If you have been fooling around in your system BIOS and made some changes that have caused issues, or perhaps you just want to reset things back to defaults for a clean start. This article will show you how to quickly and easily restore any BIOS to default settings without a ton of complicated steps. While the process is easy every computer and parts manufacturer has a slightly different process so you will need some basic common sense of your own.
Takeaways:
- What's the quickest way to rest your BIOS?
- How do you reset your BIOS to default settings?
Table of Contents
What Is BIOS and Why Reset It?
The BIOS, or Basic Input Output System, is firmware stored on a chip on your computer’s motherboard. It contains the instructions that run when you power on your device and is responsible for loading the operating system. If the BIOS becomes misconfigured or corrupted in anyway, your entire system will fail to boot, install, or run properly.
Sometimes it might not be a bad enough issue to prevent it from booting into Windows but it might be bad enough to cause a ton of other problems on your system. If your BIOS is not in good working order you will have a range of different problems!
Resetting BIOS will remove all custom configurations, so be prepared for that.
- Boot order changes
- Overclocking settings
- Hardware-specific tweaks
If you rely on specific configurations, make sure to review and reapply them after the reset.
How to Reset BIOS Settings to Default Values on a Windows Computer
Start your computer and immediately begin pressing the appropriate key to enter BIOS setup.
Depending on your computer it will usually be one of the following options.
- F10 for many laptops, including Dell
- F2 for many HP systems
- F8 for other systems
Note: The key usually flashes up during startup near the bottom of the screen, labeled as Boot Options or Setup. It goes real fast so pay close attention to the entire boot process.
- Once inside the BIOS menu, you will need to move around the options using your keyboard and the arrow keys. Some modern motherboards allow mouse usage but not all that many.
For BIOS interfaces try the following
- Press F9 and a prompt will appear asking to load setup defaults
- Select Yes and confirm. This will restore the BIOS to its default configuration.
Dell Devices
- Go to the Security tab
- Look for Restore Security Settings to Factory Defaults
- Select it and press Enter
HP Devices
- Press F2 to enter BIOS
- Navigate to the Exit tab
- Select Load Setup Defaults
- Press Enter and confirm
Alternatively: Pressing F9 may also bring up the reset prompt.
Remember to Save the Changes Before Exiting
After resetting the BIOS make sure to save the changes. You will be asked to confirm this when exting. If you don't confirm the change everything will remain the same once you exit. This is the same across all devices. Your computer will reboot with default BIOS settings applied.
