How to fix a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) error in Windows 11

January 7, 2023

Blue Screen of Death errors are incredibly rare nowadays, but from time to time, users who mostly use older hardware encounter the frightening BSOD screen on Windows 11. Some time ago, several users reported a black screen issue on Windows 11 after upgrading . so we have written a detailed guide to help solve this problem. And in this guide, we have collected all the important resources for fixing the Blue Screen of Death error in Windows 11. If you are getting a “CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED” or “DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION” error message on your Windows 11 PC, don’t worry. Let's go ahead and find out how to fix the Blue Screen of Death error in Windows 11.

Fix Windows 11 Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Error in 2022

In this article, we have added 10 ways to fix the Blue Screen of Death error on Windows 11. From BSOD errors "VIDEO_TDR_TIMEOUT_DETECTED" to "SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED", we have covered all possible solutions.

1. Restart your computer

First of all, I would advise restarting your computer to fix the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) error on your Windows 11 PC. In most cases, the BSOD error will go away after a simple reboot.

If you're getting a "CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED" or "DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION" error on your BSOD screen, a quick reboot should fix the issue. If you are still getting the Blue Screen of Death on Windows 11, skip to the next section.

2. Recovery at startup

Windows 11 comes with a built-in recovery environment (WinRE) that allows you to access system tools to fix a problem. Here we are going to use it to fix the Blue Screen of Death error in Windows 11.

1. Turn off your computer first. Now turn it on and when the Windows boot sign appears, turn it off again by holding the Power button. Now turn on your computer and turn it off again in the same way. Do this 2-3 times and Windows will be forced to boot into the recovery environment. It will show "Preparing for automatic repair" or "Please wait". Let the process complete.

2. When you get to the recovery screen, select Advanced options.

3. Here, open the Troubleshoot options.

4. Finally, click on Startup Repair. This will restart your Windows 11 PC and attempt to fix the Blue Screen of Death error.

5. The BSOD screen should be gone. If the Advanced Options screen reappears, continue to the next section for a possible solution.

3. Run an SFC scan

1. To fix the Blue Screen of Death error in Windows 11, you can run an SFC scan via Command Prompt on the recovery screen. Follow the instructions above to boot into the recovery menu and click Troubleshoot.

2. Here, click "Command Prompt".

3. Now run the command below to check the integrity of the files on your PC. During this process, Windows 11 will also fix the BSOD issue on your computer.

SFC /scannow

4. After the scan is complete, restart your computer and the Blue Screen of Death error should be fixed in Windows 11.

4. Uninstall the latest update

If you're experiencing a blue screen on your Windows 11 PC after a recent update, it's likely that the update may have messed up the OS. In this case, the best solution is to simply uninstall the update. More recently, Windows 11 security update KB5013943 crashed the PC, resulting in the infamous Blue Screen of Death error for many users. With that said, here's the fix.

1. Download the recovery screen by following the instructions in Method #2 (Startup Repair). After that, click "Troubleshoot".

2. Click "Uninstall Updates" here.

3. Now click "Uninstall latest quality update". Quality updates are released frequently and are smaller in size, so it's likely that your computer received a security patch or a minor update. If you're sure it was a feature update (which comes out once or twice a year), click Delete last feature update.

4. Your computer will now restart and the update will begin to uninstall. After rebooting, the blue screen of death issue should be resolved on your Windows 11 PC.

5. Boot in safe mode

1. Open the recovery screen by following method #2 (Startup Repair) and click Troubleshoot.

2. Next, open Launch Options and click Restart.

3. When you get to the Startup Options screen, press the "4" or "F4" key to start Windows 11 in Safe Mode.

4. You will now boot directly into safe mode. Here, press the keyboard shortcut "Windows + R" to open the Run prompt, type appwiz.cpl in the text field and press Enter.

5. The Programs and Features window will open inside the Control Panel. In the left pane, click View Installed Updates.

6. Here, select the latest update and uninstall it immediately.

7. You can also go back and uninstall unknown and suspicious apps if you think some apps might be causing the Blue Screen of Death error on your Windows 11 PC.

8. Finally, restart your computer and you will boot into normal mode - without the Blue Screen of Death error.

6. Driver update rollback

If some recent driver update is causing the Blue Screen of Death error in Windows 11, you may very well roll back the update. Here's how to do it.

1. Boot into safe mode first by following the method above. Then press Windows + X at the same time to open the Quick Links menu and select Device Manager.

2. If you are sure about a recent driver update, expand the appropriate category and right-click the device. Then open "Properties" from the context menu.

3. Here, go to the Driver tab in the Properties window and click Roll Back Driver. If the option is disabled, you can disable it.

4. Finally, restart your computer and check if the Blue Screen of Death error is fixed or not.

7. Turn off unnecessary devices

It often happens that if you have too many hardware devices connected to your PC, the OS crashes and the Blue Screen of Death error appears. This is mainly due to driver conflicts and USB peripherals not working well with the OS. Thus, the simple solution is to disable all unnecessary hardware devices connected to your PC. After doing that, restart your computer and it should resolve the BSOD error.

8. System recovery

If the Blue Screen of Death error still persists on your Windows 11 PC, you can restore your PC to an earlier date when the PC was working normally. While this method works well and fixes the BSOD error, the only downside is that you will lose changes made to files and folders, if any, on your PC. In fact, with System Restore in Windows 11, your computer will return in time to a working state. If you're fine, follow these steps.

1. Open the recovery menu following method #2 (Startup Repair) and go to the Troubleshooting section.

2. Here, click System Restore.

3. On the next screen, select the latest restore point and click Next. Finally, Windows 11 will start restoring the system and files to the specified date.

4. Now restart your Windows 11 PC and you should boot without the Blue Screen of Death error.

9. Restart your computer

If nothing has worked so far to fix the Blue Screen of Death error, it's time to restart your Windows 11 PC. It won't touch files and folders from other drives, but it will delete the C drive, including files and folders on the desktop, in documents, downloads, etc. Here's how it works.

1. Download the Recovery Screen by following Method #2 (Startup Repair). After that, open Troubleshoot and click on Reset this PC.

2. On the next screen, select "Keep My Files" and follow the instructions on the screen.

3. Finally, your computer will restart and a clean copy of Windows 11 will be reinstalled on your computer. Now you will definitely not see the Blue Screen of Death error.

10. Clean install Windows 11

For users who want to start from scratch to avoid the BSOD error, they can perform a clean install of Windows 11 using a bootable USB device. This will allow you to install the latest build of Windows 11, which will have fewer bugs and new features. Please note that this will erase all data on drive C, but will not affect other drives.

You can currently install Windows 11 Build 22H2 (2022 Update) on your PC, which is stable and hasn't seen major crashes or BSODs except on some Intel PCs. Due to an incompatibility issue with the Intel Smart Sound Technology (SST) driver on Rocket Lake processors, the Windows 11 22H2 update causes a Blue Screen of Death error. The official way to fix this is to update the Intel SST driver. Go to Settings -> Update & Security -> Windows Update -> View Optional Updates and download the latest driver updates or go to your PC manufacturer's website.

Recover your Windows 11 PC from a BSOD error

So, these are 10 effective ways to fix Windows 11 BSOD error. Whether you are seeing the “DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION” or “IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL” blue screen error, we have mentioned fixes for all scenarios. However, this is all from us. If your Windows 11 PC is showing the “Reverting changes made to your PC” error after every update, follow our linked guide for a detailed solution. And if you have any questions, let us know in the comments section below.