I rebooted my VM in safe mode and now I can't access it

If your VM keeps booting into Safe Mode, the Safe Mode flag may still be set in the Windows boot configuration.

You can remove it by opening Command Prompt as Administrator and running:

bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot

After that, restart the virtual machine and it should boot normally.

I also wrote a detailed step-by-step guide here if you need more troubleshooting steps: https://winchatsupport.com/reset-safe-mode-flag-vm/

For some reason, I can't log in. I reset my password, so I know what the username and password are, but I'm guessing about the domain. I tried just hitting enter." "<my VN name>" and "localhost". AI thinks it may be because of Safe Mode.

To reset the Safe Mode flag on an Azure Windows VM so it boots normally again, use one of these methods.

Method 1 – Use Azure Serial Console (recommended if available)

1. Connect to the VM’s Serial Console and open a CMD instance. See: Serial Console and open CMD instance.
2. In the command prompt, list the current boot configuration:

      bcdedit /enum
   

3. In the Windows Boot Loader section, look for the safeboot flag (value may be minimal or network). Its presence means the VM is forced into Safe Mode.
4. Remove the Safe Mode flag so the VM boots normally:

      bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot
   

5. Confirm the flag is gone:

      bcdedit /enum
   

6. Restart the VM from the Azure portal and then reconnect via RDP.

Method 2 – Repair the VM offline using a recovery VM

Use this if Serial Console is not available.

1. Attach the OS disk to a recovery VM
   1. In the Azure portal, stop the affected VM.
   2. Detach its OS disk and attach the OS disk to a recovery VM.
   3. RDP to the recovery VM and open Disk Management to confirm the attached OS disk is Online and note its drive letter (assume F: below; replace with the actual letter).
2. Check the BCD store on the attached OS disk
   1. Open an elevated Command Prompt on the recovery VM.
   2. Run:

            bcdedit /store F:\boot\bcd /enum
      

   3. Identify the entry that has the \Windows folder; its identifier is typically {default} or named Default.
3. Remove the Safe Mode flag from that entry

      bcdedit /store F:\boot\bcd /deletevalue {Default} safeboot
   

4. Verify the flag is removed

      bcdedit /store F:\boot\bcd /enum
   

5. Detach and reattach the OS disk
   1. In the Azure portal, detach the OS disk and recreate the VM using that disk.
   2. Start the VM and connect via RDP; it should now boot in normal mode.

These steps clear the safeboot setting so the VM no longer forces Safe Mode at boot.

References:

• Cannot RDP to a VM because the VM boots into Safe Mode
• Unable to boot into normal mode, machine keeps booting into safe mode