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Minecraft Launcher Black Screen: Here’s Why & How to Fix
Reinstalling the game should be your last resort, but always can work out
8 min. read
Updated onOctober 4, 2023
updated onOctober 4, 2023
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One of the most popular games in the past few years was Minecraft, but many users reported Minecraftblack screen issuesthat prevent them from starting the game.
This can be a big problem for gamers, so today we’re going to show you how to fix this issue.
There are many issues that can occur with Minecraft, and speaking of issues, here are some common problems that users reported:
How do I fix Minecraft black screen issues on Windows 10?
1. Check your antivirus
If you’re unable to start Minecraft, the first thing that you need to check is your antivirus software.
Many third-party antivirus tools tend to interfere with certain applications, and sometimes your antivirus can prevent you from running Minecraft and other games.
If you’re getting a black screen while trying to run Minecraft, be sure to check if your antivirus is blocking Minecraft. You can also add Minecraft to the list of exclusions in your antivirus and check if that helps.
If Minecraft isn’t blocked, try disabling certain antivirus features or your antivirus altogether. Sometimes this might not be enough, so your best choice would be to uninstall thethird-partyantivirus.
Once you remove the antivirus, try running Minecraft again.
If removing the antivirus solves the problem, you might want to consider switching to a different antivirus.
If you’re a gamer, and you want to be sure that your antivirus doesn’t interfere with your gaming sessions, you might want to try outantivirus software with gaming modes.
2. Reinstall your graphics card drivers
Of course, you can useDevice Manageror you can even look for the driver by visiting your graphics card manufacturer’s website and downloading the latest drivers for your model.
However, the easiest way to update your driver is by using a third-party tool such asOutbyte Driver Updaterthat will work through the whole process automatically.
You only need to download and install Outbyte Driver Updater, then open it. You don’t have to click on anything because the software will automatically run a driver scan on your PC.
After a short while, there is only one step left, deciding whether to install the drivers separately or all together.
For the first option, you have to check the boxes on the left of the drivers and then click the update boxes from their right. For the second, you just click on theSelect Allbox.
Outbyte Driver Updater
3. Try using WinZip as an archiver software
If you’re using aJavaversion of Minecraft, perhaps the black screen is caused by your file archiver software.
In order to run the Java version of the game, your PC needs to be able to unzip the Java files, and if that doesn’t happen, you might have to switch to a different file archiver software.
According to users, they reported that the problem was fixed after switching toWinZipsoftware, so you should definitely try it out.
The procedure is as easy as right-clicking the Java files and selecting the extract option.
After solving the Minecraft problem you will still have an excellent compression tool that also connects to Dropbox orGoogle Drive.
4. Disable the 3D Display Mode feature
Note:Bear in mind that not all PCs support this feature, so if it’s not available on your PC, you should try a different solution.
5. Disable the SLI mode
According to users, you can experience Minecraftblack screen issuesif you’re using two graphics cards in SLI mode. In case you don’t know, some users tend to use two graphics cards for gaming in order to get better performance.
Although this feature can be useful, sometimes it can lead to various issues, such as this one. To fix the problem, users are suggesting disabling the SLI feature and the problems with Minecraft should be resolved.
6. Disable the Stereoscopic 3D feature
If you’re having issues with Minecraft black screen on your PC, the problem might be the Stereoscopic 3D feature.
Some graphics cards support this feature, and if you have it enabled, it might give you problems while trying to run certain games.
To fix the issue, it’s advised that you check your graphics card control panels software, such as theNvidia Control PanelorCatalyst Control Center, and disable this feature.
Once you find and disable the Stereoscopic 3D feature on your PC, start Minecraft again and check if the issue is still there.
7. Run the game in compatibility mode
Note:Bear in mind that you might have to experience different settings until you manage to find the one that works for you.
It’s also worth mentioning that this solution doesn’t work for the UWP version of Minecraft, so if you’ve downloaded your copy from the Microsoft Store, this solution won’t work for you.
8. Use the Ctrl + Alt + Del shortcut
The black screen should be gone and you’ll be able to run the game again without any issues. Bear in mind that this is just a workaround, so if this solution works for you, you’ll have to repeat it every time this problem appears.
9. Run the game with integrated GPU
If your PC or laptop has both integrated and dedicated graphics, the problem can occur if you’re using the dedicated graphics to run Minecraft.
The dedicated graphics almost always offer better performance, but sometimes it can cause issues with games.
If you’re having Minecraft black screen problems on your PC, perhaps you should try running the game using the built-in graphics. To do that, just right-click the shortcut and choose theRun with graphics processoroption.
If this method works, you might want to change your graphics card settings and set your built-in graphics as the default GPU for Minecraft.
Bear in mind that your integrated graphics don’t have the same performance as your dedicated one, so use this solution as a temporary workaround.
Of course, the list is not exhausting and users reported many other related issues including Minecraft black screen when joining the server, blank screens, and of course, variations across various Windows versions including Windows 11.
But one particular problem caught our attention due to its apparently harmless nature (that can easily turn into a nightmare, though). We’re talking about the Minecraft black screen when Alt-tabbing/fullscreen.
My Minecraft goes black screen when alt tabbing:
In fact, users mentioned that this happens across all versions of Minecraft, sometimes when using theAlt + Tabshortcut, other times when exiting the game and there’s nothing they can do about it.
The interesting part is that none of the solutions mentioned above seem to work here. But that does not mean it’s a lost cause.
Here’s what we suggest:
Note that this distinction is important since you might encounter the same issues by using the standard option andWindows 10 games simply won’t go fullscreen.
Minecraftblack screen issuescan be quite problematic, but in most cases, these problems are caused by your settings or drivers, and we hope that you managed to solve them using one of our solutions.
If you have any additions or suggestions, please leave them in the Comments section below.
More about the topics:Game issues,Minecraft Issues
Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He’s a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology.
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.
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Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s specialized in Windows errors & software issues.
