Common PC Hardware BIOS entry key commands

There are multiple reasons, why you need to enter the computer BIOS mode. In most cases, it is related to the computer troubleshooting. For example, your Hard Drive boot sector is corrupted, and your computer is just hanging up trying to access the primary master disk. You need to boot-up from DVD or USB, so the boot sequence should be altered in BIOS. Or you added a new slave Hard Drive, and is not recognized by the computer, unless you enable it in the computer configuration.

Usually, when you turn on your PC, there is a very short period, when the BIOS entrance command appears on the screen, but if you miss the moment, you will have to start all over again. If you know, what the keys combination you should use is, you need to execute it immediately upon computer reboot, and sometimes it requires multiple repetitive clicks to activate it.

The BIOS keys are different as per computer manufacturer and even as per computer model. Per you convenience, I am listing the BIOS start up keys combinations for the most popular computer models.

Acer - Aspire, Power, Veriton, Extensa, Ferrari, TravelMate, Altos

• Press Del or F2 immediately after powering on.
• The BIOS on the Acer Altos 600 server uses the Ctrl+Alt+Esc key and the F1 key for advanced options.
• Older Acer computers may use also use the F1 or Ctrl+Alt+Esc keys to access BIOS.

AST – Different models might use the following combinations: Ctrl+Alt+Esc or Ctrl+Alt+Del.


Cannon – F1.

Castex – Del.

Compaq - Presario, Prolinea, Deskpro, Systempro, Portable

• Press F10 while the cursor in the top right corner of the screen is blinking.
• Older Compaq computers may use the F1, F2, F10, or Del key to give access to BIOS.

CompUSA – Del.


Cybermax – Esc.

Dell - XPS, Dimension, Inspiron, Latitude. OptiPlex, Precision, Vostro

• Press F2 when the Dell logo appears. Press every few seconds until the message Entering Setup appears.
• Dell 400 - F1
• Dell Dimension - F2 or Del
• Dell Inspiron - F2
• Dell Latitude - Fn+F1 (while booted)
• Dell Latitude - F2 (on boot)
• Dell Optiplex – F2 or Del
• Dell Precision - F2
• Older Dell desktops and laptops may instead use Ctrl+Alt+Enter or Del to enter BIOS.
• Older Dell laptops may use Fn+Esc or Fn+F1.

Digital – F2


eMachines - eMonster, eTower, eOne, S-Series, T-Series

• Press Tab or Del while the eMachine logo displays on screen.
• Other eMachine computers may use F2 to enter BIOS.

Enpower - Ctrl+Alt+S


Fujitsu - LifeBook, Esprimo, Amilo, Tablet, DeskPower. Press F2 once the Fujitsu logo appears.

Gateway - DX, FX, One, GM, GT, GX, Profile, Astro

• Press the F1 key repeatedly after restarting the computer.
• Some older Gateway computers use F2 to access the BIOS Setup utility.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) - Pavilion, TouchSmart, Vectra, OmniBook, Tablet

• Press the F1 key after restarting the computer.
• HP Tablet PCs may use F10 or F12.
• Other HP computers may allow access to BIOS using the F2 or Esc keys.

IBM - PC, XT, AT

• Press F1 immediately after powering on the computer.
• Older IBM computers (including some laptops) may utilize the F2 key for BIOS entry.
• IBM PS/2 - Ctrl+Alt+Ins after Ctrl+Alt+Del.

Lenovo (formerly IBM) - ThinkPad, IdeaPad, 3000 Series, ThinkCentre, ThinkStation

• Press F1 or F2 after powering on the computer.
• Older Lenovo products allow access to BIOS using Ctrl+Alt+F3, Ctrl+Alt+Ins, or Fn+F1.

Leading Edge - Ctrl+Alt+S.


Micron (MPC Computers) - ClientPro, TransPort

• Press F1, F2 or Del immediately after powering on the PC.

NEC - PowerMate, Versa, W-Series

• Press F2 or F1 to enter the BIOS Setup.

Packard Bell - 8900 Series, 9000 Series, Pulsar, Platinum, EasyNote, imedia, iextreme

• Press F1, F2, or Del to enter BIOS.

Quantex – Del.


Sharp - Notebook Laptops, Actius UltraLite

• Press F2 after the computer starts.
• Some very old Sharp PCs require a Setup Diagnostics Disk to access BIOS.

Shuttle - Glamor G-Series, D'vo, Prima P2-Series, Workstation, X Mini XPC, Surveillance

• Press F2 or Del on startup.

Sony - VAIO, PCG-Series, VGN-Series

• Press F1, F2 or F3 after turning on the computer.
• Sony VAIO - (After Sony start up screen) F2 then hit F1

Tandon - Press the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys.

Tiger – Del.


Toshiba - Portégé, Satellite, Tecra

• Press F1 or Esc after powering on to access BIOS.
• Toshiba Portable PC (Phoenix) - Press the F2 key while the system processes its Power
   On Self Test (POST).

 If all else fails, hold down the space bar during startup. This should halt the machine and allow the customer to enter the startup key. The computer will display the BIOS key option.