Similar to what we see with the black and blue screen of death errors, the white screen of death error also renders your system useless, and as a user, you can’t operate or use anything until you restart the device. This error is evident mainly in systems that have issues with the GPU, screen, display drivers, Windows system files, or memory.
Almost any Windows 10/11 user can fall victim to this error, and it is best to fix it right away when you first witness it in a system. So if you are one of the troubled users, this article will help you out. Here, we have listed all the solutions you can try from your end to fix this issue. So without any further ado, let’s get into it.
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How to fix the White Screen of Death in Windows 11/10?
It is hard to pinpoint what could be the exact cause behind a Windows system having a white screen error, but there are solutions to it. It could even be a malware attack corrupting your system files that is causing the issue. It could be a hardware failure, a corrupted display driver, or a faulty OS installation contributing to the error. Well, whatever the case, this guide will address everything possible.
Restart the computer:
As simple as it may sound, sometimes, when you encounter an issue for the first time, a simple restart is enough to fix it. Even with the white screen of death issue, try a force restart. For this, press and hold the power button on your PC until your computer shuts down and restarts itself.
Try the next solution if you encounter the white screen issue after the restart.
Restart Windows Explorer:
White screens of error are sometimes linked to the Windows Explorer file on your Windows. If this system file is running in a corrupted mode, it will very likely show up the white screen of death on your PC. To fix this, you need to restart the Windows Explorer process of your computer.
- Press Ctrl + Alt + Del on your keyboard and click on Task Manager.
- In the Task Manager window, find the process “Windows Explorer.” Once you find it, click on it and then click on End Task.
- After terminating the process, click on the File option at the top left corner of the task manager window and choose Run New Task.
- Enter “explorer.exe” here and press Enter.
Try the next solution if restarting Windows Explorer does not solve your issue.
Remove external devices:
If you have multiple devices connected to your computer, one of those connected devices could be the cause of all your problems. It could be an external hard drive, keyboard, or mouse. Just disconnect any such device from your PC and try using it again.
If you still encounter the white screen of death error, try the next solution.
Boot the system into Safe Mode with Networking:
You can also change the way you boot into the system. It will temporarily fix your issue until you find a permanent solution.
- Restart your PC and press the Shift key + F8 on the Windows startup screen.
- Then select the option Repair this PC.
- Then click on Troubleshoot and then go to Advanced Options.
- Click on the Startup Settings option, and choose the option Safe Mode with Networking from the list of options.
You won’t see the white screen error if you use your PC in this mode. However, this is not a permanent solution, as every time you open your PC, you must follow these steps and always open your system up in Safe mode.
Perform Startup Repair:
If you have installed a new application, or maybe new hardware, and you are witnessing the error after that, then uninstall that application or remove that piece of hardware immediately. And then, perform the startup repair from the “Advanced Startup Options” menu.
- Restart your computer.
- When the system starts booting up again, press the F8 button continuously, and it will open up the Advanced Startup Options menu.
- Now choose “Repair Your Computer.”
- Finally, click “Startup Repair” and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.
If the system repair does not do you any right, move on to the next solution mentioned below.
Run SFC scan:
System File Checker, or SFC, is a built-in Windows utility tool that can detect any possible system file corruption. If possible, the SFC also fixes the corruption. Since the white screen of death error can arise from system file corruption, an SFC scan is the first thing that you should try to fix this error.
- Press Windows Key + R to open up the Run dialog box.
- Enter “cmd” in the dialog box and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
- Click on Yes when the UAC window shows up on your screen.
- The command prompt window will open up. Here, enter the following command and press the Enter key.
sfc/scannow
- Let the process complete, and then restart your computer.
If the SFC scan does not help with the error, try the next solution mentioned below.
Run DISM scan:
DISM, or Deployment Image Servicing and Management, is another command on Windows 10 that can be used to repair the underlying Windows system image. If the SFC scan did not do you good, you should go for the DISM scan.
- Press Windows Key + R to open up the Run dialog box.
- Enter “cmd” in the dialog box and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
- Click on Yes when the UAC window shows up on your screen.
- The command prompt window will open up. Here, enter the following commands one after the other and press the Enter key each time.
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth DISM.exe /online /cleanup-image /startcomponentcleanup
- Let the process complete. In some systems, this might take a while. Don’t panic or restart your computer if it gets stuck at a particular percentage. Just wait a bit more, and it will do its job.
If the DISM scan does not help with the error, try the next solution mentioned below.
Run CHKDSK:
CHKDSK is another Windows command used to check the conditions of the local disks. You can try this command, too, to fix this system error.
- Press Windows Key + R to open up the Run dialog box.
- Enter “cmd” in the dialog box and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
- Click on Yes when the UAC window shows up on your screen.
- The command prompt window will open up. Here, enter the following commands one after the other and press the Enter key each time.
chkdsk c: /f chkdsk c: /r
- Let the process complete, and then restart your computer.
If this command does not help the error, try the next solution mentioned below.
Use System Restore:
System restore is a built-in Windows tool that lets the user restore the system to a previous point. So even with this error, you can use system restore to take your machine back to a point when it was functioning well without the White Screen of Death error page showing up.
- Press Windows Key + R to open up the Run dialog box.
- Enter “sysdm.cpl” in the dialog box and click on Ok.
- Click on the System Protection tab in the System Properties window.
- Click on the “System Restore” button, which will open up the System Restore window. Click on Next here.
- Then you will see a list of all the restore points available on your computer. Just pick the one that suits your need and go ahead with the system restore.
- Once the system restore is complete, restart your computer.
If using the system restore also does not solve the error, try the next solution mentioned below.
