Maybe you just turned your computer on and discover that it is stuck on a screen that displays ‘Please wait’ with a waiting gif similar to the picture below:

Many users have reported that they get stuck on the ‘Please wait’ screen during starting the Windows. If you are also facing the same problem, then you are not alone. As this is a common cause for many Windows users, we have identified three best ways to fix this issue which helped most of the users. You can fix it with these easy steps from this article.

Why Does It Happen – ‘Windows 10 Stuck on the Please Wait Screen’

The major causes behind the Windows stuck on the welcome screen are:

• The computer is trying to connect to the available internet connection.
• Because of the faulty hard drive or the SD card that is attached to the computer.
• Faulty external peripherals such as USB drive, WiFi adapter, Bluetooth adapter, keyboard, and mouse that are connected to the device.

How to Get Past the Please Wait Screen on Windows 10?

If you are stuck on the ‘Please wait’ screen during starting the windows, then you will not able to bypass it by pressing ALT + CTRL + DEL. Because it will not work on the welcome page before starting the Windows. The only thing that you can do is reboot your computer at that time. Here are the three steps using which you can fix this error:

1. Go to Safe Mode.
2. Disable Some Windows Startup Services.
3. Perform System Restore.

Step-1: Automatic Startup Repair Process

The easy method would be to boot into the safe mode using a Windows 10 bootable USB drive. But if you don’t have any other computer or bootable device, then don’t worry you can perform an automatic startup repair on your computer. For this, follow the instruction carefully:

• Eject all the USB devices or external devices from your computer and wait for some moments.
• Then, turn on your computer and perform the force shut down by pressing and holding the power button.
• Repeat this process three times in a row and your computer will be taken to the Automatic Startup Repair Process.
• After the Advanced Recovery mode is launched, go to Troubleshoot option and click on Safe Mode.

Step-2: Disable Startup Services

There are three startup services that you need to disable after switching your Windows to the Safe Mode. These three services are –

1. Windows Error Reporting Service,
2. Network List Service,
3. Network Location Awareness.

Here are the instructions to perform this process:

• Open the Command Prompt, type services.msc and press the Enter key.
• It will take you to the Windows Service Manager application.
• Find the three services from the list that are mentioned above and take the following steps for each of those services.
• Double-click on the service to open its properties.
• If you find the service is running currently then click on the Stop button.
• Then, click on the dropdown list of Startup type option and select Disabled.
• Finally, click on the Apply button and restart your computer.

Step-3: Perform System Restore

After restart, your computer will boot normally it should not wait on the ‘Please wait’ screen as you have disabled some startup options. But this doesn’t mean that you have fixed the error. You have suppressed the error on your computer by disabling the startup services but you need to find and solve the error to fix your computer completely.

The first thing you have to do is go to flashback and think about what changes you have made on your computer before the issue started. If you can remember it then you have to reverse it. If you can’t figure out the changes that you have made, then you have to restore your computer to the previous state when it has not used to be stuck on the ‘please wait for the screen.

Follow the instruction to perform the system restore:

• Open the Control panel and navigate to Recovery > Open System Restore > Next.

• Choose the reason problematic app, driver, or update and click on Next > Finish.

Now perform a restart and your computer will not be stuck at the ‘Please wait’ screen anymore.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Does Windows 10 Keep Freezing?

The reason behind windows 10 freezing could be an outdated driver. You need to update all your drivers to fix this problem. You can do it manually or can use any tools that automatically update the drivers on a computer. 

If you are stuck because your screen is frozen, then you can perform a restart or open the task manager by pressing and holding Ctrl + Alt + Del keys simultaneously and kill the app that freezes your computer.

How Do I Perform Automatic Repair on Windows 11/10?

• Open Settings on your Windows 11.
• Then, click on System Settings.
• After that, scroll down and find the option named Recovery and click on it.
• Next, click on the Advanced startup on the Recovery option.
• Click system restore.
• In the end, restart your computer.

How Do I Fix Windows 10 Stuck Update?

If you are stuck at windows Update , then you can do several things to get rid of that issue which are:

• Perform the force restart on your computer.
• Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter.
• Find the Temporary Windows Update files and delete them.
• Update your computer manually using Microsoft Update Catalog.
• Roll back to the previous state or perform the System Restore.

How Do I Start Windows 10 in Safe Mode?

• Open the Run command by pressing and holding the Windows + R key.
• Type MSConfig on the search box of it.
• Click on the Boot tab and select the Safe Boot option from there.
• Click on the Apply button and perform a restart. 

How Do I Bypass Automatic Repair?

To disable automatic repair, you need to go to your Command Prompt and type the code below –

bcdedit /set {default} recovery enabled No

Then you need to press the ‘enter’ button and perform a restart.

Now your computer will never go to the automatic startup repair page and will start normally.

Conclusion

You may get stuck on the opening screen on your Windows 10 system and it is a normal issue that many users have faced at least once. It generally happens because of corrupted windows files due to malware or virus or some unwanted programs. But you don’t need to worry about this issue as this is a common issue and very easy to solve. You can fix this problem using the steps described above.

I hope you have understood everything in this article. Please don’t hesitate to inform us in the comment section below if you are facing a problem handling this issue or have any further queries.