9 Fixes: Monitor Randomly Goes Black

Do you also face a problem that your monitor randomly goes black and comes back on automatically by itself after some minutes? If yes then you are not the only one to face such a problem. I also faced this issue lots of times when my monitor randomly goes black for a second and then suddenly continues to function normally as usual.

The problem occurs more often for Windows users. However, the root of the problem could be more than operating system failures which we will discuss here. The big deal with the problem is you can’t figure out what is going wrong because you don’t get any error message on the screen.

So, here we have listed all the reasons that cause the computer screen or laptop screen to go black suddenly along with all the possible solutions so that you can get out of the frustrating black screen.

Updating OS in a laptop - Monitor Randomly Goes Black issue

What makes the screen randomly go black?

As said earlier, there could be more than one reason for the screen to go black which means you can not determine whats the actual problem, whether it is a hardware issue or a software issue. Following are the possible reasons that might generate the problem with the screen.

Unstable power supply

The most basic reason for the screen to go black is the unstable power supply which means there can be problems with a power supply unit. It is one of the crucial parts of a computer that supplies power to your motherboard.

If the motherboard is not receiving a specific voltage according to its specification then there is nothing to do with screen problems and all you have to do is replace the power supply unit. But wait, check the below reasons also before doing random stuff with computer hardware.

Malfunctioned video cable (VGA/HDMI)

I observed that whenever people face any issue with computers, they often go for messy solutions before looking into more obvious reasons. I suggest that you shouldn’t neglect basic reasons which cause a change in computers behavior. If you are facing a black screen problem then check whether your video cable is working fine or not.

You can check it by using another video cable which you can borrow from your friend or purchase a new one which costs you as little as 2-3 bucks. If the issue persists with your screen even with the new video cable then there might be some other reason which causes your screen to go black.

Check power cable/ monitor display cable

Along with video cable, you should check whether or not your power cable is working great. Check power cord is tightly fit into the power port of the monitor. Sometimes because of a loose connection, the monitor loses the power supply and gets back on track again within seconds so fast that you won’t realize it could be a power issue.

Overclocking CPU/GPU

Overclocking GPU or GPU may also cause a screen to go black suddenly. If you have installed a dedicated graphics card which is also called a video card and you have overclocked it without any extra cooling process like water cooling then there might be a chance that some of the components of your computer are damaged and should be replaced at any cost.

If you are not an intense or die-hard gamer or you don’t have enough knowledge about overclocking then it is not recommended to overclock your CPU or GPU which leads to nothing but components burn.

Missing/Outdated Graphics drivers

Graphics drivers or video card drivers are the essential programs in your computer that run the graphics card and basically connect your operating system to the hardware. If somehow they get corrupted or get deleted by mistake or by any malware then your system would not work the way it should.

You might face some software glitches or unexpected output like a black screen. We have given the solution below with easy steps to fix the issue. But remember, do not delete any of the driver files that are already there.

An issue with Laptop Battery

A few days ago, a friend was facing an issue where the monitor randomly goes black and comes back on the laptop which was running on Windows 10 operating system.

Whenever he was trying to install a new application, the screen turns black and the laptop was getting automatically restarted. The actual problem turned out to be of battery which then was replaced and he no more faced such problem.

Third-party software

If your PC is not built for performing heavy tasks like 4k video editing, App development, debugging, or high-end gaming and still you are doing such activities on your low-end computer then it may consume lots of power, RAM, and GPU which certainly takes down your machine. Although This is rare, you are recommended to read the minimum system requirements first before installing any software.

How to fix monitor randomly going black

Here we have explained all the possible solutions that one can try to solve the black screen issue. Quick suggestion before troubleshooting, save and take backup of your files and login to the system as an administrator.

Following are easy fix steps the issue of the black screen.

  1. Try Changing Hdmi/Vga Cable
  2. Replace The Battery If It Is Too Old
  3. Turn Off Overclocking
  4. Uninstall Cpu Intensive Apps And Software
  5. Install/Update Graphics Drivers
  6. Upgrade Windows/Your Current OS To The Latest Version
  7. Check External Power Supply
  8. Try Replacing Power Supply Unit
  9. Disable Power Saver

Fix: Monitor screen randomly goes black

Here is the step-by-step guide which you can follow. All of the below solutions works under certain conditions, if one solution doesn’t work for you, try another one. If you find a new way that worked for you, please let everyone know in the comment section.

Check/Change the HDMI/VGA cable

This is the more obvious reason why your monitor randomly goes black for a second. If the video cable is too old then it might become loose and get connection lost from the CPU constantly.

