The \u201cblack screen\u201d problem in Windows 10 shows how nothing sometimes matters quite a lot. Seeing nothing except a black screen where the desktop and its icons usually appear is disconcerting because you don\u2019t know what the computer is \u2014 or isn\u2019t \u2014 doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am an experienced Windows user, and when I encounter a black screen, I know at least two things immediately. First, just like you, I know that something is wrong with my computer. And second, because nothing is visible, I can assume something is not quite right with the graphics interface and the operating system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a start, that may be enough, but what most of you want is to get your desktop back. In this article, I\u2019ll guide you through the methods I\u2019ve found to fix this annoying problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Occasionally, you\u2019ll start Windows and end up with what\u2019s called a \u201cblack screen with a cursor.\u201d Just as it sounds, this means the display is entirely black, except that the mouse cursor appears on that black background. The cursor might track your mouse\u2019s movement even though it\u2019s moving over a completely black screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In my personal experience, the black screen with a cursor occurs far more frequently than a black screen by itself (no cursor). The presence of a cursor that responds to your mouse\u2019s movement is a good sign \u2014 even in the midst of a bad situation. It indicates that Windows is still working (partially) behind the scenes, and that the mouse driver can still track the cursor position on the screen. This means there\u2019s an excellent chance that the desktop can be restored to regular operation using a few well-known key combinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both combinations involve pressing multiple keys simultaneously. This means using one finger to press the first key and holding it down, using a second finger to press the second key and doing likewise, then more of the same for a third key \u2014 and one of these two combinations requires adding a fourth and final key as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This four-key combination tells Windows 10 to stop, then restart any graphics drivers that happen to be running. For your first attempt, do this: Windows key + Ctrl + Shift + B<\/strong>. I usually do the first three keys with my left hand, then press the letter B with my right index finger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you see the rapid flashing of the disk activity light, that\u2019s a good sign. Sometimes the screen will return to regular operation a few seconds later, showing that the driver has reloaded and is now running successfully. Sometimes, nothing else will happen after the disk activity light stops flashing, so it is on to the second attempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a familiar key combo to anyone who has used Windows for a long time: Ctrl + Alt + Delete<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even when the first attempt gets the graphics driver going, it still won\u2019t light up the screen. And sometimes, when that\u2019s the case, this key sequence will repaint the screen to show you the secure log-in options. If that screen does appear, click \u201cCancel,\u201d and your desktop should reappear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the cursor is absent, these key combos often won\u2019t help (and sometimes they don\u2019t help even when the cursor is present). In those cases, there\u2019s only one thing to do next: forcibly turn off your computer. This means holding down the power button \u2013 for at least the count of 10 \u2013 until the device completely shuts down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a moment, press the power button again to turn on your computer. It should typically start with no black screen. If the screen remains black after you\u2019ve gone through these steps, you need to call me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you ever encounter this disturbing situation, you now have a pretty good idea of how to fix it yourself. In most cases, reloading the graphics driver or restarting the computer will do the trick. In other cases, there\u2019s no choice except to let me know so that I can work through some of the more advanced troubleshooting sequences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The \u201cblack screen\u201d problem in Windows 10 shows how nothing sometimes matters quite a lot. Seeing nothing except a black screen where the desktop and its icons usually appear is disconcerting because you don\u2019t know what the computer is \u2014 or isn\u2019t \u2014 doing. I am an experienced Windows user, and when I encounter a …<\/span> Read More →<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,3,46,4,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-everyone","category-home-users","category-microsoft","category-small-business","category-windows-10"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":395,"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394\/revisions\/395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heliotropicsystems.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Attempt 2: The three-fingered salute<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Attempt 3: Forced restart<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Nobody wants to see a black screen on Windows 10<\/h4>\n\n\n\n