Check your PC for possible infection:
System files often face corruption when there is an active malware infection. Malware or viruses attack system files before everything else, and if that is the case with your system, you need to use an application to help you get rid of it. You can use Microsoft’s built-in Windows 10 antivirus program, Windows Defender. Or you can use any other premium third-party antivirus application. Just ensure that the virus definitions are up to date.
Then scan your entire system by performing a full scan on it. This might take a while, but a full scan will do a more thorough search for any possible infection. If the program detects an infection, it will attempt to fix it.
If cleaning up malware infection on your computer does not solve the error, try the next solution mentioned below.
Update your Drivers:
Outdated drivers are often a cause of White Screen of Death error. So if you have outdated or faulty drivers on your computer, you should update them immediately. There are three ways to update drivers on a Windows 10/11 PC. You can do it automatically, manually, or using a third-party application.
To update your drivers automatically,
- Press the Windows Key + R to open up the Run dialog box.
- Enter “devmgmt.msc” in the Run dialog box and press the Ctrl+Shift+Enter keys.
- The device manager will open up. Here, it would be best if you looked for devices that could have outdated drivers. Right-click on them and choose “Update Driver.”
- Then follow the on-screen instructions to let Windows automatically search for the latest drivers and install them.
To update your drivers manually, you need to download the setup file for the drivers manually. You will find the option to download the latest driver setup on the manufacturer’s website. If you want to update your GPU, go to your GPU manufacturer’s website and download the latest drivers based on your model number and system configuration. Do the same for every other device that needs a driver update. Once you download the required setup files for drivers, install all these files on your system.
Finally, you can also use a third-party application to update all your outdated or faulty drivers. Several programs have the feature to scan and detect outdated and faulty drivers. Just install one such program on your system and let it scan your computer. If it finds outdated drivers, it will automatically install all the latest ones with just a single click. Yes, these programs charge a bit for their service, but the price is well worth it since you never need to worry about outdated drivers on your system again.
If updating the drivers also does not solve the white screen of death error, try the next solution mentioned below.
Reset PC:
If there is a particular setting in your Windows system that is causing your system to show up the error, again and again, you can fix that quickly by resetting the PC. Resetting the PC will reset your Windows PC’s settings back to their default value.
- Power off your PC three times forcefully using the power keys. After that, you will see the Advanced Recovery menu when you boot up.
- Using the navigation keys and the Enter key, choose “Troubleshoot.”
- Select “Reset Your PC.”
- You will have to choose whether you want to delete your files and apps for the reset or do you want to keep them. If you have a system backup, then deleting the files for the reset won’t be a problem. But if you don’t have a backup, select to keep the files and not delete them.
- Finally, choose “Reset” to confirm your action, and the PC will start resetting itself.
- Once the reset is complete, restart your computer.
If resetting Windows also does not solve the white screen of death error, try the next solution mentioned below.
Update your Windows:
Microsoft is well aware that Windows users often run into bugs and error messages on their PCs. So every once in a while. Microsoft pushes out an update for Windows 10/11 with a fix for all the possible errors. So, if you are on an older version of Windows 10, updating it to the latest version might help eliminate this White Screen of Death error.
- Press Windows Key + I to open up the Windows Settings window.
- Click on Update & Security.
- Then click on the Windows Update tab in the window’s left pane. On the right pane, you will see the updates available for download on your computer. Click on the download button to download and install these updates on your computer.
- Once you are done with that, restart your computer to complete the update process.
If updating Windows also does not solve the white screen of death error, try the next solution mentioned below.
Run startup Repair:
Startup repair is a feature you can use if you see this error message every time you turn on your computer. But for this method, you will need a bootable USB or CD device, and then you need to load the Windows setup files. You can download the Windows files directly from Microsoft’s official website and then move those files to your bootable USB or CD device.
- Insert the USB or CD device into your computer and restart your computer. When it is booting up, you will see the message to press any Button to boot from CD or USB. Do so, and the Windows installation will initiate.
- Select your preferred language and click on Next.
- You will see the “Repair your computer” option in the bottom left corner of your screen.
- Using the navigation keys and the Enter key, choose Troubleshoot.
- Navigate to Advanced options > Startup Repair.
- Windows will initiate the startup repair process. Once that is done, restart your PC and boot to Windows again.
If startup repair also does not solve the white screen of death error, try the next solution mentioned below.
Clean Install Windows:
If none of the solutions mentioned above worked for you, then clean installing Windows all over again is the only solution you have to fix this White Screen of Death error. You will need a bootable USB or CD device, and then you need to load the Windows setup files on it. You can download the Windows files directly from Microsoft’s official website and then move those files to your bootable USB or CD device.
But before you go ahead with the Windows installation, create a backup of everything essential to you on your computer. Clean installing Windows involves formatting the entire PC, meaning you will lose out on every bit of data stored here. You can use a cloud storage service or an external storage device to back up your essential files. And also, note down the product key of your active Windows subscription. Clean installing Windows will get rid of the previous activation key. So note it down so you can use it again after reinstalling Windows.
When you are all set, insert the USB or CD device into your computer and restart your computer. When it is booting up, you will see the message to press any Button to boot from CD or USB. Do so, and the Windows installation will initiate. Then follow the instructions to format all your drivers and install Windows in the C drive again.
After installing Windows all over again, you should not witness the white screen of death error again.
These are all the solutions to fix the white screen of death error on Windows 10/11. If you have any questions or queries about this article, comment below, and we will get back to you. Also, check out our other articles on iPhone tips and tricks, Android tips and tricks, PC tips and tricks, and much more for more helpful information.