How to Fix No Boot Device Found Windows 10 Error

It’s just a typical day; you are getting ready to work, and as you start your PC, you see an error message on it “No Boot Device Found.” For those who are familiar with standard PC terms, this would seem like a nightmare. It would certainly feel the same to those who are not too tech-savvy because this error message means Windows 10 would not load. Whatever the case be, the error may not be nightmarish at all to fix.

This error message can be seen on the startup screen right after you power on your PC. You can either get this error as “no boot device found” or as “no bootable device found”; both the error messages mean the same thing. Of course, you will not boot into Windows, which makes troubleshooting this issue a tad bit unconventional and not-so-easy.

Why Am I Seeing No Boot Device Found Error?

Well, a bootable device is a memory device from which your PC reads resources to start your computer. A bootable device could be a hard drive, a USB flash drive, a CD-ROM, or a DVD. If your PC cannot read or find any such device on your PC, it will render this error message on the startup screen.

The Hard Drive on your PC is the default Boot Device on any PC, but that can be changed through the BIOS setup. If the boot device is set to some other media, and your PC cannot find that media, you may get the error message. Another possibility is broken or corrupt system files on your PC. Also, if your hard drive faced some fatal issue, it could cause this error to surface.

Solutions to Fix No Boot Device Found Error:

Make Changes in BIOS

The BIOS settings in your PC is related to the motherboard. Before jumping to any conclusion, you must check whether your hard drive is set as the BIOS settings’ default boot device. The steps involved in this process are pretty straightforward. Follow the steps mentioned below:

Step 1: Power off your PC and restart it. As the startup screen loads, press the Esc, F2, or F12 keys to enter the BIOS menu.

Step 2: The Boot menu usually varies from one motherboard manufacturer to another. So, if you find it challenging to find the options, you can refer to your motherboard’s user manual. However, finding options and navigating through the BIOS settings is not as tough as it may seem. When in the BIOS menu, go ahead and look for the Boot menu. In the Boot menu, set Hard Drive as the default boot device.

Save the changes once done and exit the boot menu and restart your PC. If everything is in the right place, your PC will be able to boot into Windows 10 successfully.

If you are still facing the same issue, or if Hard Drive was already set as the default Boot device, it’s time you try out the next solution.

Fix Corrupt MBR

MBR or Master Boot Record is a sector in a PC’s hard drive where operating system info is stored. The MBR in your PC may get corrupt unexpectedly and cause the no boot device found to show up. In this solution, we look at the steps involved in fixing the corrupt MBR on your PC.

Before trying out this solution, you will need to be prepared with Windows Installation Media. If you have a Windows Installation DVD that will work, if not, you will have to get a Windows Installation Media ready on a Flash Drive. You can easily create one on another working computer. Go to Windows 10 Download website and download the installation tool. Instructions for the same are provided on the website itself, so it would be easy to create an installation yourself.

Step 1: Get the Windows Installation Media and insert it into your PC. Once done, reboot your PC.

Step 2: The Windows Installation interface will open. Here, please continue with the initial steps of selecting language and region, then click on the Repair your computer option as it appears.

Step 3: Among the options that appear, select the Troubleshoot option.

Step 4: You will see a list of options on the next screen. Here, select Command Prompt.

Step 5: Your PC will restart now, and you will see a Command Prompt window. Here, type the commands that are provided below. Press Enter after typing each of these lines:

bootrec /fixmbr

bootrec /fixboot

bootrec /scanos

bootrec /rebuildbcd

You may be prompted on the Command Prompt screen to add a new installation to the boot list. In that case, press the Y key, then press Enter.

Once these commands have run successfully, go ahead and exit the Command Prompt window and give your PC a restart.

If you could not boot into Windows 10, try the next solution to fix the no bootable device found an error in Windows s 10.

Run SFC Scan

The SFC Scan is a command-line utility that is meant to look for problematic system files in your PC and fix them automatically when found. Broken system file(s) might be causing Windows 10 to stall from booting. In that case, getting the boot device not found error is a certainty.

Now, as you cannot run the SFC scan in Windows 10 because you cannot boot into the OS, you will have to do it with the help of a Windows Installation Media. We already have mentioned above how to go about creating one for yourself. When ready with the installation media, go ahead with the steps that are mentioned below:

Step 1: Open Command Prompt in your PC using the installation media by following Step 1 to Step 4 of the solution mentioned above.

Step 2: In the Command Prompt window, go ahead and type the following command and press the Enter key:

sfc /scannow /offbootdir=c: /offwindir=c:windows

Step 3: Wait till the SFC Scan is complete. Once done, type chkdsk c: /r in Command Prompt and press the Enter key.

Step 4: While you are in Command Prompt, we recommend you try out running a DISM Scan on your PC. For this, type the following command and hit the Enter key:

Dism /Image:C:offline /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:c:testmountwindows

Once the DISM command has run successfully, exit the Command Prompt screen and restart your PC.

After the restart, see whether you can boot into Windows 10 or not.

Switch to UEFI

If you are still getting the no bootable device found error, you might want to make some BIOS settings changes to select UEFI as the default startup option. We recommend that you check your PC’s motherboard’s user manual to know the steps involved in switching to UEFI from BIOS.

Once you have made the changes, save the settings, exit BIOS, and restart your PC.

We hope this helped you fix the no bootable device found an error in Windows 10, and you were able to boot into the OS successfully.