The Dual-Boot Friction

I triple-boot: Argo OS (Main), EndeavourOS (Testing), and Windows 10 (Gaming). Rebooting to Windows is a chore:

1. Click Restart.
2. Wait for BIOS POST.
3. Mash the arrow keys to stop the GRUB countdown.
4. Select Windows.
5. Press Enter.

If I miss the countdown (because I went to get coffee), I boot back into Linux and have to start over. I wanted a “Reboot to Windows” button on my Linux desktop.

The Tool: grub2-reboot

GRUB supports a “boot once” variable. You can tell it: “Next time you boot, pick Entry #2. After that, go back to default.”

The command is simple:

sudo grub2-reboot "Windows 10 (on /dev/nvme0n1p1)"
sudo reboot

But I don’t want to type that every time.

The Problem: Finding the Name

The string "Windows 10 (on /dev/nvme0n1p1)" isn’t a guess. It has to match exactly what is in your grub.cfg. If you mistype a space, it won’t switch.

To find the exact name, run this:

sudo grep "menuentry " /boot/grub2/grub.cfg | cut -d "'" -f 2

Or on some systems (like UEFI Fedora):

sudo grep "menuentry " /boot/efi/EFI/fedora/grub.cfg | cut -d "'" -f 2

You will get a list like:

• Fedora Linux (6.8.9-200.fc40.x86_64) 40 (Workstation Edition)
• Windows 10 (on /dev/nvme0n1p1)
• EndeavourOS Linux (on /dev/sda1)

Copy that string exactly.

Creating the Shortcuts

We can create standard Linux .desktop entries. These appear in your Application Menu (GNOME, KDE, Rofi, etc).

~/.local/share/applications/reboot-windows.desktop:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Reboot to Windows 10
Comment=Restart computer directly into Windows
Exec=pkexec sh -c 'grub2-reboot "Windows 10 (on /dev/nvme0n1p1)" && reboot'
Icon=system-reboot
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=System;

Key components:

• pkexec: This triggers the GUI password prompt. We need root privileges to write to the EFI variables (grub2-reboot modifies the BIOS NVRAM).
• The Logic: It sets the “Next Boot” variable first. If that succeeds (&&), then it triggers the reboot.

Adding Safety Rails (Zenity)

Accidentally clicking that button is annoying. It reboots you instantly. I added a confirmation dialog using zenity (a tool to display GTK dialogs from scripts).

We wrapped it in a script:

#!/bin/bash
if zenity --question \
    --title="Reboot to Windows" \
    --text="Are you sure you want to reboot into Windows 10?" \
    --default-cancel; then
    
    pkexec sh -c 'grub2-reboot "Windows 10 (on /dev/nvme0n1p1)" && reboot'
fi

Now, when I click the icon, I get a nice popup asking “Are you sure?”.

The Icon Hunt

The hardest part was finding icons. I pulled standard SVG icons from the internet and saved them to ~/.local/share/icons/. For EndeavourOS, I grabbed their official logo. For Windows, I found a generic “OS” icon.

Results

Now, my application launcher (Rofi) has these options:

• Reboot (Standard)
• Reboot to Windows 10
• Reboot to EndeavourOS

I type “Win”, hit enter, type my password, and walk away. When I come back with my coffee, Windows is at the login screen. It feels like magic, but it’s just efibootmgr doing what it was designed to do.

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