In case of a BSoD error, Windows saves the blue screen log file in a specific location. Here’s where to find BSoD log files and open them.
When there is an irrecoverable system critical error, Windows throws the BSoD error with the relevant error message. These critical errors include but not limited to driver issues, corrupt system files, timing error, corrupt registry values, etc. After creating the necessary log files and memory dump, Windows usually restarts the system automatically.
In the vast majority of situations, the error code shown on the BSoD screen is sufficient to troubleshoot and fix the problem. However, if you’ve missed the error message on the BSoD screen or if you need the BSoD log files for better troubleshooting, you can access the log files in a variety of ways.
In this quick and simple guide, let me show the process to find BSoD log files and open them.
Where to Find BSoD Log Files in Windows?
BSoD errors are logged as system events. As such, you can find BSoD log files within the Event Viewer tool. Just open the Even Viewer and check events with Event Level “Error”. To make things easier, you can create a custom view to list all the error level events. That way, it will be easier to find the BSoD logs within the sea of Windows events.
Here are the steps you should follow to find BSoD error logs in Event Viewer using a custom view.
- Open the “Start” menu.
- Type “Event Viewer“.
- Right-click on Event Viewer and select “Run as administrator“.
- In the Event Viewer, right-click on “Custom View” and select “Create Custom View“.
- Go to the “Filter” tab.
- Select “Any time” from the “Logged” dropdown menu.
- Now, select the “Error” checkbox next to “Event Level”.
- Select the “By log” radio option.
- From the dropdown menu next to it, select the following checkboxes under “Windows Logs”.
- Application
- Security
- System
- Click “Ok” to confirm filter settings.
- Type a name in the Name field.
- Click “Ok” to save the filter.
- In the main window, expand the Custom Views folder on the left panel and select the view you just created.
- In the top middle panel, you will see all the events with the Error event level.
- Select the most recent event to see the BSoD log details.
Open BSoD Log File in Event Viewer
If the event is related to the BSoD error, you will see the “The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.” message in the General tab in the bottom center panel. Go to the Details tab to open the BSoD log file in the event viewer.
Keep in mind that unlike the BSoD screen, you might not see the actual error code depending on the BSoD error type. This is because of how Windows creates the BugCheck Code of the BSoD log file. If you want to, take a look at this Bug Check Code Reference page to understand different BSoD error codes. You can also copy the data in the Details tab and search for troubleshooting steps on the internet.
I hope that helps. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible.
