Your PC powers on, flashes the manufacturer logo, then drops you onto a blue "Automatic Repair" or "Preparing Automatic Repair" screen. It spins for a while, restarts, and lands you right back where you started. That cycle is the Automatic Repair loop. It usually means Windows tried to start several times, failed, and handed control to its own recovery layer instead of your desktop.
The good news is that the same recovery layer holds the tools to break the loop, and you almost never need anything beyond what Microsoft already ships in Windows.
Below are nine fixes ordered from the safest and simplest to the most drastic. Work through them in order, and stop as soon as one gets you back into Windows. Everything here uses built-in Windows 11 and Windows 10 tools only. Microsoft ended Windows 10 support on October 14, 2025, but the recovery tools still work on both versions.
Fix 1: Get Into the Windows Recovery Environment
Almost every fix here runs from the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), also called Advanced startup. An Automatic Repair loop means Windows failed to start correctly several times, so it hands control to WinRE instead of loading your desktop. You may already be looking at the door you need to open: from the recovery screen, select Advanced options.
If the PC reaches the sign-in screen but won't go further, hold the Shift key while you select Power > Restart. From within Windows 11 you can also go to Start > Settings > System > Recovery and, next to Advanced startup, select Restart now. On Windows 10 the same option sits under Settings > Update & Security > Recovery.
If the machine never reaches Windows at all, you can force WinRE manually.
- 1.Power on the device and wait for Windows to start loading.
- 2.Press and hold the power button until the device shuts down.
- 3.Power it on again and repeat the forced shutdown a second time.
- 4.On the third power-on, Windows should display the Automatic Repair screen.
- 5.Select Advanced options.
Fix 2: Let Quick Machine Recovery or Startup Repair Do the Work
Start with the automatic tools before you touch a command line. On Windows 11, version 24H2 (build 26100.4700 or later), Quick Machine Recovery runs after repeated failed boots. It connects to the internet from WinRE and searches Windows Update for a fix, then restarts the PC once a fix is applied.
Quick Machine Recovery is on by default for Windows 11 Home and for Pro PCs that are not managed by a workplace. It needs a wired connection or a WPA/WPA2 password-protected Wi-Fi network. If it finds no fix, WinRE sends you on to the other recovery options.
The core repair tool on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 is Startup Repair. It diagnoses and fixes problems such as missing or damaged system files, corrupted boot configuration data, a damaged master boot record, incompatible drivers and registry errors. Run it from Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Repair > Restart.
Have one thing ready first. If your device is BitLocker-encrypted, you will need your BitLocker recovery key for this and several other recovery tools. If you don't have it written down, find your BitLocker recovery key from another device, usually by signing in to your Microsoft account.
Fix 3: Boot Into Safe Mode to Isolate a Bad Driver or App
If a recently installed driver or program is breaking startup, Safe Mode lets you reach a usable desktop and remove it. Safe Mode starts Windows with only the essential drivers and services, so a faulty add-on never gets the chance to crash the boot.
From WinRE, go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart. When the Startup Settings list appears, press one of these keys.
Press 4 or F4 for Safe Mode.
Press 5 or F5 for Safe Mode with Networking.
Press 6 or F6 for Safe Mode with Command Prompt.
Once you reach the Safe Mode desktop, uninstall the driver or app you suspect, then restart normally to see whether the loop is gone.
Fix 4: Uninstall the Update That Started It
If the loop began right after a Windows update installed, removing that update is often the fastest cure. WinRE can do this even though you can't boot into Windows normally.
Go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Uninstall Updates, then choose either Uninstall latest quality update or Uninstall latest feature update. Quality updates are the routine monthly patches. Feature updates are the larger version upgrades. Pick the one whose timing lines up with when the trouble started.
Fix 5: Roll Back the Whole System With System Restore
If a restore point already exists on your PC, System Restore can undo a recent change that caused the boot failure. It rolls back system files and settings to an earlier point in time without touching your personal files.
From WinRE, open Troubleshoot > Advanced options > System Restore and choose a restore point dated before the loop began. Let the process run fully and don't interrupt it.
Newer Windows 11 PCs may also show Point-in-time restore under Troubleshoot. It returns the entire PC, including apps, settings and personal files, to an automatic restore point from the last 72 hours, so anything you created or changed after that point is lost (OneDrive files are not affected). Keep the PC plugged in and don't turn it off while it runs. Use System Restore instead if you need to go back further or want your personal files left alone.
