- hardware problem: the cable that allows you to display the screen is not in good condition and connects correctly,
- Display adapter issue: the drivers are corrupt or outdated.
- Windows installation failed: The update installation does not complete.
Whatever the reason for the black screen when we update Windows 10 or Windows 11, the truth is that we need to be able to solve it. Since the causes can be several, there are various methods to try to solve it, so we must keep trying until we find the right one.
Steps to take back control of the PC
Next, we are going to see different actions that we can carry out to be able to take control of our PC once the black screen appears when performing an update in Windows 10 or Windows 11.
Pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete allows you to continue using the PC
Once the black screen appears, we can no longer do anything and this prevents us from continuing to use the computer. That is why, if necessary, simply what we must do is press the key combination Control + Alt + Delete. This will make the typical Windows lock screen appear and from there we can restart the computer.
Therefore, among the available options we choose the one of Restart your computer, which should fix the problem. When we restart the computer we can see that the black screen no longer appears and that we directly have the desktop, or the login screen, under our control.
Restart Windows Explorer
Alternatively we can use the key combination Ctrl + Alt + Delete to open the options screen and here select the Task Manager, or use Ctrl + Shift + Esc which will open it directly. Once this is done, from the Processes tab, we scroll until we find Windows Explorer. We click on it with the right button and select Restart.
After a few seconds, this will restart Windows Explorer which should clear up the black screen and get everything working normally again.
Other ways to fix the problem
If for some reason we cannot take control of the computer after pressing Control + Alt + Del, it is possible that the problem is due to the fact that the system has been blocked. In that case, there are some additional tips that we can try to try to fix the problem.
If we are using a wireless keyboard or mouse, we must try with a wired mouse and keyboardbecause the driver may not have been loaded correctly and that is why the Control + Alt + Delete command is not sent correctly.
If it still doesn’t work, we can try restart graphics driver using the key combination Win+Ctrl+Shift+B. When you do this, a beep will sound and the screen will update.
Finally, if the computer has completely hung up and we cannot do anything, we only have unplug the computer from power. This is not recommended as it can cause problems to the data on the hard drive, but in times like this there may be no alternative.
We have control of the PC, but the problems continue
If after restarting the computer or taking control of it again we still have problems with black screens, or other types of errors that may be related to the Windows update, we can take the following actions to solve it.
Uninstall the latest update
As we have mentioned, the black screen problem is due to the last update installed, so it is recommended to uninstall it so that the system is completely stable again.
This is something that we can carry out from the Windows Control Panel, where we will click on its “Uninstall a program” section. Then, at the top left, click on «View installed updates». Here you can see all those updates that we have installed in the system.
We go to the Microsoft Windows section, right-click on the most recent update, select “Uninstall” and follow the instructions that appear on the screen to complete the uninstall. Once finished, we restart to check if everything works normally again.
Change power options
Another option that we can perform is to change the power options, from the Control Panel. Here, within the plan that we use, click on “Choose the behavior of the on/off buttons” in the left column. Then click on change the currently unavailable configuration. Here we uncheck the “Turn on fast startup (recommended)” checkbox.
Then, click on “Change plan settings”. In the new screen that appears, in the section “Put the computer in a standby state”, we change it to Never, both by cable and battery in case of using a laptop. Once finished, we restart the PC again.
Go back to a previous version of Windows
If we can’t get Windows to work properly again, we can choose to go back to a previous version of the operating system before the fateful update occurred. This can be done without fear of losing our stored files, since the system will offer us the possibility of keeping them or deleting them before starting.
To perform the system restore we access the Control Panel. Here at the top right in the “View by” option, we select “small icons”. Now, we click on “System” and then on “Recovery”, located on the right side.
This will open another window where we must click on «Open restore Sistem”. Later, in the new window that appears, we must click on «Choose a new restore point». We select it and Windows will start the process. Once finished, we check that Windows works correctly again.