To find out whether your video cable is working properly or not, simply try changing the cable. Before buying a new cable, you can try it on a different system. If it doesn’t work then probably the cable is damaged, buy a new one!

HDMI cable on the back of a CPU case

If your HP monitor goes black randomly or Acer monitor goes black randomly that means you are using a different input source like a laptop. In such a case, try different input sources like another laptop or another CPU. If the external monitor shows expected output that means your primary laptop or input source is having an issue with video ports.

Replace the battery if it is too old

Facing a black screen issue can depend on the battery of the laptop. While performing CPU-intensive tasks like video editing or installing large-sized app or software, if a black screen appears suddenly and your laptop gets restarted then it can be a battery issue. As of my experience, the average life of a laptop battery is no more than 3 years, so it is recommended to replace the battery and it will solve your issue.

Turn off overclocking

Overclocking is a legitimate way to boost your PC without extending any hardware part. However, it is reported by many people that they experienced black screen when they overclocked their CPU and when they turned it off, they no longer faced issues. So, it is recommended that turn off all the overclocking, whether it is CPU or GPU, and try to use your PC at factory speed. 

Overheating of Processor picturised

If you want to enhance your PC performance then you may extend the hardware parts like installing extra RAM, upgrading CPU or GPU, or installing an SSD. Moreover, if you have any performance-enhancing software installed on your machine, uninstall it because these types of software try to manipulate the processes by either disabling or overriding them.

Uninstall CPU extensive apps/Software

Although this is a very rare situation where your machine is not able to perform certain tasks due to low configuration, it automatically shuts down or gets off partially. In this condition, your PC is in working condition, however, it cannot display any output.

In this case, if you perform any CPU extensive task like editing ultra HD videos or playing games on a low-end computer, there are chances you might face this issue. So, you can simply extend your hardware up to the requirement as per the software’s documentation.

Upgrade graphics drivers

As discussed above, drivers are the essential programs on your computer to run it properly. Without graphics drivers, your PC is just a set of hardware components without any video output. If these graphics driver programs are missing or outdated, it might raise an issue to appear a black screen. In such a case, try upgrading graphics drivers. By assuming you are a Windows 10 user, I have given the steps below to update the graphics driver.

Manual Way-

  • Now, look for something that matches with your graphics card like “intel”, “Nvidia” etc. Mostly you will find the graphics card option under the Display Adapter option.
Driver tab in the Device Properties window
  • Double click on the graphics card option which will pop a new window. select a Driver option from the tab menu>click update driver.
  • It will ask you to either find drivers automatically or choose manually from the computer. The suitable option is to go with the first option as it will check your computer first if the driver is available or it will check online. If you have downloaded the driver file already then you can simply choose the second option.
Search automatically for drivers option in the Update driver wizard
  • Now click on next and it will update your driver with the latest one.

Some people face trouble while installing the drivers manually, so if you also don’t want to fall into messy steps, we have an automatic way to install and upgrade drivers also.

Automatic way-

  • Install a freeware software called a snappy driver which will find any missing driver from your computer for you, that too for free. There are so many software out there for automatic driver installation like driver easy, avast, driver booster, driver finder, but none of those are free and charge you according to usage.
  • The interface of the snappy driver app is clean and easy to understand. After installing it, follow the instruction given on the screen and that’s it. The snappy will find all the missing or outdated drivers and install them without having you worry about finding them on official websites.

Upgrade Windows/Your operating system to the latest version

If you are a windows user, then you should consider updating the OS version to the latest one.

updating the OS version

 The upgrades are meant to overcome bugs, glitches, and driver updates. So, the latest version of the OS will automatically download and upgrade all the required stable versions of files and drivers. To check if Windows update is available for you, simply search check for updates in the search box, and if any update is available, download and install it.

Check external power supply

I know this sounds kiddish but if your motherboard is not receiving the required power supply, your screen may behave strangely like blinking, or will not show any output even if the CPU is on.

So, it is a good step to test other peripherals in the home to check whether or not the power supply is good enough.

Change computer power settings

You get power settings for your machine which decides how much power should your computer consume and how fast should it perform tasks. On Windows, you get three options which are Balanced, Power saver, and High performance. In Balanced mode, your computer just works fine, neither too fast nor slow. It is recommended to set your power plan to Balanced but you may choose High performance also.

The Power saver is meant to save energy by consuming less power and reducing the computer’s performance. Now, all you have to do is set the power plan to either Balanced or High Performance which will run your computer at the best level.

