what I need to do to to get into the BIOS on startup.

Lordwalp

I made a wrong choice when first switching on and setting up laptop. I need to carry out a factory reset (hopefully preserving the Acer apps and device drivers) and start again! I have created a recovery USB but on starting out to do a factory reset I cannot get into BIOS to alter Boot Order. Pressing F2 when the splash screen appears does not divert the start up sequence to enter the BIOS.

Please can anyone suggest what I need to do to to get into the BIOS on startup.

[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

Sharanji

@Lordwalp

Here's are a few steps you can try:
Ensure Timing is Right: Start tapping the F2 key repeatedly as soon as you power on the laptop. Sometimes, the timing can be tricky.
Try to Disable Fast Startup: If Fast Startup is enabled, it might bypass the BIOS entry. To disable it, Boot into Windows. Go to Control Panel > Power Options > Choose what the power buttons do. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable and uncheck Turn on fast startup.

If you're looking for an alternative way to reset your laptop to factory settings, you can try the Alt + F10 method during startup. Shut down your laptop completely. Turn it back on and immediately start pressing Alt + F10 repeatedly. This should bring up the Acer Recovery Management screen. Follow the on-screen instructions to reset your laptop to factory settings. You can select to keep your files or remove everything for a clean slate.

If this method doesn't work, you can also use the Windows Recovery Environment:
Hold down the Shift key while clicking Restart from the Start menu.
Select Troubleshoot > Reset this PC and follow the prompts.

The reset process may take some time, so ensure your laptop is plugged in to avoid interruptions.

billsey

We need to know which model you have. Though the key is often F2 it is sometimes something else. If you accidentally tried installing some non-Windows OSes, like Pop! OS or such, they will sometimes change the timeout waiting for a keypress to 0. Then you can only be already holding the key down when you power on to get it to have a chance to take. There is a Acer recovery process that uses a different keypress to launch (Alt-F10 is often the correct keys) that forces a reset using the Acer OS build, and that will have all the utilities and apps. A reset from Windows will remove those…