Your monitor randomly goes black while the power light is on? You’re not alone! Many users are reporting the same issue. But the good news is that you can fix it. Here are some solutions to try.
Try these fixes:
You may not have to try them all. Just work your way down the list until you find the one that does the trick for you.
- Check your video cable
- Check your computer power settings
- Scan for corrupted system files
- Update your graphics driver
- Factory reset your monitor
Fix 1: Check your video cable and video ports
In most cases, monitor issues are caused by a poor connection between the monitor and the PC. To see if that’s the problem for you, you should check your video cables and video ports to make sure that they’re in good state. Here is how:
- Turn off your computer.
- Unplug the cable that connects your monitor to your computer. It could be an HDMI, DP, mini-DP, type-C, or VGA cable. Check for any visual damage like a bent or missing pin found on the cable ends. If you find any, replace the cable.
- Then check the port connectors on your computer and your monitor is bent or damaged. If so, you’ll need to take the device to a repair shop.
If you have another cable available, try to connect the two devices with the new cable to see if the same problem remains. If so, the problem could be with the monitor and/or the computer, not the cable. You’ll need to move on to do more troubleshooting.
Or if your computer and monitor have more than one display output/input, try a different cable to see if the problem remains. If not, then problem solved. If your monitor still can’t work correctly, check fix 2, below.
Fix 2: Check your computer power settings
A simple problem with the power settings might also cause your monitor to black off randomly. So, you should ensure that your computer’s screen timeout settings are not set too low. To do so:
If you’re on Windows 11
- On your keyboard, press the Windows key and the I key at the same time. Select System > Power & battery.
- Expand the Screen and sleep section. Set these options to Never.
- On your keyboard, press the Windows key and type screen saver, then select Turn screen saver on or off.
- Set the Screen saver option to None. Then click Apply and OK.
If you’re on Windows 10
- On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key. Then, type power and select Power & sleep settings.
- Under Screen and Sleep, make sure the settings are set to Never.
- On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key. Then, type screen saver and select Turn screen saver on or off.
- Make sure the Screen saver is set to None, then click OK.
- Restart your computer to see if your monitor works properly now.
If your issue persists, then go ahead with the fix below.
Fix 3: Update your graphics driver
An outdated or faulty graphics driver can also cause monitor issues like this. To keep your monitor and your graphics chipset working with new operating systems and programs, it’s essential that you have the latest correct graphics driver.
You can update your graphics driver manually by going to the manufacturer support website (e.g., Nvidia, AMD), finding the driver corresponding with your specific flavor of Windows version (for example, Windows 32 bit), and installing the driver.
If you don’t have the time, patience or skills to do the update manually, Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for it. You don’t need to know exactly what system your computer is running, you don’t need to risk downloading and installing the wrong driver, and you don’t need to worry about making a mistake when installing. Driver Easy handles it all.
- Download and install Driver Easy.
- Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
- Click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system. (This requires the Pro version which comes with full support and a 30-day money-back guarantee. You’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All. If you’re not ready to buy the Pro version, Driver Easy offers a 7-day free trial which includes access to all the Pro features such as high-speed download and one-click install. You won’t be charged anything until your 7-day trial has ended.)
- Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
If you need assistance, please contact Driver Easy’s support team at support@drivereasy.com.
Fix 4: Scan for corrupted system files
If your monitor keeps randomly restarting or going black, corrupted Windows system files might be to blame. Use the System File Checker tool (SFC) to scan your system files and restore any corrupted or missing files:
- On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key to open the Search menu. Type cmd, right-click Command Prompt from the list of results, and select Run as administrator.
- In the Command Prompt window, type sfc /scannow and hit Enter.
The sfc /scannow command will scan all protected system files and replace corrupted files with a cached copy. Note that you should not close this Command Prompt window until the verification is 100% complete.
After the process is finished, you may receive one of the following messages:
| sfc /scannow result | What it means |
| Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations. | The SFC tool did not detect any corrupted, missing, or damaged system files on your computer. This is a good sign! It indicates that your system files are intact and functioning as they should. |
| Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation. | The SFC tool encountered an issue preventing it from completing the scan. Try rebooting into safe mode, running the DISM command, and running the sfc /scannow again. *To run the DISM command, you just need to execute the following commands sequentially: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth |
| Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them. | The operation was successful. |
| Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them. | It has detected corrupted system files but couldn’t repair them. To address this issue, view details of the System File Checker process to find the corrupted file, and then manually replace the corrupted file with a known good copy of the file. |
If the problem continues, proceed to the next fix.
Fix 5: Factory reset your monitor
If your monitor constantly turns off, it’s unlikely that the monitor setting is the core problem, but you should still rule out the possibility. Here is how to factory reset your monitor:
- Press the menu button on your monitor and select Menu.
- Go to Other Settings, then select Factory Reset.
- Check if this fixed the problem.
If your monitor still goes black randomly, your issue is very likely caused by a hardware failure. In this case, you’ll need to bring your monitor or your computer to a repair store and seek professional help.
Hopefully, this article helped in resolving your issue. Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions and suggestions.
