A blank screen, often referred to as a “black screen” due to its appearance, can occur in Windows for several reasons. Whether it happens at startup, after login, or following an update, this guide will help you identify the cause and resolve the issue.

Here's what to do if your Surface gets stuck on the Surface logo screen with no spinning dots or turns off after logo screen.

When you try to log on to a Windows 8.1-based or Windows Server 2012 R2-based computer, the logon screen turns black after you enter the credentials. Then, the computer becomes unresponsive.

Fixes an issue in which the desktop does not load and only displays a black or blue background after you log on to a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

Fixes a problem in Windows Server 2008 in which the desktop is blank when you log on to a terminal server.

Learn what to do if Surface won’t turn on, turns on then off, or starts and gets stuck on a screen—a black screen, a screen with a logo, or another screen

An extended 10-to-30-minute-long hang at a black screen following user logon. Office applications including Outlook and Teams experience single sign-on (SSO) failures, preventing users from connecting or synchronizing data.

Check the XBOX services, games, and apps for any service outages.

You get the following error code when you try to open a game or app on your XBOX console or PC:

Learn how to troubleshoot Windows sign in issues, including problems signing in to your Windows device after upgrading.