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Technical vocabularyphrasal verb · /buːt ʌp/

boot up

In simple English

To initialize a computer system, server, or virtual machine from an off state. The system loads its operating system and services before becoming operational.

You heard a coworker say they need to boot up a server or machine and want to know what that means.

At a glanceCEFR B1–B2
Commonness
Versatility
FormalityCasualFormalNeutral
Spoken ↔ WrittenSpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ DiplomaticDirectDiplomaticNeutral
Region

Say it like this

✓Let me boot up my machine real quick.
✓The server takes about 2 minutes to boot up.
✓Can you boot up the staging environment?
✓It wouldn't boot up after the update.
✓I'll boot up a new VM for testing.

Real examples

Standup

"I'm waiting for the dev server to boot up before I can test the fix."

Slack message

"Hey, can someone boot up the staging environment? I need to run some tests."

GitHub PR

"Note: The container takes ~30 seconds to boot up on first run."

Jira ticket

"After deployment, the service fails to boot up correctly. Logs attached."

Retrospective

"We lost time this sprint because the test servers wouldn't boot up properly."

Sprint planning

"We'll need to boot up additional instances to handle the load testing."

Pair programming

"Let me boot up my local environment so we can debug together."

Don't say this

✕I will boot up the code.
✓I will run the code.— 'Boot up' is for systems, servers, or machines—not for code or scripts. Use 'run' for code.
✕The server is booting up since 10 minutes.
✓The server has been booting up for 10 minutes.— Use 'for' (not 'since') with durations, and use present perfect continuous for ongoing actions.
✕Please boot up the database.
✓Please start the database.— 'Boot up' usually refers to systems/machines. For services like databases, 'start' is more natural.

Other forms

base form

boot up

"I need to boot up the server."

third person

boots up

"The VM boots up in about 30 seconds."

past tense

booted up

"I booted up the machine this morning."

present participle

booting up

"The system is booting up now."

noun form

boot-up

"The boot-up process takes a few minutes."

Often used with

boot up the serverMost common usage—starting a server machine
boot up the machineGeneral term for any computer
boot up the VMStarting a virtual machine
boot up timeHow long it takes to start
fail to boot upWhen a system won't start properly
cold boot upStarting from completely off (vs. restart)

Similar words

startMore general, works for any system or service
initializeMore formal, often used in documentation
spin upCommon for cloud VMs and containers, more casual
power onFocuses on the physical power aspect
launchOften used for applications or instances

Opposites

shut downpower offspin downterminatestop

Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Pick the most natural sentence

1. How would you tell your team the server is starting?

Find the error

2. I booted up the API endpoint but it's not responding.

Complete the sentence

3. The VM ___ in about 30 seconds after you click start.

Make this more natural

4. I will make the server start and initialize.

More words

spin upshut downrestartdeployinstancecontainerenvironment

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "boot up" in a standup this week?

Want more structured practice like this? Our English for Programmers course covers real workplace English in depth.

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