Windows Dual Boot Menu Not Showing: 6 Easy Ways To Fix

Users who install multiple Windows on their computer see a boot menu when they turn on the PC to select the operating system they want to boot up.

But due to various reasons, the boot menu also called the “Choose an operating system” menu may not appear causing Windows Dual Boot Menu Not Showing Up issue.

The default operating system will load automatically giving you no option to select any other OS. If you’re encountering this issue on Windows 11, 10, 8, or 7, keep reading.

Contents show

1 Why Is Windows Dual Boot Menu Not Showing Up?

2 How To Fix the Windows Dual Boot Menu Not Showing Up issue?

Why Is Windows Dual Boot Menu Not Showing Up?

The multi-boot menu is not activated Fast startup is enabled on the default OS Boot settings in the default OS are incorrect or overriding the boot menu Corrupt system files triggering boot menu issues

How To Fix the Windows Dual Boot Menu Not Showing Up issue?

Enable the Boot Menu Using the Command Prompt Change the Settings in Startup and Recovery Disable the Windows Fast Startup Feature Change the Dual Boot Settings from System Configuration Make the Disk Partition Active Repair System Files

1. Enable the Boot Menu Using the Command Prompt

Most of the time, the reason why Windows dual boot menu not showing up is that the multi-boot menu is not enabled on the system.

You can easily enable it with the BCDedit command (Boot Configuration Data command).

This is the best solution because this will show you the boot menu even when you’re using another operating system like Linux or Ubuntu alongside Windows.

Click the Start menu, type cmd, and select ‘Run as administrator’. Once it’s the command prompt window is open, copy-paste this command and press enter bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes

If you see the message ‘The operation completed successfully’, the dual boot option wasn’t enabled on your system and the above BCD command has activated it. If there is any other message, this means multi-boot was already enabled.

2. Change the Settings in Startup and Recovery

Going to the Advanced system settings and changing some of the Startup and Recovery settings can fix the Windows multi-boot menu not showing the issue.

Press the Windows key + I to open Windows Settings. Go to System > About > Advanced system settings

In the System Properties window, find the Startup and Recovery section and press the Settings button. Click the drop-down menu under ‘Default operating system’ and change your OS. Click ‘OK’. Then, select ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’ on the previous window. Restart your computer and check if you see the Windows Boot Manager screen this time. check if the Windows Dual Boot Menu Not Showing Up issue is fixed or not.

3. Disable the Windows Fast Startup Feature

Microsoft Windows 10 comes with the Fast boot feature that saves some files on the system to boot more quickly when you turn on the PC.

This locks the Windows drive and OS and, sometimes, begins the boot sequence directly without showing the dual boot menu.

If the dual boot menu is not showing up, try turning the fast startup option off on Windows 10.

Open the Start menu, type ‘control panel’, and open the app. Head to System and Security > Power Options On the side panel, select ‘Choose what the power buttons do’.

Click ‘Settings that are currently unavailable’. You’ll get a UAC prompt. Choose ‘Yes’. Uncheck the box for ‘Turn on fast boot (recommended)’. Click ‘Save changes’ at the bottom of the window. Reboot your PC.

4. Change the Dual Boot Settings from System Configuration

If the dual boot menu is not appearing on Windows and you attempted to change settings using the Startup and Recovery option to no fruition, then try the same using the System Configuration tool.

Press the Windows key + R, type MSConfig in the Run utility, and enter. Switch to the Boot tab. You’ll see all the operating systems installed on your computer. Click the OS you want to make the default and press the button ‘Set as default’. Under the ‘Timeout’ field, type 60 seconds. It is the time the Windows boot manager will wait until it boots up the default OS.

Click ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’. Reboot your PC.

If the boot menu doesn’t appear, go to the same settings and set Windows 10 as the default OS.

This is because Windows 10 shows the “Choose an operating system” menu even when it’s the default OS. It will show the booting screen but revert to the dual boot menu seconds later.

5. Make the Disk Partition Active

The partition where the second operating system is installed should be active so Windows can access it for the dual menu.

When it’s not active, users get the Windows dual boot menu not showing up error.

Use the Windows + R keys together to open Run. Type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run the command prompt as admin. Enter the disk part and hit enter. Type list disk and press the enter key. Find the disk where you installed the second operating system and note its number. Then copy-paste select disk 1 and press enter. (1 is the disk number. Replace it with the disk number of your desired disk.)

Write the list partition and hit enter. Note down the partition number of your required partition and type select partition 2 followed by pressing enter. Finally, write active and hit enter. You’ll receive the message ‘DiskPart marked the current partition as active’. Restart your PC.

6. Repair System Files

As another cause of the multi-boot menu not showing up when the PC starts is corrupted system files, run DISM and SFC scan to fix system files.

These are Microsoft Windows utilities you can run via the command prompt.

Open the Start menu, type cmd, and choose ‘Run as administrator’. Type the following command of SFC scan and press enter: sfc /scannow

It uses the cached system files to repair files. If it fails, make sure you have a stable internet connection and then copy-paste the below commands of DISM scan followed by hitting the enter key each time: Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth It will take some time to finish the scan and repairs. When done, reboot your computer. check if the Windows Dual Boot Menu Not Showing Up issue is fixed or not.