Laptop Screen Goes Black Randomly? Learn Causes and Solutions!

Why Does My Monitor Keep Going Black

Are you struggling with this issue: the computer screen goes black randomly? To be specific, the monitor tends to turn black for 1 to 3 seconds, then comes back on. This occurs at random when you’re playing games, at work, or even just on the desktop screen.

You may believe that the device has suffered an irreversible crash. It is not the case. The computer is still running, though the screen goes black.

Why does my screen keep going black?

A random blackout is a common issue caused by many potential factors, such as connection issues, outdated drivers, software conflicts, and more.

See the detailed causes below.

• Loose or damaged cables: The video cables (HDMI, DisplayPort, etc.) may not be securely plugged into the computer and monitor, or get damaged.
• Graphics driver issues: Outdated, corrupted, or incompatible graphics drivers are a frequent cause that triggers a random black screen.
• Incorrect display settings: Incompatible resolutions or refresh rates you configured can cause the PC screen to go black.
• Power-saving settings: You may have configured your computer to turn off the screen to save power after a period of inactivity.
• Incorrect monitor input: The monitor may be set to an incorrect input source, resulting in the screen going black randomly.
• Software conflicts: A recently installed system update or program may be causing a conflict (between new installations and the system or drivers), leading to a random black screen.
• Virus or malware: They may corrupt system files or interfere with the display, causing the screen to go black randomly for a few seconds.
• Hardware failure: A problem with the monitor power supply, a failing graphics card, or RAM can be another common cause of the black screen.

By analyzing the possible reasons, you can find several solutions. We will walk you through them below, but we recommend having a backup before fixing your issue.

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Suggestion: Back up Data

If your computer screen randomly goes black for a few seconds, it doesn’t necessarily mean your data is at risk. However, creating a backup of your important files is a smart precaution to prevent potential data loss.

How can you back up data on your computer?

MiniTool ShadowMaker is a reliable backup tool. Designed to be compatible with Windows 11/10/8/7, this free backup software offers comprehensive backup and recovery solutions.

It enables you to effectively backup files, folders, systems, partitions, and disks, and perform a quick recovery in case of data loss or system crashes.

Importantly, MiniTool ShadowMaker supports automatic, incremental, and differential backup. By flexibly creating backups for your PC, you can easily and seamlessly safeguard the device.

Here are the steps for a data backup.

Step 1: Connect a USB drive or external hard drive to your PC.

Step 2: Download MiniTool ShadowMaker, install, and launch it.

MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 3: Head to the Backup page and select the backup source and target.

Backup source: Hit SOURCE > Folders and Files, tick the items you wish to back up, and click OK to confirm.

Backup target: We recommend selecting an external hard drive or USB flash drive to save the backups. Just hit DESTINATION and choose one.

Step 4: Immediately execute the backup task by clicking Back Up Now. Then, check the backup process on the Manage page.

Now, you have made a data backup as a precautionary step.

Next, let’s explore how to fix the issue when the Windows 10/Windows 11 screen goes black randomly for a second or a few seconds.

How to Fix “Screen Goes Black Randomly”

Let’s learn how to resolve the issue by checking video cables, updating graphics drivers, adjusting display settings, disabling the sync feature, and more.

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#1. Check Video Cables and Ports

In most cases, your monitor keeps going black for a second or a few seconds due to a poor connection between the monitor and the computer. To see if that is the cause, check your video cables and ports.

• Ensure secure connections: Make sure the video cable is firmly connected to your computer and the monitor. A loose connection can trigger random black screens.
• Inspect for damage: Check for any physical damage on the cable ends, such as bent or broken pins. If you find any, replace that cable.
• Test with a different port, cable, or monitor: If possible, connect the cable to a different video output port. Or if you have another cable, use it to connect your computer and monitor. Or, you can test the cable with another monitor to see if the monitor itself is the issue.

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#2. Update or Reinstall Graphics Driver

A graphics driver allows your operating system to communicate with the graphics card to display images on the computer screen. However, if the driver is outdated or faulty, the computer screen may randomly go black for a few seconds.

Make sure you have the latest correct video card driver.

Update it via these steps:

Step 1: Right-click on the Start button and select Device Manager.

Step 2: Locate Display adapters, expand it, and right-click on the graphics card to choose Update driver.

