View Windows 11 Crash Logs Using Reliability Monitor

This guide explains how to use the built-in Windows 11 Reliability Monitor to identify, view, and analyze detailed application crash logs. Windows 11 automatically tracks hardware and software stability events, presenting them in a user-friendly timeline. By following the steps below, you will learn how to open the tool, locate specific crash events, and interpret the technical details needed to troubleshoot unstable software.

Step 1: Open Reliability Monitor

There are two quick ways to launch the Reliability Monitor in Windows 11:

1. Via Windows Search: Press the Windows Key, type View reliability history, and press Enter.
2. Via the Run Dialog: Press Windows Key + R, type perfmon /rel, and click OK.

Step 2: Navigate the Reliability Graph

Once the tool opens, you will see a stability graph rated from 1 to 10.

• Timeline View: You can toggle the timeline between Days and Weeks at the top-left corner of the graph.
• Status Icons: Look for the red circle with a white “X”, which indicates a Critical event such as an application crash, Windows crash, or unresponsiveness.
• Selection: Click on the specific day or column in the graph where the crash occurred to display the logs for that time period in the bottom pane.

Step 3: View Detailed Crash Logs

1. In the lower pane titled Reliability details, locate the Critical events section.
2. Find the application that crashed under the Source column.
3. Look at the Action column on the right side and click View technical details next to the failed application (or simply double-click the event name).

Step 4: Interpret the Technical Information

The technical details window provides specific data points about the crash:

• Faulting Application Name & Path: The exact program and file path of the software that crashed.
• Faulting Module Name: The specific .dll or internal system file that triggered the crash.
• Exception Code: The hexadecimal error code (e.g., 0xc0000005 for an access violation) identifying the nature of the error.
• Fault Offset: The memory location where the failure occurred.

Step 5: Save or Copy the Log

• Click Copy to clipboard at the bottom of the technical details window to paste the log into a forum, support ticket, or text editor.
• Alternatively, on the main Reliability Monitor screen, click Save reliability history at the bottom to export the entire stability history as an XML file.