Screen goes dark when playing games on Windows PC

Playing games on a computer is a big part of the reason why people spend substantial amounts of money to buy one. There are PCs and laptops dedicated to gaming, and people who create their own desktop setups with specific settings to get the most out of their favorite games.

Several users reported that their screens went dark when playing games on Windows 11/10. If you are also one of those who have come across this problem, then this article is for you. Today we are going to discuss what can cause this problem and how it can be fixed.

What causes the screen to go dark when playing games in Windows?

There are several factors that can cause the brightness of your monitor to decrease while gaming in Windows 10, such as the automatic dimming setting enabled by default, the power saving settings, or it could be a corrupted GPU. . Some monitors have a pre-enabled auto-dimming feature, which adjusts the brightness of the monitors based on the surrounding lights and the office environment.

Along similar lines to this monitor feature, are the Windows 10 brightness adjustment settings. Like the brightness settings of a monitor, these also seek to adjust the brightness of your screen so that you can have a convenient viewing experience. and without restrictions. Think of these features as what we see on almost every smartphone these days.

Another reason behind these screen dimming issues may be the power saving settings that you have enabled on your PC. Most power savings involve an automatic deduction of a monitor’s brightness levels to extend the life of the backup battery. This too, fortunately, can be easily reversed. Other relevant factors are your graphics card settings and possibly outdated Windows 10 drivers. All of these issues have been examined and corrected in the workarounds that we will discuss below.

Fix screen goes dark when playing games on PC

If your screen goes dark when gaming on Windows 11/10, try the following suggestions:

1. Turn off adaptive brightness
2. Check for Windows driver updates
3. Restore or reinstall your display driver
4. Turn off night light mode and game bar.

1]Disable adaptive brightness

If your power saving settings are really at stake here, you can disable the adaptive brightness feature from the Control Panel. Here’s how to do it:

Open your control panel and visit the power options. To easily find power options, make sure the option display setting is turned on for large icons.

Then click Change plan settings and head over to Change advanced settings. In the list of options included in advanced settings, find Enable adaptive brightness.

Select this option and disable it to ensure that your PC does not automatically adjust the brightness of your monitor to suit the environment.

Read: Why does the laptop screen automatically darken?

2]Install pending Windows driver updates

Outdated and incompatible drivers are most likely causing this error. Drivers that haven’t been updated can cause all kinds of problems, including the one we’re talking about here. The essential thing here is that you have installed all the latest and updated drivers for your display, as our problem stems directly from this.

There are several ways to check and possibly download the latest driver updates. The first is through Windows Optional Drivers and Updates, and the second is through Device Manager.

Open Windows settings by pressing the Windows + ‘I’ key combination or by searching for them in the Start menu. Select Updates & Security and from the Windows Updates option on the left, you can check for driver updates available for your computer.

To perform the same task through Device Manager, all you need to do is search for Device Manager in the Start menu. Here, find network adapters and double-tap them. Now check your suitable graphics card.

Right click on this display adapter and click “Update Driver”. You will then be asked where to look for the updated driver, followed by a few more steps.

Just go ahead, restart your PC, and check if the screen continues to go dark while gaming. You may not be able to successfully download the relevant drivers from here, in which case you will have to do so by visiting your computer manufacturer’s website.

Read– Windows 10 brightness control does not work or changes automatically.

3]Restore or reinstall your display driver

Sometimes when installing a Windows driver update, the download may get corrupted. This can lead to problems such as a dark screen when playing games. In this case, you must uninstall and then download the latest driver for your display adapter.

You may not need to uninstall it if your graphics card allows it. roll back the pilot. To check if this is the case, follow the steps below:

Open Device Manager and click Display Adapters. Then right click on the current graphics card and select Properties.

In the tabs available at the top, click Controller and click Back Controller if the option is not grayed out.

If it is grayed out, click on the same display adapter that is running on your system and uninstall it.

Now visit the website of the device manufacturer and install the latest driver that is compatible with the version of your Displayr system.

Read: The brightness of the Windows computer screen flickers or flickers.

4]Disable night light mode and game bar

People have reported that disabling sleep mode and the game bar has helped them. Try it and you will see.

Open Windows settings and select System. In the display settings, turn off the Night light option if you have it enabled.

Similarly, to disable the game bar, visit the settings home page and select Games.

From there, in the Xbox Game Bar, you will see the option to turn it off early. Disable it, close the settings and check if the problem has been fixed.

Here are some of the steps you can take if you ever find yourself in a scenario where your Windows 10 computer screen goes dark while gaming.

We hope that one of these solutions can solve your problem.