How to disable Secure Boot: ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, ASRock and laptops
Where Secure Boot is turned off in the BIOS of ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, ASRock boards and Acer, HP, Lenovo laptops. How to check it and avoid a BitLocker prompt.
- To check the state: Win + R → msinfo32 → the “Secure Boot State” line.
- Before turning it off, save your BitLocker recovery key. Without it Windows may refuse to start.
- In BIOS the option lives under Boot or Security. On ASUS, instead of Disabled you set OS Type → Other OS.
- Battlefield 6, Black Ops 7, Valorant and FACEIT won’t launch without Secure Boot. Turn it back on before playing them.
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The loader closes right after launch, the spoofer says it can’t load its driver, and the first line of the instructions says “disable Secure Boot”. It’s a five-minute job if you know where to look: every motherboard maker hides the option in a different BIOS section.
What Secure Boot is
Secure Boot is a signature check at power-on. Before Windows loads, the BIOS checks whether the bootloader and drivers are signed with a key it trusts. Anything unsigned doesn’t run.
For everyday use that’s helpful: it stops bootkits that hide in the bootloader. But the drivers of many loaders and spoofers don’t carry a Microsoft signature, and with Secure Boot on they simply won’t start.
- UEFI signed
- Bootloader signed
- Windows kernel signed
- Loader driver unsigned — blocked
- UEFI
- Bootloader
- Windows kernel
- Loader driver starts
How to check whether it’s on
You don’t have to go into the BIOS blind — Windows shows the state:
- Press Win + R, type
msinfo32and press Enter. - In the System Information window, find the Secure Boot State line.
- Off or Unsupported — nothing to do. On — read on.
Before you turn it off: the BitLocker key
Almost everyone skips this step, and they shouldn’t. If the drive is encrypted with BitLocker (on Windows 11 laptops it’s often on from the factory), changing Secure Boot can make the system ask for a recovery key. Without it Windows won’t start.
You can check whether BitLocker is on in the same Control Panel section. If the item isn’t there or it says “BitLocker off”, you can skip this step.
How to get into the BIOS
The universal way that works on any Windows 10 or 11 PC:
- Open Settings → System → Recovery and click Restart now next to “Advanced startup”.
- After the restart, choose Troubleshoot → Advanced options → UEFI Firmware Settings.
- Click Restart — the computer opens the BIOS by itself.
Or press the setup key right after power-on, before the Windows logo appears:
| Maker | Key |
|---|---|
| ASUS | Del or F2 |
| MSI | Del |
| Gigabyte, Aorus | Del |
| ASRock | F2 or Del |
| Acer | F2 |
| HP | Esc, then F10 |
| Lenovo | F2 or Fn + F2 |
| Dell | F2 |
Where Secure Boot is in each maker’s BIOS
Most boards open the BIOS in a simplified mode. Switch to the advanced one: on ASUS and MSI that’s F7.
| Maker | Path | Set to |
|---|---|---|
| ASUS | Boot → Secure Boot → OS Type | Other OS |
| MSI | Settings → Security → Secure Boot | Disabled |
| Gigabyte, Aorus | Boot → Secure Boot | Disabled |
| ASRock | Security → Secure Boot | Disabled |
| Acer (laptops) | Boot → Secure Boot | Disabled |
| HP (laptops) | Advanced → Secure Boot Configuration | Secure Boot off |
| Lenovo (laptops) | Security → Secure Boot | Disabled |
| Dell | Boot Configuration → Secure Boot | Off |
After the change, press F10, confirm saving and wait for Windows to load. Open msinfo32 again and make sure the line says Off.
The option is greyed out
Three common reasons:
- No BIOS administrator password. A classic on Acer laptops: until a Supervisor Password is set under Security, Secure Boot is locked. Set a password, disable Secure Boot, then you can remove the password.
- The board is in Legacy (CSM) mode. Sometimes the option hides while CSM is on. You don’t need to touch it to disable Secure Boot, but if the Secure Boot menu is empty, look under Boot → CSM.
- A company laptop. If the BIOS is locked with your organisation’s password, you’ll need the system administrator.
When Secure Boot has to stay on
Some games won’t launch without Secure Boot. Their anti-cheat checks that the system booted “clean”.
| Game or platform | Anti-cheat | Secure Boot |
|---|---|---|
| Battlefield 6 | Javelin | Required |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 | RICOCHET | Required |
| Valorant (on Windows 11) | Vanguard | Required along with TPM 2.0 |
| FACEIT | FACEIT AC | Required along with TPM 2.0 |
If you play these and use software that Secure Boot gets in the way of, you’ll have to switch it before every session. To turn it back on, set the same option to Enabled (on ASUS, Windows UEFI Mode). If it won’t enable, turn off CSM and choose Install Default Secure Boot Keys. The system disk must use GPT.
What else to check before launching
Secure Boot is rarely the only obstacle. Usually three more sit next to it: Windows Defender, Core Isolation and Hyper-V. Checking them all at once is faster with the checker than by hand:
If the loader still won’t start, go through the list in “Cheat won’t launch”. It also says what to send support so you get an answer the first time.
FAQ
The PC keeps working as usual. You lose one protection: the bootloader signature check that stops bootkits. If the PC uses BitLocker, save the recovery key first.
On Acer and some other laptops, set a BIOS administrator password (Supervisor Password) and the option unlocks. On ASUS boards, switch OS Type to Other OS.
Yes. Windows 11 requires a board that supports Secure Boot, but it runs with it switched off.
Set it to Enabled along the same BIOS path. If it won’t enable, turn off CSM (Legacy mode) and choose “Install Default Secure Boot Keys”. The system disk must use GPT.
