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How to Boot Lenovo Laptop from USB?

Published in Laptop Boot Methods 4 mins read

Booting your Lenovo laptop from a USB drive is a common process required for installing operating systems, running diagnostics, or using recovery tools.

The primary method involves accessing the boot menu during startup to temporarily select your USB device as the boot source. Here’s how to do it, incorporating the essential steps you need to follow:

The Basic Process

To begin the process of booting your Lenovo laptop from a USB drive, ensure your bootable USB is properly created and ready.

  1. Attach the USB device: Connect the bootable USB drive to any available USB port on your Lenovo laptop. Use a port that is easily accessible and ensure the drive is securely inserted.
  2. Completely Shut Down: Press and hold the Power Button for a few seconds to turn off the system completely. A full shutdown ensures the system starts from a cold boot state, which is necessary for accessing the boot menu or BIOS settings reliably.
  3. Power On the System: Press the Power Button again to turn on your Lenovo laptop.

Accessing the Boot Menu

Immediately after pressing the power button, you need to quickly press a specific key or key combination to interrupt the normal boot sequence and access the temporary boot menu (which corresponds to the "pop-up menu with a list of choices" mentioned in step 4 of the reference). The required key varies between Lenovo models, but here are the most common ones:

  • F12: This is the most frequent key to access the boot menu directly on many Lenovo IdeaPad, ThinkPad, and other series.
  • Fn + F12: On some models, especially those with multi-function keys, you might need to hold the Fn key while pressing F12.
  • Enter key: On many ThinkPad models, pressing Enter right after powering on will present a startup interrupt menu. From there, you can often press a different key (like F12) to access the boot menu or F1 to enter BIOS setup.
  • Novo Button: Some Lenovo laptops have a small button (often near the power button or on the side) called the Novo button. Pressing this button while the laptop is off will bring up the Novo Button Menu, which includes options like "Boot Menu" and "BIOS Setup".

Try pressing one of these keys repeatedly right after hitting the power button until the boot menu or an interrupt menu appears.

Common Boot Keys for Lenovo Laptops

Lenovo Series Common Boot Menu Key(s) Alternate Method
IdeaPad F12, Fn + F12 Novo Button
ThinkPad F12, Enter (then F12/F1) F1 (for BIOS)
Other Models F12, F2 Novo Button

Note: Consult your laptop's specific manual if these keys do not work.

Selecting Your USB Drive

Once the boot menu appears (this is step 4 from the reference), you will see a list of available boot devices.

  1. Boot from the USB drive: Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate the list and highlight your USB drive. It might be listed by its brand name, model, or simply as "USB HDD," "USB Device," or "EFI USB Device." Press Enter to select it.

Your Lenovo laptop should now proceed to boot from the selected USB drive, allowing you to run the operating system or utility contained on it.

If accessing the temporary boot menu isn't working or you need to make the USB a permanent boot option, you can access the BIOS/UEFI settings (often by pressing F1 or F2 during startup) to change the boot order sequence. However, using the boot menu is generally recommended for one-time boots from USB.

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