How to Fix Black Screen on Windows 10

Did you start or update your computer the same way you’ve always done, yet don’t understand why it became blank?

While you are perplexed about how it can be resolved, especially as the screen is not showing any error prompt to suggest what to do, you need to understand that Win10 black screen is commonly caused by various reasons, such as power supply problems, software issues, drivers’ problems, etc.

Today, we will be distilling how to fix black screen on Windows 10. But first, let’s dig a little bit deeper into the possible reasons why your PC suddenly goes black.

Possible Reasons Leading to Win 10 Black Screen

These are the most common reasons why your computer will power on, but show nothing except a black screen:

• Bad Cables and Connections: Frequent use and movement of the computer may cause the cables to become loose, making the connections unstable.

• Faulty Hardware: If hardware like the motherboard, monitor, or graphics card is damaged, your PC screen might go black.

• Drivers Problem: Hardware connected to your computer, including the monitor, can’t respond well unless they are compatible with the drivers.

• Windows Installation and Update: Wrong or incomplete Windows setup can distort the smooth operation of the computer, resulting in a black screen.

6 Solutions to Fix Windows 10 When Its Screen Goes Black

Here, we’ve gathered the best 6 solutions to fix Windows 10 black screen. Explore them to see the most ideal one for your situation.

Try to Use Keyboard Shortcuts to Wake the Win 10 Black Screen

When your computer powers on, but doesn’t display anything, the first line of action to take is to forcefully wake up the black screen with these keyboard shortcuts:

• Press the Windows, Ctrl, Shift, and B keys together.

• These key sequences will restart the graphics driver and bring your Windows 10 black screen to life.

Reinstall the Video Card to Fix the Screen When It Goes Black on Windows

The next line of action when your Windows 10 screen goes black after turning on your computer is to check out the video card. A faulty video card is one of the common reasons why a screen goes black on Windows 10 and this is best resolved by uninstalling and reinstalling the video card.

👉These are the steps to take:

• Open Device Manager using an Admin account.
• Click on Display adapters.
• Right-click on the adapter shown from the dropdown and select Uninstall device. Wait for it to completely uninstall.

• Again, right-click on the adapter and select Scan for hardware changes. This will make the driver appear for reinstallation.

❗Note: If you have multiple adapters connected to the system, you must carry out these steps on each of them because it’s not certain which of the adapters has an issue. Also, check the version of the driver available to make sure it’s not outdated.

Remove Third-party Software that Changes the Look of Windows

If you see a black screen after logging on to your computer, especially after updating the Windows, it means a third-party software is interfering with the smooth functioning of the operating system.

👉To stop this, follow these steps:

• Press Ctrl, Alt, and Delete at the same time, then select Task Manager.
• Navigate to the Startup tab and disable every software in operation.

• Reboot your computer and confirm that it is back to its normal state.

Regularly, use the Task Manager to disable resource-draining software. This will make your computer boot faster and prevent a sudden black screen.

Fix Windows 10 Black Screen by Restarting Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) is responsible for loading your desktop and icons. Hence, after logging in the Windows and the desktop & icons aren’t coming up, it means the Windows Explorer is faulty. All you will see is a black screen with a floating cursor.

👉On how to fix black screen on Windows 10 using this method, follow these steps:

• Press Ctrl, Alt, and Delete at the same time, then select Task Manager.
• Select File, click Run new task, then type in explorer.exe, and click OK.

💡Tips: Your desktop and icons should come up now. However, you need to get Windows Explorer to load automatically after the next login. To do this, edit the Windows Registry, which is the heart of the Windows operating system.

👉These are the steps involved in editing the Windows Registry:

• Hold down the Windows key and press R. Type regedit in the Run box that appears. Then, click OK.

• Navigate to the following folders one after the other: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHONE>SOFTWARE>Microsoft>Windows NT>CurrentVersion>Winlogon.

On the screen’s right side, double-click Shell. Confirm that the Value data section is explorer.exe. If it’s not or if the section is empty, type in explorer.exe. Then, click OK.

Enable Safe Mode to Fix Win 10 Black Screen

After logging in to Windows and you find out that you have a Win10 black screen, you can try the Safe Mode repair method. Oftentimes, it’s the hardware and drivers that are causing the trouble. Enabling Safe Mode means only Windows will launch, thereby eliminating any interference from unnecessary drivers and programs that could cause a black screen.

👉Here are the steps to follow to enable Safe Mode:

• On and off your computer with the Power Button three times. On the third attempt, the system will automatically boot into Diagnostics Mode. Select Advanced options.
• Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings.

• Click Enable Safe Mode to restart the system.

• Right-click on your Taskbar, click Task Manager, select Startup. Remove every item by right-clicking on them and choosing Disable.

Disable Fast Boot to Fix PC Screen When It Goes Black

If at this point, you are still asking: why is my computer screen black? It might just be because of the Fast Boot feature on your system. This is a default setting from Windows, allowing your computer to start up faster. However, sometimes when the Windows 10 screen goes black, it’s because the booting process was too fast, preventing the operating system from properly loading the desktop and icons.

👉To fix Windows 10 black screen by disabling fast boot, follow these steps:

• Go to Settings.
• Select System.
• Navigate to the Power & Sleep tab, then click Additional power settings.
• Click on Choose what the power buttons do.

• Select Change settings that are currently unavailable.
• Now, disable Fast startup

Bonus Tips: How to Recover Lost Files after Win10 Black Screen

When the computer screen goes black on Windows 10, you might lose your data and found that you can not recover data from the recycle bin, as you’ll be unable to see and save your work and they just got deleted. However, with a professional recovery tool like ONERECOVERY, you can prevent data loss.

ONERECOVERY is trusted by experts around the world for its high success rate, ease of use, and compatibility with a wide range of devices, such as HDD, SSD, memory cards, etc. It’s 100% secure and protects your computer from virus attacks as it recovers your lost data.

• Dual-scan Mode: Recovers data via Quick Scan or Deep Scan. While Quick Scan is efficient in restoring recently deleted files, Deep Scan is more efficient for more complex data loss scenarios, like formatting, system crashes, hard drive failures, virus attacks, etc.

• Multiple File Formats: ONERECOVERY supports the retrieval of various file formats, including photos, videos, documents, audio, partitions, etc.

👉To restore lost files after the Win10 black screen using this recovery tool, follow these procedures:

• Download and launch the software. Select System Crashed Computer, then click Start.

• Connect a USB drive, then click Start. The USB drive will help create a bootable drive.

• Here, the bootable drive is created. Ensure the USB drive is intact and not ejected during this process.
• A new window pops up, allowing you to set up your PC. Click OK.
• Your computer booting sequence will be changed to the version created with the bootable drive. Using the F12 function key, restart your computer and enter the BIOS of the system.

• ONERECOVERY automatically provides options to recover your data.

Conclusion

Experiencing a black screen on your Windows 10 computer can be disturbing, as it poses a risk of losing all your data. In this post, we’ve outlined how to fix black screen on Windows 10, explaining the most ideal scenarios they can be used for and the steps involved. To safeguard your data in the event of a black screen, the best solution is to use ONRECOVERY – a reliable data recovery software.