What exactly does bcdedit do?

Question

In windows, to start in safe mode we can execute in the terminal, with privileges, the command:

%windir%\system32\bcdedit.exe /set {default} safeboot minimal

And to return to normal mode, we execute:

%windir%\system32\bcdedit.exe /deletevalue {default} safeboot

I want to know is what exactly does bcdedit do? (And if I can do the same with registry keys?)

Thanks

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Answer to the second part of the question (regedit keys) (source)

safe mode:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Option]
"OptionValue"=dword:00000001

Normal mode. Delete the previous key or:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Option]
"OptionValue"=dword:00000000

Answer 1

To answer your specific question, it modifies the Boot Configuration Data which you can read about on the Microsoft Docs site here https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/bcdedit-command-line-options

BCDEdit is a command-line tool for managing Boot Configuration Data (BCD).

BCD files provide a store that is used to describe boot applications and boot application settings.

BCDEdit can be used for a variety of purposes, including creating new stores, modifying existing stores, adding boot menu options, and so on.