How to Enable or Disable UEFI Mode: Your Complete Guide

UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is a modern BIOS method that allows for faster system startups and advanced features with better hardware support. However, some operating systems don't support UEFI and require the use of the traditional Legacy Boot. In such cases, you'll need to disable the UEFI mode. You can do this by configuring it through the Command Prompt in the Boot Manager screen.

Secure Boot is a security feature of the UEFI system that prevents unauthorized software from running when you start up your computer. It's an important security feature, as without it malware could be loaded onto your machine. The problem is, certain graphics cards, hardware, and operating systems don't play nice with Secure Boot. If you're having trouble starting Windows with Secure Boot enabled, here's how to disable it in Windows.

What is UEFI?

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is a standard firmware interface for modern personal computers, primarily responsible for initializing and booting x86-based machines. UEFI handles all input/output operations and provides a programming interface called the EFI Application Programming Interface (EAPI), which improves software development by facilitating hardware independence and code reusability. It replaces the older BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) firmware interface used in legacy PCs, which was limited to 16-bit computing.

UEFI mode gives you more options for controlling how your computer boots. With UEFI, you can choose which devices to activate when booting your computer. For example, if you don't want your computer to boot from USB ports, you can disable them.

It features a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows users to navigate hardware configurations with a mouse or other pointing device. It offers various graphical and text-mode features, as well as unique attributes that make tasks such as network management and resetting or updating the firmware of thousands of devices in a matter of seconds much easier in large-scale computing environments.

It improves on the old BIOS system in several ways, with an eye to boosting performance, reducing boot-up times, and enabling support for additional hardware, such as solid-state drives.

Computers with UEFI boot up and recover faster. It's also more secure, thanks to features like password protection that help stop malware. However, because of the standardization, UEFI changes how you access configuration settings. On older BIOS computers, you could press “Delete” to enter System Setup when the system booted up. On new UEFI computers, this option is “F2.”

When Should You Enable or Disable UEFI Boot?

By default, UEFI mode should be enabled unless there is a specific issue with it.

It offers better security, a simpler interface, improved performance, and many other enhancements over the traditional BIOS. With UEFI enabled, a computer can utilize a larger RAM partition for more advanced and superior performance.

It includes intelligent power-management tools that optimize performance and save battery life, making it the default choice for laptops and ultrabooks in corporations, governments, and educational institutions.

Choosing between UEFI and BIOS might seem confusing, but it's usually an easy decision to make. If you want to dual-boot your machine and switch between multiple operating systems using a mouse (Windows, Linux, Mac), then go for UEFI. If you prefer using a keyboard and a text-based user interface instead of navigating with a mouse and graphical user interface, BIOS is right for you.

UEFI mode is a setting required by newer motherboards, as it supports the GPT disk partitioning scheme. In most cases, you shouldn't disable this mode and switch to legacy mode. If you've already set your computer to boot from UEFI, you should not change it. However, if you made several changes to the BIOS configuration by mistake, or you're unsure how to properly configure the settings, it's best to switch to legacy mode to avoid damaging your data.

How to Enable UEFI Boot Mode

The aim of the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) mode is to make upgrading to Windows 11 seamless. Of course, Windows 11 offers more features than its predecessors. It supports all the characteristics of earlier operating systems and introduces some exciting new features and upcoming functionalities that enhance user experience. With the UEFI mode, upgrading to Windows will be faster and more convenient than ever before.

If you're planning to upgrade to the upcoming Windows 11, UEFI mode might be mandatory. Microsoft has already shown some previews of what's coming in Windows 11, and according to those, all Windows 11 installations will need to run in UEFI mode.

1. First, convert the operating system disk to the GPT format.

GPT (GUID Partition Table) is the newest style of partitioning, while MBR (Master Boot Record) is the oldest. Typically, computers that use Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 are based on MBR, so their disks are also formatted as MBR. If you want to upgrade your computer to Windows 11, you will need to create a GPT-based disk.

In order for UEFI boot mode to work properly, Windows 11 must be installed on a GPT (GUID Partition Table) partition style.

If you're not sure whether your disk is GPT or MBR, you can check its partition style with the following steps.

Step 1: Right-click the Windows icon and open Disk Management.

Step 2: Right-click on the disk partition format you wish to check in the "Disk Management" window and select "Properties".

Step 3: Click the “Volumes” tab and check the “Partition style” under the disk information.

Check the disk partition style

If your disk partition style is GUID Partition Table (GPT), this means you can upgrade directly to Windows 11.

