Sometimes, it is useful to know the boot menu key to start your computer from a USB drive or a recovery partition. You might be trying to fix the computer system, try out a different one, or install a new system. The start-up process for a computer is called booting, and all the disks I sell are boot disks, so I am adding this post for reference.
A boot menu key is the keyboard key you press (usually repeatedly) as you power on the computer to immediately display the boot menu, which shows which disks inside and connected to your computer can be booted from. Here’s a list of common boot menu and BIOS/UEFI keys for major computer manufacturers:
Boot Menu Key (One-Time Boot Selection)
This is to call up the Boot Menu
| Manufacturer | Boot Menu Key |
| Acer | F12 (Enable in BIOS if not working) |
| Apple | See below… |
| ASUS | F8 |
| Dell | F12 |
| HP | F9 |
| Lenovo | F12 (Sometimes Novo Button – a small button near power) |
| MSI | F11 |
| Toshiba | F12 |
| Samsung | F2, F12, or Esc |
| Sony VAIO | Assist button (or F11 on some models) |
| Gigabyte | F12 |
| Intel NUC | F10 |
BIOS/UEFI Access Key
This is to load the full BIOS or UEFI settings that control how your computer starts and operates.
| Manufacturer | BIOS/UEFI Key |
| Acer | F2 or Delete |
| ASUS | F2 or Delete |
| Dell | F2 |
| HP | F10 |
| Lenovo | F2 (or Novo Button) |
| MSI | Delete |
| Toshiba | F2 |
| Samsung | F2 |
| Sony VAIO | F2 or Assist button |
| Gigabyte | Delete or F2 |
| Intel NUC | F2 |
💡 Tip: If your computer boots too fast, restart and hold the key repeatedly as soon as you power it on.
Apple Computers (Mac)
Macs use a different method for booting from external drives since they don’t have a traditional BIOS/UEFI or Boot Menu key.
Boot from USB on an Intel Mac:
- Insert the USB drive containing a bootable OS.
- Turn off the Mac completely.
- Press and hold the ⌥ (Option) key immediately after turning it on.
- A horizontal list of bootable drives should appear, select the USB drive from the list and press Enter to boot.
Boot from USB on an Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3) Mac:
Currently, I don’t sell any boot disks for Apple Silicon Macs. But here are the instructions for booting alternative disks, just in case.
- Turn off the Mac completely.
- Press and hold the power button until “Loading startup options” appear.
- Select the USB drive and click Continue.