Step 3: Click the first option and Windows will search your computer for the best available driver, then install it.

Alternatively, you can manually install the proper driver for your video card. To do that:

Step 1: Visit the website of your manufacturer in a web browser.

Step 2: Search for the latest graphics driver to download.

Step 3: Run the update file and follow the prompts to finish installing that driver on your device.

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If updating driver cannot work, the driver may get corrupted and reinstalling it may do the trick. This has helped many users.

Step 1: Download and install Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) on your PC.

Step 2: Uninstall the graphics driver from your PC.

Step 3: Download a proper driver from the official website and install it. Alternatively, restart the computer and Windows automatically tries to install a driver for the GPU.

#3. Adjust Display Settings

It is necessary to make sure the refresh rate and resolution match your monitor to avoid conflicts. Otherwise, the monitor may go black to change modes.

When your computer screen keeps going black, check the refresh rate & resolution and adjust them.

Step 1: Right-click on the desktop and choose Display settings to access the Display page in Settings.

Step 2: Under Scale and layout, go to Display resolution, and select the recommended resolution.

Step 3: In Windows 10, hit Advanced display settings and click Display adapter properties for Display 1.

Step 4: In the Monitor tab, set the refresh rate to a stable value like 60 Hertz and save the change.

Then, your monitor may not go black randomly.

#4. Check Power Settings

Improperly configured power settings can be another cause if your monitor keeps going black for a second. Make sure you don’t set the computer to turn off the display after a long period of inactivity.

Step 1: In Windows 11, go to Settings > System > Power & battery, expand Screen and sleep, and set all the options to Never.

In Windows 10, navigate to Settings > System > Power & sleep. Under Screen and Sleep, choose Never.

Step 2: Type screen saver and hit Enter.

Step 3: Ensure Screen saver is set to None and save the change.

#5. Disable Sync

Features like G-Sync and FreeSync synchronize a monitor’s refresh rate with a graphics card’s frame rate to prevent screen tearing & stuttering for smoother gaming.

However, an incompatibility issue between the graphics driver or monitor and the sync feature can cause the screen to turn black.

Many users recommend turning off features to resolve the issue. Now, try this way.

For AMD

Step 1: Right-click on the desktop and select AMD Radeon Software.

Step 2: Click the gear icon and go to Gaming > Display.

Step 3: Find the AMD FreeSync item and set it to Disabled.

For NVIDIA

Step 1: Right-click on your desktop and choose NVIDIA Control Panel.

Step 2: On the left side, expand Display and hit Set up G-SYNC.

Step 3: Uncheck the box of Enable G-SYNC, G-SYNC Compatible to disable G-Sync for all programs.

Step 4: Click Apply in the bottom-right corner to save the change.

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#6. Perform a Clean Boot

A clean boot runs Windows with the minimum of drivers and startup services. It can be helpful to troubleshoot software conflicts that result in random black screens.

To do a clean boot:

Step 1: Press Win + R, type msconfig, and press Enter.

Step 2: Go to Services, tick Hide all Microsoft services, and click Disable all.

Step 3: Navigate to Startup to open Task Manager and disable individual programs.

Step 4: Save the changes in System Configuration and restart the computer.

Step 5: In the clean boot environment, find the culprit that cause the issue, and uninstall that program.

Step 6: Reset the computer to start normally.

For exact steps, refer to this guide on how to clean boot Windows.

#7. Factory Reset Monitor

While the desktop/laptop screen goes black randomly, your monitor may go wrong. Resetting the monitor to default settings sometimes fixes your issue.

Step 1: Press the Menu button on your monitor.

Step 2: Navigate to the Setup option, Reset, or a similar one.

Step 3: Hit the Reset button.

#8. Check Monitor, Graphics Card, or PSU

If none of the methods above works, the monitor, power supply, or graphics card is likely to get faulty. We suggest that you take the computer to a repair shop. If you don’t have computer skills, do not check your PC components by yourself to prevent further damage.

Final Words

It is annoying if the screen goes black randomly. To help you fix it, we have walked you through a comprehensive guide. From that, you can learn several possible reasons and 8 effective solutions. Hope that you can easily get out by following the instructions.

For security, you should back up important data using MiniTool ShadowMaker. As for the issues with this software, contact us at [email protected]. We will reply to you soon.

Screen Goes Black Randomly FAQ