Windows 11 will soon show the Blue Screen of Death

Blue Screen of Death Windows 10
Blue Screen of Death Windows 10 (Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • A recent Insider build of Windows 11 brings back the Blue Screen of Death.
  • Windows 11 switched to a Black Screen of Death for its error screen.
  • The Blue Screen of Death could make its return to Windows in the near future.

The infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) will soon make its return to Windows. Microsoft's Windows 11 swapped out the Blue Screen of Death for a Black Screen of Death, but the company will revert back to the blue error screen. Windows 11 build 22000.346 made headlines for bringing Microsoft's controversial emojis to the Release Preview and Beta channels, but it also included the switch to the BSoD.

"We changed the screen color to blue when a device stops working or a stop error occurs as in previous versions of Windows," reads the changelog of Windows 11 build 22000.346.

The BSoD is a familiar error screen that appears when Windows runs into certain issues. There's even a subreddit dedicated to sharing examples of the Blue Screen of Death in public (via Ars Technica).

The Blue Screen of Death and other changes from build 22000.346 are currently in testing in the Release Preview and Beta channels of the Windows Insider program. Assuming there aren't any issues, the BSoD should make its return to Windows in the near future.

Microsoft appears to be a big fan of the color blue. When debating how to make the Windows 11 logo feel closer to the identity of Microsoft, the company's design team decided to make it blue. "How could we try to bring Windows and Microsoft closer together?" Asked a member of Microsoft's design team in a video. "So, we looked at the Microsoft logo, and we turned it blue."

There's also a Bloomberry ice cream flavor that's inspired by the Windows 11 Bloom wallpaper, which is blue.

Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com.