Whether you're developing software or just curious, here are the safest ways to force a "stop error" in Windows 11. Method 1: The Official "Keyboard Shortcut" (Registry Edit)
If you prefer not to mess with the registry, you can force a crash by terminating a critical system process. This is the fastest way but offers less control over the crash dump.
Windows will detect that a critical process has died and immediately trigger a BSOD with the error code CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED .
For users who prefer the command line, PowerShell offers a slightly more aggressive way to trigger a stop error.
Right-click in the right pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value , and name it CrashOnCtrlScroll . Enable it: Double-click the new value and set it to 1 .
Forcing a BSOD will immediately close all programs without saving data.