How To Toggle Between Graphical and Text-Based Multiboot Menus in Windows 11 TEST

Switching Between Graphical and Text-Based Multiboot Menus in Windows 11

This whole thing started for me when I wanted to switch between the graphical boot menu that looks sleek, with icons and pretty backgrounds, and the classic text-based menu that’s just a simple list you navigate with arrow keys. Maybe you’re in the same boat—preferring clicking over keyboard or vice versa—either way, it’s not a straightforward toggle. I spent some time digging through BIOS options, poking at bcdedit, and rebooting like a thousand times before I finally got it working right.

What’s the real difference anyway?

The main difference is how the menu appears and how you interact with it. The graphical multiboot menu is the eye candy — icons, background images, maybe some animations, and usually an auto-boot timer. It’s user-friendly and nice to look at, especially if you’re configuring multiple OSes or boot entries. You can customize it pretty easily via the GUI or with configuration files and BCDEdit.

The text-based menu is the old-school style. Just a list of options you scroll through with your arrow keys, no frills, no backgrounds, no icons. That’s faster sometimes, especially if your system isn’t chugging with graphics, and it can be a bit more straightforward for troubleshooting. On my older ASUS build, this menu was buried somewhere in the BIOS, but it’s technically controlled through Windows boot configuration now.

How to switch TO the graphical boot menu?

This is where things got tricky for me. First, you need to open an elevated Command Prompt. That means right-clicking the Start menu, typing cmd, then choosing Run as administrator. Or just hit Ctrl + Shift + Enter after typing cmd. You might see the UAC prompt — just approve it.

Once that’s open, the command you want is:

bcdedit /set {current} bootmenupolicy standard

This command switches Windows to the ‘standard’ boot menu policy, which is the graphical one. Think of it as changing a mode in the bootloader. After running it, wait for a moment, then reboot (you can do a Shift + Restart from the login screen, or just restart normally). When Windows starts up again, you should see a pretty graphical menu with icons and backgrounds.

It’s worth noting—sometimes Windows doesn’t immediately apply the change, or it boots into the legacy style for some reason. If that happens, try running the command again or double-check that your bootmenupolicy is set correctly. Also, keep an eye on BIOS/UEFI settings because sometimes they override Windows — things like Secure Boot, Fast Boot, or CSM settings can interfere with how the boot menu displays. On my older systems, I found some options in Boot or Security sections of BIOS, sometimes buried behind multiple layers of menus. So if it’s not working, that’s an area to check.

Switching back to the plain text menu

If you prefer the good old text menu, just run this command instead:

bcdedit /set {current} bootmenupolicy legacy

This switches everything back to the DOS-style list. No graphics, just a list of options you select with arrow keys. After running it, reboot, and it should show that plain list during startup. Again, it’s just toggling a setting in the BCD. I always recommend exporting a backup of your BCD before messing with these settings, in case something gets weird. You can do that with:

bcdedit /export C:\backup_bcd

If things go sideways or Windows forgets your setting, restore the backup with:

bcdedit /import C:\backup_bcd

And from my experience, double-checking that you ran the command prompt as admin is key — if you don’t, nothing will change or you’ll get errors.

Extra tips I found useful

• Always back up your BCD first — it saves a lot of headaches if things go wrong.
• If the menu isn’t changing, confirm you ran the command as admin and double-check the syntax. The {current} GUID is usually OK, but you can list all entries with bcdedit /enum if needed.
• Sometimes, a reboot or even clearing BIOS settings related to boot (like Secure Boot/UEFI modes) can help get everything aligned.

It’s honestly not super polished or perfect — you’re kind of flying blind sometimes, especially with OEM systems that lock stuff down or hide options. But after some trial and error, I finally got my preferred style working. Just want to share this for anyone else scratching their head late at night.

In the end

This whole process isn’t exactly “click a button” straightforward, but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty manageable. Just remember: back up your BCD first, run the commands as admin, and double-check your BIOS settings if things seem wonky. Hope this helps — it took me way too long to figure out, but now I actually prefer the graphical menu, and I keep the text one as a backup. Sometimes, messing with boot options feels like fiddling with a time bomb, but it’s worth it to customize your experience.

Anyway, hope this saves someone else a weekend. Good luck and happy booting!