Secure Boot State says Unsupported
Why does msinfo32 say Secure Boot State is Unsupported on Windows 11?
Written by The CommonFixes team · fact checked by CommonFixes review desk
Last updated
Short answer
Unsupported does not mean your computer lacks the feature. It nearly always means Windows was installed in the old Legacy style on an MBR disk, and Secure Boot only works in UEFI mode on a GPT disk. Once the disk and the firmware mode match, the setting becomes available. The quickest thing to try first: check the two lines that matter — Press Windows and R, type msinfo32 and press Enter. Read BIOS Mode and Secure Boot State. If BIOS Mode says Legacy, that is your answer. If it already says UEFI and Secure Boot says Unsupported, the firmware itself is old and needs an update. Most people are done in about 30 minutes.
Full walkthrough below: 6 steps for Windows, rated careful.
Sounds like this
- •System Information shows Secure Boot State: Unsupported
- •BIOS Mode is listed as Legacy rather than UEFI
- •Some games or the update to a new Windows version refuse to run
Why it happens
Unsupported does not mean your computer lacks the feature. It nearly always means Windows was installed in the old Legacy style on an MBR disk, and Secure Boot only works in UEFI mode on a GPT disk. Once the disk and the firmware mode match, the setting becomes available.
Work through these in order
0% done- 1
Check the two lines that matter
Press Windows and R, type msinfo32 and press Enter. Read BIOS Mode and Secure Boot State. If BIOS Mode says Legacy, that is your answer. If it already says UEFI and Secure Boot says Unsupported, the firmware itself is old and needs an update.
- 2
See whether the disk can be converted safely
Open Terminal as administrator and run: mbr2gpt /validate /allowFullOS. A message saying validation completed successfully means the conversion will work. Any error means stop and back up first, because the disk layout is not ready.
- 3
Back up your files before touching the disk
Copy anything you cannot lose to an external drive or cloud storage. The conversion is reliable and Microsoft supplies the tool, but a power cut halfway through would leave the disk unbootable.
- 4
Convert the disk from MBR to GPT
In the same administrator Terminal run: mbr2gpt /convert /allowFullOS. Wait for it to finish and do not restart until it reports success. This keeps Windows and all your files in place.
- 5
Switch the firmware to UEFI and enable Secure Boot
Restart and press F2, F10, F12 or Delete to enter setup. Set Boot Mode to UEFI and turn CSM or Legacy Support off. Then, under Security or Boot, set Secure Boot to Enabled. If it is greyed out, load setup defaults first, or set an administrator password, then try again. Save and exit.
- 6
Confirm the change
Back in Windows, run msinfo32 again. BIOS Mode should read UEFI and Secure Boot State should read On. If it reads Off rather than Unsupported, you only need to enable it in the firmware, which is a much smaller job.
If none of that worked
If Secure Boot is missing from the firmware entirely, update the BIOS from your maker's support page. Machines older than roughly 2012 may genuinely not support it, and no update will add it.
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This guide was last updated on 15 August 2026. If a step no longer matches what you see on screen, tell us on the contact page and we will test it again.
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