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Nearly every Windows user has had a run-in with the "Blue Screen of Death" at some point in their computing lives. Now, after more than 40 years of being set against a very recognizable blue, Microsoft is giving the notorious error message a makeover.
After 40 years, Microsoft is updating its error message to display on a black background
The Associated Press
· Posted: Jun 26, 2025 11:08 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago
Nearly every Windows user has had a run-in with the infamous "Blue Screen of Death" at some point in their computing lives. Now, after more than 40 years of being set against a very recognizable blue, the updated error message will soon be displayed across a black background.
The changes come as part of broader efforts by Microsoft to improve the resiliency of the Windows operating system in the wake of last year's CrowdStrike outage that saw millions of Windows machines crash worldwide.
"Now it's easier than ever to navigate unexpected restarts and recover faster," Microsoft wrote in a Thursday announcement.
As part of that effort, Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Wash., says it's "streamlining" what users experience when encountering "unexpected restarts" that cause disruptions.
And that means a makeover for the notorious error screen.
A shorter message
Beyond the now-black background, the new Windows error screen has a slightly shorter message. It's also no longer accompanied by a frowning emoticon, instead showing a percentage completed for the restart process.
Microsoft says this "simplified" user interface for unexpected restarts will be available later this summer on all of its Windows 11 (version 24H2) devices.
And for PCs that may not restart successfully, Microsoft also said it will be adding a "quick machine recovery" mechanism. The company noted this will be particularly useful during widespread outages, as Microsoft "can broadly deploy targeted remediations" and allow automated fixes "without requiring complex manual intervention from IT."
Microsoft said this mechanism will be "generally available" later this summer on Windows 11 — with additional capabilities set to launch later in the year.
