One of the most popular problems among users who have upgraded to Windows 10 or have decided to install the latest Microsoft operating system, is the apparently unexplained appearance of a black screen at startup or after login.
To solve the appearance of the black screen in Windows 10, you need to apply a series of simple steps.
Black screen in Windows 10 after login
If Windows 10 shows the login screen and the screen turns black only after choosing the desired user account and entering the corresponding password, the first suggestion is to disconnect all external hardware devices one after the other.
If following the disconnection of a specific device, the black screen disappears, the cause of the problem will be identified.
To solve the appearance of the black screen in Windows 10, usually just visit the website of the hardware manufacturer then proceed to download and install the updated driver.
In case the disconnection of the various external devices does not solve the problem, the advice is to restart Windows 10 in safe mode.
As already seen in the case of Windows 8.1, even Windows 10 no longer takes into account the pressure of the F8 key at system boot.
To quickly restart in safe mode from within Windows 10, just click on the new Start button, select the menu item Stop and then hold down the Shift key while clicking Restart the system.
The next time the machine restarts, the emergency menu will automatically appear with the three options Continue, Troubleshoot and Turn off the PC.
By clicking on Troubleshooting then Advanced Options, you will need to select Boot Settings and then click on Restart.
After reboot, press the F5 key to enable access to the safe mode of Windows 10.
Alternatively, from Windows, you can start the MSCONFIG utility, choose the Boot Options tab, select the Safe Mode option and then choose how you want to access Safe Mode. For example, selecting Network will start Windows in safe mode with network support.
If you click OK and then restart Windows 10, the system will restart in safe mode.
Once you enter the safe mode of Windows 10, you will have to log in to the Control Panel of the operating system ( Windows + X, Control Panel ) and then choose Screen.
From here, clicking on Change screen settings will make sure that Windows 10 uses the correct screen.
If this intervention is not resolutive or if you use a single screen, you will have to try to uninstall the video card drivers.
To proceed, simply use – again – the Windows + X key combination then choose Device Manager from the menu.
Once in the Device Manager window, you will have to double click on Video Cards, right click on the name of the graphics card then select the Uninstall command.
By restarting the system normally, Windows 10 should reinstall the correct video card driver and the problem with the appearance of the black screen should resolve.
Some software that modifies the appearance of the Windows 10 graphic interface and, in particular, the shell ( File Explorer ) may be the cause of the appearance of the black window after login.
Applications such as UXStyle and StartIsBack can cause the black screen in Windows 10: the complete uninstallation of these programs usually solve the problem.
Black screen before the appearance of the Windows 10 login window
If the black screen in Windows 10 appears before the login window appears, you will have to reboot the system in safe mode.
Since Windows 10, by default, does not support pressing the F8 button at startup, the advice is to reboot the machine a few times at the appearance of the operating system logo, at boot time.
After a couple of forced reboots, done manually, the message Preparing for automatic recovery should appear under the Windows 10 logo.
Just wait for the appearance of the Windows 10 boot menu.
At this point just click on the Advanced Options button then on Troubleshooting and follow the instructions in the previous paragraph ( Black screen in Windows 10 after login ) to access the safe mode.
Alternatively, you can use the Windows 10 installation media that can be downloaded for free by following the suggestions in the article Windows 10 download: instructions for proceeding.
We suggest to try, one after the other, the following interventions trying a new start of Windows 10 after each step and returning to Safe Mode in case of failure:
1) Press the Windows + R key combination then type powercfg.cpl.
Then click on Specify Power Button Behavior and choose Change settings currently unavailable.
Under Stop Settings, uncheck the Activate Quick Start box.
2) In case you use a dedicated video card but the motherboard would mount an integrated graphics card, press the Windows + R key combination then type devmgmt.msc.
Click on Video cards then, with the right mouse button, select the integrated graphics card and choose the item Disable device.
If the problem should disappear after the next restart of Windows, the cause will be identified. Otherwise, you can disable the other video drivers one by one, thus going to be excluded.
3) After checking the screen set as default ( Windows + P key combination ), you can try to update the video card driver (make sure you have booted Windows 10 in safe mode with network support so you can download the updated driver from the manufacturer’s website).
From the Device Manager screen ( Windows + R, devmgmt.msc ), just right-click on the video card, choose Update Driver and then click on Search for driver software on your computer by indicating the updated driver previously taken from the manufacturer’s website.
4) If you still do not solve, you can try to reset the PC by typing Reset PC in the search box of Windows 10 and clicking on the button to start.