When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

How to restart your display driver

Hi, I'm Adam, I'm known as Warwagon on the forum. For the past 19 years, I've been operating my own computer repair business. In doing so, I deal with the average computer user on a day-to-day basis.

Every bit of information I provide for people, I do so with the lowest common denominator in mind. It's a common misconception that everyone who joins or browses a tech site is a techie. Some people are just looking for guidance. That is why for some, these tech tips may seem a bit too simplistic, but they are educational for others.


static

Sometimes your graphics card driver on Windows can misbehave, leaving you with one or more black screens, depending on how many monitors your computer has. Windows has a hotkey that might get you back to normal.

black screen

If you press WIN+CTRL+SHIFT+B it tells Windows to restart the display driver, hopefully fixing any black screen issues you may currently have.

black screen

If this hotkey did not fix your issue, then restarting is your next best option.

You may be unable to turn your computer off the correct way due to the black screen, in that case you may have to hold the power button down for 10 seconds until the computer turns off. Then press it one more time to turn it back on.

Happy Computing!


If you learned something today, great! If not, maybe share your own tech tip in the comments below!

Report a problem with article
Star Citizen free fly ships showcase
Next Article

Star Citizen crowdfunding reaches half a billion dollars

The App Store logo
Previous Article

Apple announces price hikes for third-party apps in the App Store

Join the conversation!

Login or Sign Up to read and post a comment.

13 Comments - Add comment