Black Screen
Open a plain full black screen on any device. Black shows stuck pixels, bright dots and backlight bleed that a normal picture hides, and it works as a blank black background too.
Turn the room lights down first, then open a plain black screen in full screen.
A Full Black Screen, Online
This page turns your display into a plain black screen. Press the button, the page goes full screen black, and the browser, the tabs and everything else get out of the way.
The black is pure black, so every pixel is told to switch off. On an OLED phone or TV the pixels really do go dark, which is why a black page uses so little battery on those screens.
It stays that way until you press Escape. Nothing moves, nothing flashes and nothing is saved.
People come here for two very different reasons: to test a display, or because they want a blank black background to work with. Both are below, along with what to do when a screen has gone black on its own.
Black Screen Test: What It Shows
Black switches the whole panel off, so the only things left to see are the parts that should not be lit. This is why a black screen test finds faults that a white one never will.
Stuck and Bright Pixels
A stuck pixel sits there as a tiny red, green or blue dot in the dark. A bright pixel shows as a small white spot. Both are almost impossible to see on a normal picture.
Backlight Bleed
Light leaking in from the edges of an LCD panel, usually at the corners. Most screens have a little. Turn the room lights off, because daylight hides it completely.
IPS Glow
A soft glow in one corner that changes as you move your head. It is normal on IPS panels and it is not a fault, which is worth knowing before you send a monitor back.
How Dark It Really Goes
A cheap panel shows dark gray instead of black. Put two screens side by side on this page and the difference is obvious in a second.
Dust on the Lens or Glass
Bright specks against black are often dust sitting on the surface rather than a panel fault. Wipe the screen and look again before you worry.
Screen Burn-in
A faint shape left by something that stayed in one place for months. Black shows the brighter kinds of burn-in, and a gray screen shows the rest.
How to Use the Black Screen
Two minutes is enough, and a dark room makes the difference.
Turn the Lights Down
Backlight bleed and stuck pixels only show properly in a dark room. In daylight a black screen looks perfect on almost any device.
Wipe the Screen
Dust shows as bright specks against black. Cleaning first saves you from mistaking a speck of dirt for a stuck pixel.
Open the Black Screen
Press Open Black Screen. The display goes full screen black with nothing else on it.
Look Along the Edges First
Start at the four corners and work along each edge, since that is where light leaks in. Then scan the middle for any dot that is lit.
Press Escape when you are finished and the page comes back as it was.
Black Screen Wallpaper, Video or Download?
A lot of people search for a black screen wallpaper, a black screen video, or a black screen download in HD. For most of those jobs this page does the same thing with none of the effort.
For testing, a page beats a video every time. A black screen video on YouTube is compressed, so flat black can arrive as slightly gray blocks, and the player controls fade in the moment you touch the screen. Ads in the middle of a ten-hour black video are their own kind of annoying.
For a background, a wallpaper still makes sense. Setting a plain black wallpaper on an OLED phone genuinely saves battery, because black pixels are switched off rather than lit. Any solid black image works, and there is nothing to gain from a 4K HD file when every pixel is the same color.
The page is also handy as a quick blackout: a dark second monitor while you work on the first, a black background behind a camera, or a way to darken a room without switching the device off.
Why Is My Screen Black?
If your screen went black on its own and you cannot get it back, that is a fault rather than a setting. Some causes are simple and some are not, so work through the easy ones first.
Before anything else, check that the machine is really on. Listen for the fan, look for a power light and press Caps Lock to see whether its light responds. A computer that is running with a black screen is a different problem from one that is not starting at all.
My Laptop Screen Is Black
Try the brightness keys first, since a knocked function key turns some laptops down to nothing. Then press the display switch key, usually one of the function keys with a screen symbol, in case the picture is being sent to a monitor that is not there.
If neither helps, unplug the charger, hold the power button for fifteen seconds, plug it back in and start it again.
Lenovo Laptop Screen Not Working
On a Lenovo, including a ThinkPad with a black screen, hold the power button for fifteen seconds with the charger out. Many ThinkPads also have a small reset hole underneath, which does the same job for a machine with a sealed battery.
Fn plus F7 switches the display output on most Lenovo laptops, so press it once or twice in case the picture went to an external screen.
HP or Dell Laptop Black Screen
An HP laptop screen black at startup, or a Dell laptop black screen, usually answers to the same hard reset: charger out, power button held for fifteen seconds, then start again.
