How to delete old boot menu options on Windows

Dual-booting Windows 10 is useful but can leave redundant boot options in the menu. Here's how to delete the old boot menu on Windows 10 .

What is Windows Boot Manager?

Windows Boot Manager is a small software that runs during system startup. The boot manager code loads from the start of the Active system partition, sometimes labeled System Reserved so you don't accidentally overwrite it. Boot manager helps start Windows installation.

When there is only one version of the operating system, the system will boot into Windows Boot Manager without displaying the boot manager selection screen. However, after you install another operating system, this process changes, allowing you to choose the operating system you want to use.

Boot configuration data

Current versions of Windows store Boot Configuration Data (BCD) in a registry-like database for greater safety. Additionally, BCD provides both BIOS and EFI-based systems for editing configuration data using the BCDEdit tool.

Below are ways to delete old boot menu options from the system boot process on Windows 10.

How to delete old boot menu options on Windows 10

Hide Options

Although you can't completely remove this item, you can hide alternative boot options using the Windows Advanced boot menu:

1. Press Windows key + I to open the Settings panel.
2. Go to Update & Security > Recovery and under Advanced startup , select Restart now . Note that this action continuously reboots the system, so make sure you have saved any important documents before pressing the button.
3. Select Use another operating system > Change defaults . Here you can set the Windows Boot Manager timer screen and Choose a default operating system . Choosing the default operating system does not remove other settings, but it does prevent Boot Manager from appearing every time the system boots.

Use MSConfig

You can achieve the same result using the Windows System Configuration window.

1. Type msconfig in the Start menu search bar and select Best Match .
2. Open the Boot tab .
3. You can set the default operating system, timeout screen, and other boot options.

Furthermore, you can delete old entries from the boot process. This action does not actually remove them from the system.

Follow the steps above to open the System Configuration menu, then the Boot tab. Next, highlight the operating system you want to remove and press Delete . Just make sure you don't delete the item marked Default OS . You will get an error if you do this.

Use BCEdit to remove the Boot Manager option

This is a tool available in Windows. Basically, the way to do it is as follows:

1. Enter cmd in the search bar on the Start menu , right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator .
2. Once the Command Prompt window opens, type bcdedit/export c:\bcdbackup and press Enter to create a backup of the BCD settings.
3. Next, type bcdedit /v to list the available boot loaders on the system. For example, this is what happens when running this command on the desktop:

The Windows Boot Manager section describes the location of the boot manager, along with other identifiers. The Windows Boot Loader section describes the Win 10 boot loader for this system, the unique identifier where winload.exe is found to continue the boot process, if that partition has recovery enabled and the root of the system directory.

If you have more than one Windows installation, this is where you find the bootloader information. The operating system type appears with its description. Furthermore, a Legacy OS Loader will appear in parentheses.

Copy the identifier (long string of letters and numbers) of the bootloader you want to delete. Now enter this command bcdedit /delete {identifier} , swapping the identifier for the string of digits.

Double check that you have the correct entry, then press Enter to remove the additional bootloader entry. The built-in BCD Editor is one of the fastest ways to remove boot options from the BIOS, but it's not for everyone.

Above is how to delete the old boot menu on Windows 10 . Hope the article is useful to you.