But if it is an MBR disk, you must convert the MBR disk to GPT before upgrading to Windows 11. If you are preparing to upgrade the Windows operating system, you can use the disk partition tool Partition Master to convert the MBR operating system disk to GPT.

AOMEI Partition Assistant is the best partition manager, which can help you to manage hard disk partitions without data loss.

Step 1: Connect the blank USB drive or CD/DVD to a functioning computer, launch Partition Master, click on "Bootable Media", and then select "Create Bootable Media". Click "Next" to proceed.

Step 2: Choose USB or CD/DVD, then click Create to start creating the bootable media.

Create Bootable Disk with Partition Master Tools

Step 3: Connect the USB drive with the boot media to your computer, and then boot from the boot device.

Press F2 or Del to enter BIOS and set the computer to boot from “Removable Device” (boot from USB drive) or “CD-ROM Drive” (boot from CD/DVD). Press “F10” to save the changes and exit, then restart your computer to access the tool from the boot media.

4. When you enter the AOMEI Partition Assistant, select “Disk Convert,” then click “Convert MBR to GPT.” Click “Next” to proceed.

Step 5: Select the MBR disk that you want to convert to GPT, and click "Convert" to start the conversion.

What else can you do with Partition Master?

• It aims to facilitate the modification of existing disk partitions effortlessly. You can also use this tool to:
• Create new disk partitions without losing data.
• Maximize disk usage without exceeding the maximum limit.
• Convert an MBR disk to a GPT disk.
• Extend the system partition.
• Combine two adjacent disk partitions into a larger one.

This is a very useful tool for dealing with dual-boot, complex partition scenarios, or dynamic disk issues. Partition Master is designed for the average user, with an easy-to-use interface that makes operations simple with just one click! Anyone can use it without any technical expertise and avoid data loss problems caused by converting from MBR to GPT.

2. Enable UEFI

Here are the steps to enable UEFI:

Step 1: Right-click the Windows logo and select Shut down or sign out.

Step 2. Press the F2 key immediately after the computer restarts. This will open the BIOS Setup utility screen.

Step 3: Look for the “Startup” or “System Configuration” tab, and click on “Startup.”

Under the “Boot” tab, use the Up and Down Arrow keys to select “Boot,” and press Enter.

Step 4. Under the Boot screen, select UEFI/BIOS Boot Mode and press Enter.

5. Use the up and down arrow keys to select UEFI mode, then press Enter.

Select “UEFI mode”

Press F10 to save the changes and exit the screen.

How to Disable UEFI Mode

Many computers with UEFI boot firmware also offer an option within the UEFI firmware to switch to CSM/traditional boot mode. This is easy to use, and it will allow you to run an operating system that doesn't support UEFI. This includes Windows 7, Ubuntu, Linux, and many others.

Learn how to disable UEFI firmware and enable the traditional BIOS compatibility mode.

Step 1: Restart your Windows computer

Step 2. Press the F2 key repeatedly until you see the BIOS setup screen.

Step 3. Under the Boot section, click UEFI/BIOS Boot Mode and press Enter.

Step 4: Now, select “Legacy” and press Enter.

Select “Legacy” and press “Enter” to choose an image.

Press F10 to save the changes and exit the BIOS screen.

Enabling or disabling UEFI mode isn't complicated, but you'll want to choose the right mode for your computer.

In short, BIOS and UEFI are two different types of firmware that power PCs. BIOS has been around for a long time, and it:

• If you're completely new to this and need a simple firmware, BIOS is more efficient than UEFI in accessing smaller storage drives. • If your space is less than 2TB or you have a single partition drive, then BIOS is suitable for you.

So when should you use UEFI? The answer is: You should use UEFI to boot and configure large disks and multiple partitions, instead of BIOS.

In other words, you should use UEFI to support large hard disks. UEFI is also recommended for standalone graphics card support and for loading drivers for new devices after your PC boots. If you need to load more than tens of modules and external device drivers, you must use UEFI. Lastly, you must use the UEFI boot mode when installing Windows 11.

Overall, I tend to follow the simple rule that if there's no good reason to use BIOS, use UEFI instead.

In recent years, the use of UEFI has increased dramatically, in part because of security problems with BIOS. Some new computers do not have a traditional BIOS at all, and boot only using UEFI.

Typically, to use the UEFI mode on a computer, you should first convert the OS disk to GPT with disk conversion software like Partition Master, and then enable the UEFI boot mode in BIOS settings. For Windows 11 installation, Secure Boot needs to be enabled as well.