Fix 6: Repair Corrupted System Files With DISM and SFC
When system files are damaged, two command-line repair tools can rebuild them. Which commands you use depends on whether you can reach a desktop.
If you reached a desktop through Safe Mode, open Command Prompt with Run as administrator. Microsoft says to run DISM before SFC, and to leave a space before each slash.
Run DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth and wait for it to report "The operation completed successfully."
Then run sfc /scannow and do not close the window until you see "Verification 100% complete."
DISM repairs the Windows component store, and SFC then scans protected system files and replaces any that are corrupted. If you want a lighter check before committing to the full repair, Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth scans the image for corruption and Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth reports whether corruption was detected and whether the image is repairable.
When Windows can't boot at all, open Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt in WinRE and run SFC offline with SFC /Scannow /OffBootDir=C:\ /OffWinDir=C:\Windows.
Fix 7: Scan the Drive for Errors With chkdsk
A failing or corrupted disk can keep Windows from starting no matter how clean the system files are. From the WinRE Command Prompt, chkdsk checks the drive for both file-system and physical errors.
For disk corruption, run chkdsk C: /f /r, using the letter of your Windows drive. The /f switch fixes file-system errors and requires the volume to be locked, while /r locates bad sectors, recovers readable data, and includes the functionality of /f. To target one specific drive, the basic form is chkdsk d: /f, where you replace d: with the letter of the drive you want to check.
Fix 8: Rebuild Boot Files With bootrec
If the screen is black with a blinking cursor, or you see BCD or boot errors, the boot records themselves may be broken. Boot from Windows installation media (if you don't have any, create installation media for Windows on another PC with a blank USB drive of at least 8 GB). Then press Shift+F10 to open a Command Prompt and use the bootrec commands. These boot commands do not affect your personal files.
Run BOOTREC /FIXMBR to repair the master boot code.
Run BOOTREC /FIXBOOT to repair the boot sector.
Run Bootrec /ScanOS to scan for installed Windows systems, then restart to see whether the problem is fixed.
If BCD errors continue on a BIOS/MBR PC whose BCD store is at C:\Boot\BCD, back up and rebuild the store with this sequence, then restart:
- 1.
bcdedit /export c:\bcdbackup - 2.
attrib c:\boot\bcd -r -s -h - 3.
ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old - 4.
bootrec /rebuildbcd
One more situation has its own fix. If the PC keeps stopping on the recovery-options screen and won't move past it, run Bcdedit /set {default} recoveryenabled no to break that cycle.
Fix 9: Reset This PC as a Last Resort
If every repair above fails, select Troubleshoot > Reset this PC in WinRE. It reinstalls Windows and lets you keep your personal files or remove everything. Because this is a reinstall, treat it as the final step and choose the option to keep your files if you want to preserve your personal data. Backing up anything irreplaceable first is still the safer move when a drive has been misbehaving.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Automatic Repair loop actually mean?
It means Windows failed to start correctly several times, so it keeps launching the Windows Recovery Environment instead of loading your desktop. WinRE is designed to start automatically after repeated failed boot attempts, which is why the screen keeps reappearing.
Will fixing the loop erase my files?
Most of these fixes do not touch your personal files. System Restore rolls back system files and settings without affecting personal files, and the bootrec boot commands leave them alone too. Point-in-time restore does roll back personal files to the restore point, so anything newer is lost. Reset this PC can remove files, but it gives you an explicit option to keep them.
How do I reach the recovery tools if Windows never starts?
Power the device on, and as Windows starts to load, hold the power button until it shuts down. Repeat that twice, and on the third power-on Windows should display the Automatic Repair screen, where you select Advanced options to reach the tools.
Do I need my BitLocker recovery key?
If your device is BitLocker-encrypted, yes. You will need the recovery key to run Startup Repair and several other recovery tools on an encrypted device, so locate it before you begin. It may be saved in the Microsoft account you used to set up the PC.
Is Quick Machine Recovery available on Windows 10?
No. Quick Machine Recovery requires Windows 11, version 24H2 build 26100.4700 or later. On Windows 10 you rely on Startup Repair and the other tools, which work on both versions.