Microsoft is saying goodbye to the famous Blue Screen of Death — and replacing it with a black one.
The move comes as part of wider efforts to make Windows systems more resilient, following last year’s massive CrowdStrike outage. That incident left millions of computers across the globe unexpectedly crashing and rebooting.
The Redmond-based company announced on Wednesday that it is redesigning what users see when Windows crashes, aiming for a simpler and faster recovery process.
Instead of the familiar blue screen and sad face, users will now see a black screen with a cleaner message. It includes a percentage indicator to show restart progress, helping users understand what’s happening in real time.
Microsoft says the updated screen will appear in Windows 11 version 24H2, which is expected to arrive later this summer.
But that’s not all. The company is also introducing a new “quick machine recovery” tool for when PCs don’t restart properly. This tool allows Microsoft to send fixes during outages without needing IT teams to step in manually.
The company hopes these changes will help users get back to work faster when crashes occur.
The updated restart screen and recovery tool are part of a broader mission to make Windows more stable and easier to manage, especially during major outages.
Microsoft says more updates and features will follow later in the year, continuing its push to improve the Windows experience for everyone.