Both brands have a built-in hardware test you can reach with a key at startup, which tells you whether the panel itself is being seen by the machine.
Asus Laptop Black Screen
Do the same hard reset, then shine a torch at the screen at an angle while the laptop is running. If you can just make out a faint desktop, the panel is fine and the backlight has failed.
My MacBook Screen Is Black
Charge it for an hour first, since a fully flat MacBook can look dead for a while. Then press and hold the power button for ten seconds and start it again.
On an Intel MacBook, resetting the SMC often clears a black screen. If the machine chimes or the keyboard lights up but the display stays dark, connect a monitor to find out whether the picture exists at all.
Computer Starts but No Display
A desktop PC on but no display is nearly always a connection problem. Check the monitor is on the right input, try another cable, and make sure the cable goes into the graphics card at the bottom rather than the socket on the motherboard.
If that does not do it, reseat the memory sticks. Loose RAM is the most common reason a computer starts, fans spinning, with nothing on screen at all.
Black Screen of Death
The name people use for a machine that powers on and shows nothing but black, with no error and no message. It is a description rather than one fault, and the causes range from a loose cable to a failed graphics chip.
Work through the simple checks above. If an external monitor also stays black, the problem is inside the machine and it needs a repair shop.
A Black Blank Screen After Sleep
A blank screen when a machine wakes up is often the graphics driver, not the panel. Press Windows, Ctrl, Shift and B together to restart the driver, which brings the picture back without losing your work.
Black Screen on YouTube, Snapchat and Other Apps
A black screen inside one app is a different thing altogether. The display is fine, since the rest of the phone or computer looks normal. It is the app that is not drawing anything.
A black screen on YouTube videos, where the sound plays but the picture stays dark, is usually hardware acceleration or an extension getting in the way. Refresh the page first, then try the video in a private window, then turn hardware acceleration off in your browser settings.
Snapchat showing a black screen is nearly always the camera. Close the app fully and open it again, check that camera permission is switched on, and clear the app cache if it keeps happening.
The pattern is the same for any app: restart the app, restart the device, check its permissions, then update or reinstall it. None of this has anything to do with the panel, and this page will look perfectly black while an app is misbehaving.
Other Color Screens
Black finds anything that is lit when it should not be. The other colors each find something else.
White Screen
The opposite check: dead pixels, dust, cracks and marks on the glass.
Gray Screen
The best background for uneven brightness, cloudy patches and burn-in.
Red Screen
Checks the red part of every pixel on its own.
Green Screen
Green is the color your eyes pick faults out of most easily.
Blue Screen
Useful for banding and uneven areas in dark blues.
Screen Color Test
Steps through all of the solid colors one at a time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a full black screen?
Press Open Black Screen. The page fills your display with plain black and hides everything else. Press Escape to come back.
What does a black screen test show?
Stuck and bright pixels, backlight bleed at the edges, IPS glow in the corners, and how dark your panel can really go. Turn the room lights off first.
Do I need a black screen wallpaper or download?
Not for testing. For a background a plain black wallpaper is fine, and on an OLED phone it does save battery because black pixels are switched off.
Is this better than a black screen video?
For testing, yes. A video is compressed so flat black can look gray or blocky, and the player controls and ads get in the way.
My laptop screen is black but it is running. What do I do?
Check the brightness keys and the display switch key first. Then unplug the charger, hold the power button for fifteen seconds and start it again.
My computer starts but there is no display. Why?
Usually the cable or the input. Check the monitor input, try another cable, and plug into the graphics card rather than the motherboard. If that fails, reseat the memory sticks.
What is the black screen of death?
A name for a machine that powers on and shows nothing but black, with no error message. It is a description, not one fault, so work through the simple checks first.
Why is YouTube showing a black screen with sound?
Usually hardware acceleration or a browser extension. Refresh the page, try a private window, then turn hardware acceleration off in your browser settings.
Why is Snapchat showing a black screen?
Nearly always the camera. Close the app fully and reopen it, check camera permission is on, and clear the app cache if it keeps happening.
Is this black screen free?
Yes. It is free, it needs no app and there is no account to make.
Open a Black Screen
One button, one full black screen, and Escape to come back.
Free, no app to install, and it works on a monitor, laptop, tablet, phone or TV.
Open Black Screen