Brief: Can’t access Linux in dual boot because your system boots straight to Windows without showing the Grub menu? Here’s a possible fix for you.
So, finally, I upgraded Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 last night. Since I dual boot Windows 8.1 with Ubuntu, I was expecting to see the Grub menu at boot so that I could choose the operating system I wanted to use. But the upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 8.1 messed up the settings and it never showed the grub menu. It just kept booting into Windows 10 at each startup.
Frustrating, isn’t it? It seemed like there was no way to access Ubuntu at all. No – the Ubuntu install on the other partition was fine. It was just the UEFI settings that were different in the boot manager. I verified everything by accessing the UEFI firmware settings in Windows 10.
If you too are unable to boot into Grub and you’re just rebooting Windows 10 repeatedly, here’s the simple solution that worked for me.
Warning!
Playing with your boot settings can leave your system messed up. I advise having a recovery disk or Windows installation disk with you to reverse boot settings. Keeping the Linux live USB can also help in many situations.
Fix Dual Boot system booting straight to Windows
Though I’m referring to Windows 10, the steps are equally valid for Windows 8 and 8.1. Similarly, I’m using Ubuntu in dual boot here, but the trick applies to all other Linux distributions such as Linux Mint, etc.
Step 1
In Windows, go to the menu.
Step 2
Search for Command Prompt, right click on it to run it as administrator.
Step 3
This is strictly for Ubuntu. Other distributions might have some other folder name.
In here, copy and paste the command below:
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path \EFI\ubuntu\grubx64.efiYou don’t need to enter a password or anything like that. The command should run just fine given that your account has admin rights.
Step 4
Restart and you’ll be welcomed by the familiar Grub screen. I hope this quick tutorial helped you fix the Grub issue.
No success?
If the above method didn’t change anything, you can reverse it using the command below:
bcdedit /deletevalue {bootmgr} path \EFI\ubuntu\grubx64.efiEven if the above command didn’t work, try the one below to set the boot back to Windows.
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efiIf you’re not able to boot into the Windows installation, insert the Windows installation disk and there you’ll have access to the command prompt.
You can try some suggestions mentioned here to stop dual boot from booting straight into Windows.
If you see a “no boot found” error, you can try this or this solution.
hi, i had installed ubuntu 20.04 with already installed windows 10, it is directly booting into ubuntu, there is no menu to select os, pls help.
Abishek, your first solution worked like a charm! Such an easy fix for such an alarming problem. I can’t thank you enough for sharing your solutions. As a fellow lover of mysteries – classic and otherwise – would you say that a mind that loves solving mysteries would be well suited to software engineer?
“a mind that loves solving mysteries would be well suited to software engineer?”
Probably, if the software engineers like to find and fix bugs :)