceThis behavior is controlled by the Windows Boot Manager and modified using BCDEdit or specific graphical interfaces, in addition to UEFI/BIOS firmware settings.

Add and clone entries with BCDEdit

BCDEdit is the official console utility for managing the BCD. Open a Symbol of the system with administrator privileges (right-click Command Prompt > Run as administrator). Before touching BCD on protected computers, it's a good idea to disable or suspend BitLocker and, in some cases, Secure Boot to avoid change lockouts.

The most direct way to create a new entry is to copy an existing one and modify it.. The special identifier {current} points to the entry used in the last boot. Copying it generates a new GUID for the cloned entry:

bcdedit /copy {current} /d "DebugEntry"

After running it successfully, you will see a message with the generated GUID, for example: “The entry was successfully copied to {49916baf-0e08-11db-9af4-000bdbd316a0}.” That GUID will be the one you use from now on to edit that entry in other commands.

If you prefer to create from scratch, there is the /create option, which requires defining the application (e.g. osloader) and other parameters:

bcdedit /create /d "My Windows Vista" /application osloader

Be careful with /create: it does not automatically add the entry to the boot menu.You'll need to add it to the visible list using /displayorder (see below). Both /copy and /create generate a new GUID to identify the entry.

Sort, add, and remove from the menu with /displayorder

The order in which the manager displays the entries is controlled with /displayorder. The basic syntax is:

bcdedit /displayorder {ID} {ID} ...

The ID can be a GUID or a reserved identifier such as {current}, and you must write them with curly braces. In PowerShell Remember to enclose the GUIDs in quotes. An example of placing the new entry after the current entry would be:

bcdedit /displayorder {current} {49916baf-0e08-11db-9af4-000bdbd316a0}

You also have quick help options like /addlast, /addfirst and /remove To sort or remove a menu entry without deleting it from the BCD. For example, to send an entry to the end:

bcdedit /displayorder {49916baf-0e08-11db-9af4-000bdbd316a0} /addlast

If you want to remove it from the menu but keep it in the storage, you can use /displayorder with /remove:

bcdedit /displayorder {49916baf-0e08-11db-9af4-000bdbd316a0} /remove

To completely delete the BCD entry (not just hide it from the menu), use /delete:

bcdedit /delete {49916baf-0e08-11db-9af4-000bdbd316a0}

Check the status of the Boot Manager and the current order

To see how the menu will look and check identifiers, run bcdedit without parameters in a CMD with administrator rights. You'll see the Windows Boot Manager block (including display order) and the Windows Boot Loader entries as they appear in the menu.

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier              {bootmgr}
device                  partition=C:
description             Windows Boot Manager
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {globalsettings}
isolatedcontext         Yes
default                 {current}
resumeobject            {18b123cd-2bf6-11db-bfae-00e018e2b8db}
displayorder            {current}
toolsdisplayorder       {memdiag}
timeout                 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {current}
device                  partition=C:
path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Microsoft Windows
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
osdevice                partition=C:
systemroot              \Windows
resumeobject            {d7094401-2641-11db-baba-00e018e2b8db}
nx                      OptIn

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {18b123cd-2bf6-11db-bfae-00e018e2b8db}
device                  partition=C:
path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Debugger Boot
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
osdevice                partition=C:
systemroot              \Windows
resumeobject            {d7094401-2641-11db-baba-00e018e2b8db}
nx                      OptIn
debug                   Yes

If BCDEdit returns an error, check that you opened CMD as administrator. and that you've entered the keys, GUIDs, and paths correctly. On computers with encryption or Secure Boot, remember the warnings about BitLocker and firmware.

Change the boot order from Windows and UEFI

From Windows 10/11 you can access the UEFI firmware settings without hunting for the key at startup.. Go to Settings > Update & security > Recovery > Advanced startup and tap Restart now. In the menu, go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > UEFI firmware settings to reboot to the firmware options.

Once in UEFI, look for the Boot options and reorder the priority of devices: internal disk, USB, DVD, network, etc. It's usually enough to use the arrow keys to move options and F10 to save and exit. Next time, the computer will respect that order.

Shortcut: Shift + Restart and classic BIOS keys

Another way to open the advanced menu is to press and hold the Shift key while clicking Restart from the Start menu or the login screen. The system will boot directly into the recovery environment with the same advanced options mentioned above.

If you prefer the classic method to enter the firmware, depending on the manufacturer the key may vary. (and on very fast SSDs it's hard to catch). These are the most common:

• Acer: F2 (Alternatives: Del, F1)
• Asrock: F2 (Alternative: Del)
• ASUS: F2 (Alternatives: Del, F2, F9)
• Dell: F2 (Alternatives: Del, F12, F1)
• Gigabyte: F2 (Alternative: Del)
• HP: F10 (Alternatives: ESC, F1)
• Lenovo: F2 (Alternatives: F1, Enter+F1, Ctrl+Alt+F3, Fn+F1, Ctrl+Alt+Ins)
• MSI: Del (Alternative: F2)
• Samsung: F2
• Sony: F2 (Alternatives: F1, F3)
• Toshiba: F2 (Alternatives: F12, F1, Esc)

On Windows tablets, volume up/down is often used during boot. to enter the firmware. If you have SSD, the boot is so fast that you may not have time to press the key; use the Windows method to make sure.

Repair UEFI boot with Diskpart and BCDBoot

If it doesn't boot due to BCD/EFI issues, you can try to repair it from the installation environment.. Boot from the Windows USB/DVD, click Next, and go to Repair your computer > Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt.

Identify the EFI system partition and assign it a letter with Diskpart (guide example; adjust numbers according to your case):

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
list vol
select vol 1   (siendo el volumen EFI)
assign letter=V:
exit

Create the necessary structure and rebuild the boot files pointing to the Windows installation (set the drive letter where Windows is, for example C:\):

V:
MD \efi\microsoft\boot\
cd /d V:\efi\microsoft\boot\
bootrec /fixboot
bcdboot C:\Windows /l en-us /s V: /f all

The /l switch defines the language (en-us is an example); you can change it to the appropriate language (es-ES, fr-FR, en-GB, etc.). Reboot and check if it boots correctly.

Automatic Boot Repair

From the same recovery environment you can launch Startup Repair (Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Repair). Windows will automatically attempt to fix boot problems on supported UEFI systems.

Manage entries from Windows: Advanced settings and msconfig

To review boot options from the interface, search for “Advanced system settings” and go to the Startup and Recovery section to adjust the default system and There waiting for the menu.

If you want to remove orphaned entries from the BCD, run msconfig, go to the Boot tab, select the unwanted entry, and press Delete. Use with caution: deleting something you shouldn't can prevent boot.

For reference documentation and advanced parameters, see the official BCD/BCDEdit guide and also .