The problem of Windows stuck on the restart screen has been around for almost every version of Windows. Being stuck in a reboot loop can be both annoying and frightening. The screen can become stuck for hours at a time.
In most cases, when you turn on the device, the OS will boot, and you will reach the sign-in screen. However, in this case, instead of going to the sign-in screen, the system becomes stuck in a boot loop where it attempts to load Windows but crashes in each scenario. This article will guide you to the possible causes of this error and fix them.
Reasons Why Windows Is Stuck At The Restart Screen
You may have this issue due to numerous reasons. The good news is some of the problems can be fixed in a matter of minutes, while some might end up taking a hefty amount of time. Nonetheless, here are some of the common causes of why your Windows PC is stuck in a boot loop:
- Disabled secure boot option
- Corrupt system files
- Current Windows are not functioning properly
- Virus/malware attack
- Outdated drivers
- Faulty or malfunctioning third-party applications
These are amongst the most common causes of this particular issue. Now that you have a better understanding of possible causes try to identify the issues with your PC. You can always try one thing, which is to boot your Windows PC in safe mode. It is known to solve multiple errors with some simple steps.
Booting Windows 11/10 In Safe Mode
Safe mode is like booting your system on a diagnostic mode instead of standard user mode. It is like one solution for all the existing problems in your operating system. Here are the simple steps by which you can boot your Windows PC in Safe Mode:
- Turn on your PC. When Windows starts booting, press the Power button and hold it to shut it down.
- Repeat the same process, start the PC, turn it off as soon as the OS starts booting.
- Do this process thrice.
- Now, instead of booting up, your PC will launch the Startup Repair for the fourth time. It might take a while, so wait for it.
- Now, you’ll see Automatic Repair couldn’t repair your PC on your screen if the automatic repair fails to repair the issue.
- Click on the Advanced options.
- There, choose Troubleshoot from the given options.
- Again, click on Advanced options.
- Now, there’ll be six options present there, select Startup Settings.
- Finally, click on the Restart button.
- You can click 4-6 or F4-F6. It’ll help you launch different types of Safe Mode.
Safe Mode is a standard procedure that you must go through before deep-diving into the steps and methods that we will discuss next.
How To Fix Stuck At Restart Screen In Windows 11/10
We’ve chosen the best possible fixes for this error. Here, we will discuss five significant ways by which this issue can be resolved.
- Removing External Devices or Peripherals
- Uninstall Recent Windows Updates
- Enable Secure Boot on System
- Run Startup Repair
- Launch Automatic Repair Screen
Let us discuss all the methods briefly one by one.
1] Removing External Devices or Peripherals
Many use our computers with external devices such as printers, microphones, scanners, or speakers. Sometimes it is one of the hardware that can be an underlying problem. Suppose the connected device is malfunctioning or isn’t compatible with the PC. It can prevent the OS from functioning correctly.
What you can do here is remove all the connected peripherals and reboot the PC to check if the error persists in your Windows 11 OS. If the issue isn’t fixed yet, the cause is something else. Move on to the following method.
2] Uninstall Recent Windows Updates
Sometimes buggy Windows updates can create this type of error. On many occasions, the updates aren’t optimized enough and create this issue. Try to uninstall the latest Windows update from your PC by following these steps:
- Press Windows + I on your keyboard to launch the Settings app on your PC.
- Select Windows Update from the given list on the left pane.
- Click on Update History.
- Now, click on Uninstall updates. You’ll find this under Related settings.
- Choose the latest Windows update and press Uninstall to remove it.
- Now a confirmation box will pop up. Click Yes.
It will uninstall the recent Windows update that happened on your PC. The updates are often unstable and increase problems rather than improve the performance.
3] Enable Secure Boot on System
When the user fully activates Secure Boot, it protects our PC from malware attacks. It is a critical system requirement that must be enabled before installing Windows 11 on your computer. If Secure Boot is disabled for any reason, it may result in a boot loop error.
It isn’t proven that disabling Secure Boot causes this issue, but many users reported that enabling it again solved the issue immediately. So you can give it a try and check whether it worked or not. Here’s how you can enable Secure Boot:
- Go to the Start menu, then Settings.
- Click on Update and Security.
- On the left pane, click on Recovery, then choose Restart Now.
- Now, after reaching the boot options, select Troubleshoot.
- Go to Advanced Options.
- There, choose UEFI settings.
- Now, your PC will boot in BIOS. There, click on Security.
- Finally, select the Secure Boot option. Toggle it On.
- Press the F10 button on your keyboard to confirm the changes and exit BIOS.
4] Run Startup Repair
You can also run a Startup Repair if the methods mentioned above don’t fix the issue. Here’s how you can do it:
- Reach the Advanced Startup Options by following the steps we’ve already stated above.
- After reaching, click on Troubleshoot.
- Select Advanced Options.
- Finally, there’ll be an option called Startup Repair. Click on that.
- Now Windows will try to fix the problem itself.
It is a pretty reliable and simple way to fix this error as Windows tries to resolve the issue.
5] Launch Automatic Repair Screen
If all the methods we’ve discussed yet haven’t worked out for you, you can go to a previous state on your PC when everything is fine. The System Restore will restore your computer to an earlier stage where everything worked properly. For this, you have to launch Automatic Repair. Here’s how you can do that:
- Please turn off your PC abruptly after powering it on multiple times.
- Repeating this process will launch the Automatic Repair Screen.
- Now, there’ll be an option called Restore. Click on it.
Now, you can begin to imply different fixes on your Windows 11/10 PC and see if it works. This method has an outstanding success rate as it almost guarantees the solution.
Why Is My Windows PC Stuck At Restart Screen?
There can be various reasons for your PC being stuck at the restart screen. The primary reasons for this include faulty internal components, buggy updates, malware, malicious peripheral devices, and so on.
Is It Safe To Directly Turn Off My PC If It Is Stuck At Restart Screen?
Ideally, you should not turn off your PC directly when it is stuck on the restart screen. At first, you should wait for an extended period, and other once it doesn’t move from the restart screen, you can try turning off your PC directly.
In this article, we’ve discussed how you can fix stuck at the restart screen in Windows 11/10. This issue is widespread and can frequently happen due to bad drivers, malfunctioning apps, faulty updates, and many more reasons. We’ve listed the best possible methods to help you counter this issue. We hope you found this article useful, and your problem is fixed completely.