Bonus: Monitor goes black randomly windows 10

Being a Windows 10 user, I have faced the black screen many times. I rarely shut down my laptop and because of this, sometimes my laptop which is running on Windows 10 gets stuck and suddenly a black screen appears. So, here I am listing my observations that cause the monitor to randomly go black and come back on windows 10 along with the solutions.

Reasons for computer/laptop/external monitor goes black randomly

Overuse of laptop/Desktop

One of the major reasons to turn a computer screen or laptop screen into black is overuse. Overuse of the computer or laptop leads to overheating which causes battery problems, reduces performance, sudden power failure, driver errors, etc. This will commence appearing black screen more often until you stop overusing your device.

Windows 10 second monitor randomly goes black

This might not be a software issue that causes your PC monitor goes black randomly. Possible reasons for the screen to go black are: Damaged HDMI/VGA port, Malfunctioned Cable, Loose ports.

So suppose if your dell monitor goes black randomly then you should first check if cables are tightly fit into ports. If it is fine then check if cables are in working condition by testing them on other devices.

Fix black Screen issue windows 10

If you are facing the issue which shows you a black screen, you might have searched for a solution on the internet like “monitor randomly goes black Reddit” or “dell monitor randomly goes black and comes back on” something like this.

But after reading this article, you won’t search on the internet again for the issue because we have listed all the potential solutions here which will resolve your issue.

Using task manager

If you are on Windows operating system and suddenly the screen becomes black then the first solution to check out is to clear the current instance of Windows of explorer and create a new one. Follow the steps below to learn how to create a new instance of Windows explorer. follow My screen snapshot below.

  • As soon as your display turns black, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys from the keyboard simultaneously which will open task manager.
Processes tab in the Windows Task Manager
  • If you see more details option in the left bottom corner of the newly opened window then click on it and the task manager will expand.
  • Now click on processes and the “Name” column heading to sort active processes by names.  
  • Right-click on the Windows Explorer option click on the End Task option. This will close the current instance of explorer.
End Task option in the Task Manager
  • Now click on the File option on the top menu of the task manager > Run new task.
Create new task option in the Task Manager
  • In the input dialog box, enter explorer, and boom, a new instance of windows explorer will be created.

This is the most effective solution for Windows users; however, all the data might be deleted if not saved before the screen turned into black.

Restart system Using safe mode

Another effective method to solve the black screen monitor issue is to start the laptop in a safe mode. I usually try the above method to come out of the black screen. If it doesn’t work, I go for this method.

The safe mode allows you to solve critical issues like removing malware or uninstalling incompatible software or a piece of code that might prevent your computer from working properly. Before restarting the system in safe mode, you may try to restart it normally.

If you are on a laptop, press and hold the start button for 8 to 10 seconds. It will shut down the system. Wait for a minute and again press the start button, which will start your system. Note that if you haven’t saved the data before the screen turned black, you might lose your work if it’s not saved.

If the system is still showing a black screen again and again even after restarting, then you have the option to start it in safe mode. Follow the steps below to learn how to start Windows in safe mode.

  • Press and hold the start button of your laptop until it gets shut down. After a minute, press it again to start the system. But as soon as press the start button, start pressing the F8 key (for Windows 7, press F7) continuously until the following screen appears.
Troubleshoot option in the Choose an option men
  • If you are on a desktop, as soon as you press the start button of your laptop, you should press the F8 key before Windows starts trying to load.
  • Now click on troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup settings.
Restart option in startup settings
  • On the startup settings screen, click on the Restart button, which will display boot menu options.
  • Now press the 4 or F4 key from the keyboard to start the system in safe mode.
Startup settings
  • For older versions of Windows, you will see console-based menu options which are totally the same. You can use arrow keys to navigate from up to down and numeric keys as per instructions.
Safe Mode option in the Advanced Boot options
  • Now your PC is in safe mode. If you think any software or application is the culprit behind the black screen issue, you can uninstall it and restart the system as usual.

Important tips for avoiding monitor randomly goes black issue

  • Do not install third-party software and applications which are not from official sources.
  • Shut down the system in a proper way every day after you are finished with your work.
  • Never open too many applications simultaneously which certainly slows down your system.
  • If you have a genuine copy of the Windows operating system, get Official Support from Microsoft by email or another social media method. 

Final words

The black screen issue is a serious problem for many people, but you can solve it using the simple steps we gave above. All the fixes we gave are completely working, verified by us, and suggested by the community.

If none of the above methods worked for you or you have found a new solution to the black screen issue, let us know in the comment section which will help us and the community as well.