How to Change BIOS Mode from Legacy to UEFI Windows 10

Why Do You Need to Convert Legacy to UEFI?

There are many reasons for you to convert Legacy to UEFI. For example:

• The UEFI boot mode uses GPT system disks while the Legacy boot mode uses MBR disks. MBR disks can only use disk space within 2TB while GPT disks break through this limit. GPT disks allow you to create more than 4 primary partitions while MBR disks don’t. MBR disks only allow one active partition while GPT disks allow multiple ones.
• The UEFI boot mode has a faster booting process than the Legacy boot mode.
• The UEFI boot mode supports Secure Boot, which can ensure that no malware tampers with the booting process.
• Windows 11 installation requires the UEFI boot mode. If you need to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 and you are using the Legacy boot mode, you need to convert Legacy to UEFI first.

Check Whether You Are Using the Legacy Boot Mode

Do you need to convert Legacy to UEFI? You should check whether you are using the Legacy boot mode first. If YES, then you need.

As mentioned above, the Legacy boot mode uses MBR disks while the UEFI boot mode uses GPT disks. Therefore, you can identify the boot mode by checking the type of your system disk because the PC won’t boot up if the disk type and the boot mode do not match. Here is the guide:

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box.
2. In the Run box, type “diskmgmt.msc” and press Enter to open Disk Management.
3. Right-click on Disk 0 and see if there is a “Convert to GPT Disk” option in the context menu. If YES, you are using the Legacy boot mode.

How to Convert Legacy to UEFI

In this part, I will show you how to change BIOS mode from Legacy to UEFI Windows 10.

Stage 1. Convert the System Disk from MBR to GPT

If you are using the Legacy boot mode and want to change it to the UEFI boot mode, you need to convert MBR to GPT before changing the boot mode to UEFI. The reason is that if you don’t convert MBR to GPT, the PC won’t boot after you change the boot mode from Legacy to UEFI.

To convert MBR to GPT, you can use the following 3 ways. Two of them can help you convert MBR to GPT without data loss.

Way 1. Use MiniTool Partition Wizard

MiniTool Partition Wizard is a professional partition manager that not only can help you convert the system disk from MBR to GPT without losing data, but also can migrate OS, clone a hard drive, recover data and partitions, convert partitions between FAT32 and NTFS without data loss, etc.

Here is how to convert MBR to GPT using MiniTool Partition Wizard.

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Step 1: Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard. Right-click the system disk and choose the Convert MBR Disk to GPT Disk option from the context menu. Read the warning information and click OK.

Step 2: Click the Apply button to execute the pending operation. After that, the PC won’t boot. You need to go to the next stage to change the boot mode from Legacy to UEFI.

Way 2. Use MBR2GPT

MBR2GPT is a tool offered by Windows and it is usually stored in WindowsSystem32. In addition, this tool is only available on 64-bit Windows 10 version 1703 or later. With this tool, you can also convert MBR to GPT without data loss. Here is how to do that:

1. Type “cmd” in the Windows search bar and the Command Prompt app will appear.
2. Right-click the app and choose Run as administrator.
3. On the Command Prompt window, type “mbr2gpt /convert /disk: 0 /allowfullOS” and press Enter. Disk 0 (usually the system disk) will be converted to a GPT disk.

Way 3. Use Windows Installation Media

If you use this method to convert MBR to GPT, you need to delete all partitions and data on the system disk. Here is the guide:

Step 1: Create a Windows 10 or Windows 11 installation media. Insert the media to your PC and make the PC boot from the media.

Step 2: Go on until you see the Install now window. Then, click Repair your computer button in the bottom left corner. Go to Troubleshoot > Command Prompt. Then, execute the following commands to clean the system disk and convert it to GPT.

• diskpart
• list disk
• select disk 0
• clean
• convert gpt

Step 3: You can then clean install Windows on your PC.

Stage 2. Change the Boot Mode in BIOS

In this part, I will show you how to change the boot mode to UEFI. After that, your PC can boot normally.

1. Shut down your PC.
2. Power on the PC and press the BIOS key (Del, Esc, F2, etc.) immediately when the PC brand logo appears. You can see the BIOS key at the bottom of the PC logo screen. Or, you can search for it online.
3. Now, you are in the firmware. Go to the Boot tab and change the Boot Mode from Legacy to UEFI.
4. Save changes and exit the firmware. The PC will boot up automatically.

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Bottom Line

Do you have opinions on changing Legacy to UEFI? Share them with us in the following comment zone. In addition, if you encounter problems when using MiniTool Partition Wizard, please feel free to contact us via [email protected]. We will get back to you as soon as possible.