How To Fix ‘NTFS Partition Is In An Unsafe State’ Error In Linux

The other day I booted a Windows 10 system with Ubuntu live cd. When I tried to mount a Windows partition from the Linux live cd environment, the windows partition refused to mount in read/write mode and displayed this error - NTFS partition is in an unsafe state. The below is the complete error message:

$ sudo mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/

Here, /dev/sda2 is the Windows partition.

Sample output:

Windows is hibernated, refused to mount.
The disk contains an unclean file system (0, 0).
Metadata kept in Windows cache, refused to mount.
Falling back to read-only mount because the NTFS partition is in an
unsafe state. Please resume and shutdown Windows fully (no hibernation
or fast restarting.)
Could not mount read-write, trying read-only

The partition mounts in read-only mode but not read-write mode. I thought this was due to unclean shutdown, so I properly shutdown the Windows system and again boot it with the live cd. However, I get the same error message. I logged into the Windows system, and then reboot it. But I still got the same issue over and over.

I ran ntfsfix command which is used to fix common errors in the NTFS partition:

$ sudo ntfsfix /dev/sda2

Sample output:

Mounting volume... Windows is hibernated, refused to mount.
FAILED
Attempting to correct errors... 
Processing $MFT and $MFTMirr...
Reading $MFT... OK
Reading $MFTMirr... OK
Comparing $MFTMirr to $MFT... OK
Processing of $MFT and $MFTMirr completed successfully.
Setting required flags on partition... OK
Going to empty the journal ($LogFile)... OK
Windows is hibernated, refused to mount.
Remount failed: Operation not permitted

Unfortunately, It didn't work. I couldn't mount the Windows partition in read/write mode from my Linux live cd.

Finally, I solved the "NTFS partition is in an unsafe state" error by turning off the "Fast Startup" feature in my Windows 10 system. This time It worked. For those who can't mount a Windows partition from Linux live cd or dual boot Linux and Windows environment, simply disable the Fast Startup feature in your Windows 10 or 8 in order to mount a Windows NTFS partition in read/write mode as shown in the following steps.

Disable Fast Startup in Windows

To disable Fast Startup in Windows 10, open Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound option.

Next, click "Power Options".

In the next window, click "Choose what the power button does" option on the left sidebar.

Under the "Define power buttons and turn on password protection" section, you will see a link titled "Change settings that are currently unavailable". Click on it.

Uncheck the "Turn on fast startup" check box to disable fast startup and click Save settings.

Now, Fast startup has been disabled. Close the Control Panel application.

Now I can able to mount the Windows partition in read-write mode without any issues.

Hope this helps.