How to reset BIOS settings to default values on Windows computer

If you find that the BIOS on your Windows computer has been corrupted, you can restore BIOS defaults easily. A corrupted BIOS could result from a BIOS Update gone bad, a malware infection, a sudden power outage, over tweaking, etc. In any of these cases or if you face problems with Windows booting, installing or loading the Windows operating system, you may want to consider resetting your BIOS.

To those who do not know BIOS or Basic Input Output System is a firmware, stored on a chip on a part of the computer motherboard that is basically, a set of instructions that run to help load the operating system. When you turn on the computer, BIOS instructions are initiated, and on completion, the operating system is loaded.

The procedure to restore BIOS default settings is more or less the same computer, may it be a Dell, HP, Lenovo, Sony, Acer, ASUS, Toshiba, Panasonic and so on.

Start your computer and as soon as you hit the Power On button, keep pressing the F10 key. This works on most laptops including Dell. On an HP laptop, it could be the F2 key. You will see the keys that works for your hardware during boot in the bottom left or right corner against Boot Options or Setup.

You have to use that key to enter BIOS Setup.

Once you do this, your BIOS options will load. Remember that when in BIOS, you have to navigate using the arrow keyboard keys.

Reset BIOS settings

You can simply hit the F9 key to display a blue screen that says Load Setup defaults? Clicking on Yes will restore the default BIOS settings. On my Dell laptop, under the Security tab, I could also see an entry – Restore Security settings to Factory Defaults. If you see it, you could use this option too. Select it using the arrow keys and hit Enter.

FIX: BIOS Power-On Self-Test (POST) errors.

Restore BIOS to default values

On my HP laptop, I had to press F2 to boot to BIOS setup options. Once here, under the Exit tab, I could see a Load Setup Defaults options. You could select it using the arrow keys and hit Enter. Or you could simply hit the F9 key to display a white screen that says Load default configuration now? Clicking on Yes will reset the BIOS settings.

Remember to press F10 to save and exit.

Read next: How to use BIOS settings on Windows computers.