Black Screen: Turn Your Display Pure Black
Make your whole screen black to check for backlight bleed and glow, inspect an OLED panel or dim the display without turning it off. Other colors in one tap.
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Color
In full screen, press ← or →, or swipe, to change the color. Double-click, double-tap or press Esc to exit.
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Run the test above. Your results will appear here as plain text you can paste into a support chat, a return request or a forum post.
How to use the black screen
- Keep black, or pick near black, dark gray or another color.
- For a light leak check, turn off the room lights and set the brightness you normally use.
- Click the big black box. The screen goes black, and the mouse pointer hides once you stop moving it.
- Press ← or →, or swipe, to change the color. Double-click, double-tap or press Esc to go back.
What a black screen is good for
Spotting backlight bleed and glow
An LCD makes black by blocking light from a backlight behind the panel, and a little always gets through. In a dark room, black shows where it leaks most. Bright patches along the edges or in the corners that stay put when you move your head are backlight bleed. A silvery or warm glow that changes as you shift your head is IPS glow, a normal trait of IPS panels seen at an angle. The monitor test has more patterns for checking a screen.
Checking an OLED screen
On an OLED screen each pixel makes its own light, so black should be truly dark, with no glow anywhere. Look for pixels that stay lit. Then switch to near black or dark gray: very dark grays show uneven patches on some OLED panels, and gray shows burn-in as faint shapes that shouldn't be there, such as a taskbar or a logo.
Finding stuck and hot pixels
A pixel that stays lit stands out sharply against black, as a white or colored dot. If you find one, the stuck pixel fixer may help, and the dead pixel test checks every other color too.
Darkening the screen without turning it off
A black screen hides what's on your display while the computer keeps working: during a break in a presentation, while a long download or render finishes, or when the screen's glow bothers you in a dark room. On an OLED screen it saves power too, because black pixels are switched off. On an LCD the backlight stays on, so turning the display off saves more.
Good to know
- A black screen doesn't lock your computer: anyone can press Esc and see what's underneath. To step away, lock it instead, with the Windows logo key + L on Windows or Control+Command+Q on a Mac.
- Your sleep and screen-off timers keep running, so the display may turn off as usual. Tick Keep the screen awake while it's showing if you want it to stay on.
- On an LCD, black is never perfectly black. Some glow is normal, and more of it shows at high brightness.
Black doesn't look right? Try these fixes
Black looks gray or washed out
Over HDMI, the computer and the monitor can disagree on the RGB range, which lifts black to dark gray.
Graphics software
- In NVIDIA Control Panel, under Change resolution, set Output dynamic range to Full. In AMD Software, set Pixel Format to RGB full range.
- In the monitor's menu, set the HDMI range or black level to match.
Windows 11
- If HDR is on, compare with it off in Settings → System → Display; some monitors show raised blacks in HDR.
macOS
- In System Settings → Displays, lower the brightness and turn off Automatically adjust brightness if it keeps raising it.
There's light in the corners
That's backlight bleed or IPS glow. Lowering the brightness makes both less visible. Never press on the screen to fix bleed: it can make it worse. If it's distracting in normal use with the lights on, ask your retailer about a replacement.
The mouse pointer stays on the screen
The pointer hides after two seconds without moving. Move it to the edge of the screen and leave it there.
The screen still turns off
Windows 11
- Tick Keep the screen awake while it's showing, or open Settings → System → Power & battery and set a longer time under Screen and sleep.
macOS
- Tick the box above, or open System Settings → Lock Screen and set a longer time for turning the display off.
Common questions
What is a black screen used for?
A full black screen shows backlight bleed and glow on LCD monitors, lets you check an OLED screen for lit or uneven pixels, and darkens your display when you want the computer on but the screen dark, such as during a break in a presentation.
Does a black screen save power?
On OLED screens, yes: black pixels are switched off, so a black screen uses much less power than a bright one. On LCD screens the backlight stays on behind the black, so the saving is small, and turning the display off or letting it sleep saves more.
How do I check for backlight bleed with a black screen?
Turn the room lights off, set your usual brightness and open the black screen in full screen. Bright patches at the edges or corners that stay put when you move your head are backlight bleed; a glow that shifts with your viewing angle is IPS glow.
Will a black screen stop my computer from sleeping?
Not by itself: your computer's sleep and screen-off timers keep running. To keep the display on, tick Keep the screen awake before you start, in browsers that support it. Leave it unticked to let the screen sleep as usual.
Can a black screen fix OLED burn-in?
No. Burn-in is uneven wear of the pixels, and showing black doesn't reverse it. To look for burn-in, switch this page to Gray or Dark gray: worn areas show as faint shapes, such as a taskbar or a channel logo.
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