Incomputing, asystem crash screen,error screen orscreen of death is a visual indicator that appears when anoperating system,software application, orhardware encounters a severe issue that prevents normal operation. These screens typically serve as a last-resort mechanism to inform users and system administrators of a critical failure. An error screen may display technical information such aserror messages,diagnostic codes,memory dumps, or troubleshooting instructions. They can occur due to hardware malfunctions, corrupted system files, software crashes, overheating, or other critical failures. Error screens vary by operating system and device, with some of the most well-known examples being theBlue Screen of Death (BSOD) in Windows, theSad Mac in classic Macintosh computers, and theKernel Panic in Unix-based systems like Linux and macOS. Game consoles may also have notable crash screens, such as the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo Wii.
ALinuxkernel panic, forced by an attempt to killinitThe green screen of death on aTiVo digital video recorderTheMac OS Xkernel panic alert. This screen was introduced in Mac OS X 10.2, while thekernel panic itself was around since the Mac OS X Public Beta.
TheBlue Screen of Death (also called BSoD, or stop error) is a common name for a screen displayed by theMicrosoft Windows operating system when a critical system error occurs. By far, this is the most famous screen of death.
Black Screens of Death are used by several systems. One is a failure mode ofWindows 3.x. One appears when the bootloader forWindows Vista and later fails. In earlyWindows 11 previews, the Blue Screen of Death was changed to black.[1] In June 2025, Microsoft announced that the Blue Screen of Death would change to Black Screen of Death on Windows 11 in an update during summer 2025.[2]
AGreen Screen of Death is a green screen that appears on aTiVo with a message that includes the words "the DVR has detected a serious problem and is now attempting to fix it" or "A severe error has occurred". Its appearance often means that the hard drive is corrupted and it will attempt to clean up, check, and/or repair theTiVo Media File System.[3][4] A Blue Screen of Death on aWindows Insider build appears as green instead of blue, starting with build 14997.[5]
ThePurple Screen of Death is used byVMware ESXi, a server virtualization product byVMware. It is displayed in the event of a fatal kernel error. The screen provides error codes that can be used for debugging purposes.
TheRed Screen of Death is used primarily by four different systems: One appears in early beta versions ofWindows Vista, but it later became a black screen. Another was inWindows 98 beta builds and was caused by an error with theACPI. It also appears on theAtari Jaguar if there is a loading cartridge error or a pirated cartridge is detected, marked by the roar of ajaguar and a red Atari Jaguar logo on a screen that changes color from black to red. A similar error happens on theSega Genesis (also known as Sega Mega Drive) if an incorrectchecksum is detected.[6] It is also shown on thePlayStation One (facelift),2,3,4, andPortable. On the PlayStation One and PlayStation 2, the red screen of death bears similarities to the regular startups, such as the pitched-down menu screen audio and its subsequent ambient noises, alongside a faint whistle on the PlayStation 2. After the normal startup, a red screen will appear with a message saying "Please insert aPlayStation (or PlayStation 2) format disc". This error can be obtained by inserting a non-compatible disc, e.g. aPC game disc or laterXbox 360 discs. On the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, a red screen of death appears during a severe error in the console's internals, with the message saying "A serious error has occurred. Contact technical support for assistance" in multiple languages. On the PlayStation 4, the error is also caused by an internal error, but has no message and is just a red screen.
The white screen of death that appears onDell computers
AWhite Screen of Death appears on several other operating systems,content management systems,[7] and on someBIOS, such as fromDell. It can be seen oniOS 7, and also when a whiteiPhone 5 or later or a white 5th generationiPod Touch screen freezes. Everything on the screen but the Apple logo turns white.[8]
Akernel panic is theUnix equivalent ofMicrosoft's Blue Screen of Death. It is a routine called when the kernel detects irrecoverable errors in runtime correctness; in other words, when continuing the operation may risk escalating system instability, and a system reboot is easier than attempted recovery.
ASad Mac is a symbol used by older-generation Apple Macintosh computers, starting with the originalMacintosh 128K, to indicate a severe hardware or software problem that prevented startup from occurring successfully. A similar symbol exists for theiPod.
TheBomb icon is asymbol that was displayed when aclassic Mac OS programcrashed. The bomb symbols were also used by theAtari ST line of computers when the system encountered afatal system error. The number of bombs indicated the exact cause of the error.
Guru Meditation is the name of the error that occurred on early versions of theAmiga computers when theycrashed. It was also used on theNintendo DS, most commonly seen when usinghomebrew.
