When a Blue Screen of Death error occurs, Windows displays its details and code for a short time and restart the PC. Even sometimes Windows restart so quickly that the users cannot note down the error code. In such situations, BSOD log files can help. In this post, we will show you how to find and view BSOD log files in Windows 11/10.
Windows saves the details of every BSOD error at a specific location. This data is called the BSOD log and is available in the BSOD log files. Windows 11/10 has a built-in log file viewer tool, Event Viewer. Event Viewer lists all BSOD error logs and provides the users with a troubleshooting guide to solve the error.
Windows BSOD log file location
Follow the steps below to view the BSOD logs in Event Viewer.
1] Type “Event Viewer” in the Windows search box and click on the app to launch it.
2] To view the BSOD error logs, you have to create a filter. For this, go to “Action > Create Custom View.”
3] In the Create Custom View window, make sure that you are under the “Filter” tab. Select the time when you have observed the Blue Screen of Death error on your system in the “Logged” drop-down menu. If you know the exact date and time of the BSOD error, you can select the Custom range option.
In my case, I did not know the date and time of the error. That’s why, I left the setting to default, “Any time.”
4] Now, select the checkbox “Error” in the Event level section and select the “By log” radio button. After that, click on the Event logs drop-down menu and expand the “Windows Logs” section. Here, you have to select the following checkboxes:
- Application
- Security
- System
When you are done, click OK.
5] After that, a new window will open. In it, you must enter the name of the filter you created and click OK to save it.
I saved it with the name System Error Logs. You can view it in the “Custom Views” section on the left panel.
6] After selecting the filter you have just created, you can view all the system error logs in the middle panel of the Event Viewer. To view the BSOD log, you have to find the error with the source “BugCheck.”
Now, click on the “Source” to arrange all the entries under it alphabetically. This will make it easier for you to locate the BugCheck entry.
Under the “General” tab, you can view the error code. Click the “Details” tab to know more about the error.
The message, “The computer has rebooted from a BugCheck” in the General tab indicates that this is a BSOD error.
Now you can easily find BSOD errors and troubleshoot them.
Read: Log files created when you upgrade Windows
TIP: You can also use BlueScreenView. It is a user-oriented utility that automatically scans all the minidump files that were created after the BSOD crash into a single table. For every crash occurrence, BlueScreenView gives details about the driver that was loaded during the crash, and other crash information to troubleshoot the problems and locate the suspected problematic drivers easily.
Read next: How to find ChkDsk results in Event Viewer logs.
Where are Windows crash logs stored?
Windows crash logs are stored as minidump files in the C:\Windows\Minidump directory. These files capture memory details at the moment of a crash. You can use Microsoft’s WinDbg tool to examine these log files.
How do I find the source of BSOD?
To find the source of a BSOD, open the Event Viewer and check the system logs for error messages that might indicate the problematic device or driver. Reviewing these logs can help identify the issue.
