Fix Monitors Turning Off After Boot

There are many users of Windows who report that their monitors unexpectedly shut off shortly after the Boot for no apparent reason. This is an ongoing issue reported since Windows 7 and still occurs on Windows 10 and Windows 11. If you want to know how you can Fix monitors that turn off after booting into Windows, be sure to read this guide.

After investigating this particular issue thoroughly, we realized that there are actually multiple causes why you might be seeing this behavior on your PC with Windows 10Let's take a look at all the possible culprits that could be triggering this problem:

• Software conflict: It turns out that a fairly common instance where you'll see this behavior is some sort of software conflict that ends up affecting the rendering jobs your GPU is currently dealing with. The easiest way to fix this issue is to boot into safe mode and update the display adapter driver manually.
• GPU driver inconsistencyAnother scenario where you may notice your monitors turning off automatically is a GPU inconsistency. This issue often occurs after an upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10, and can usually be resolved by removing the current GPU driver and dependencies and installing fully compatible equivalents from scratch.
• Inconsistency of quick start: According to many affected, another scenario where your monitor turns off unexpectedly may be related to the fast startup feature present in Windows 10 and Windows 11. To fix this problem, you will need to access the power options menu and disable this feature completely.
• Faulty monitor cable: you should also take There to investigate a possible cable-related issue. A mismatched HDMI or DVI cable (or even your power cable) could be in the process of failing and could cause display interruptions on your monitor(s). In this case, the only way to check if this scenario is applicable is to use new cable equivalents and check if the problem persists.
• Problem with the PSU: It turns out that you can also experience this problem in a scenario where your current PSU (power supply unit) is not powerful enough to sustain all the currently connected components and peripherals. In this case, you should be able to fix the problem by disconnecting all non-essential devices or upgrading to a more powerful power supply.
• Corrupted video controller drivers: According to some users affected by this issue, you may be seeing this error due to an inconsistency affecting your video controller drivers. In this case, you can fix the issue by rolling back your video controller driver.
• Incompatible display adapter driverIf you started experiencing this error after upgrading to Windows 11 from Windows 10, you are likely dealing with this issue due to an incorrectly migrated driver. In this case, you can fix the problem by uninstalling the currently active display adapter driver and migrating to a generic equivalent.
• Custom power scheme: If you have previously customized your power plan, there is a chance that one of the custom settings you previously set is causing this issue with your monitor(s). In this case, the most efficient way to fix the problem is to revert back to the default power scheme.
• Faulty HDMI/DVI port: If your monitor supports both DVI and HDMI and all the other methods you've tried so far have failed, it's worth trying to change the default port it uses to connect your monitor to your PC. If you're currently using an HDMI cable, use a DVI cable instead, and vice versa.
• Hybrid Sleep is enabled: While this is a nice feature in theory, it actually brings a lot more trouble than it's worth (at least on Windows 10). If you currently have Hybrid Sleep enabled, try disabling it through the Settings menu and see if the problem stops occurring.
• RAM problem: An unlikely culprit that could cause such display issues is a scenario where the RAM starts to fail and indirectly causes the monitor to stop receiving information. In this case, you need to investigate your RAM and see if your hardware memory is starting to fail.
• Other hardware problems: Once you've eliminated RAM from your list of hardware culprits, the next thing you need to do is check to see if your GPU and motherboard ports are working as intended. Unless you know how to do these investigations yourself, we recommend taking your PC to a certified technician to perform these investigations for you.

How to fix monitors that turn off after boot in Windows

Now that we've gone through all the possible reasons why you might be experiencing this issue, we'll go through all the confirmed solutions to describe them to you and test them locally until you find a method that resolves the issue for you.

1. Boot into safe mode and update the display adapter driver

It turns out that a corrupt display adapter driver is often responsible for causing this particular issue on Windows 10 and Windows 11 installations.

If this scenario is applicable, you should boot your PC into Safe Mode and see if the problem stops occurring. In case your monitors function normally while booting into Safe Mode, you are likely dealing with a corrupted display adapter driver.

In case you find that the problem does not occur in Safe Mode (while the generic Windows display driver is loaded), you should go ahead and uninstall the currently active display adapter driver to force your Windows installation to use a generic equivalent.

For step-by-step instructions on how to enforce this method, follow the guide below:

• Restart your computer and start pressing the key F8 repeatedly as soon as you reach the home screen. This action will open the menu  Advanced boot options.
• On the menu Advanced boot options, go ahead and use the arrow keys to select Safe mode with networking or press the key F5.

• Wait until the special boot operation is complete and your PC starts in Safe Mode with Networking Options.
• Press Windows key + R to open a Run dialog box.
• Inside the Run box, type the command 'devmgmt.msc' and press the Enter key to open the Device administrator.

• The User Account Control (UAC), click  Yes to grant administrator access.
• From the Device Manager, Scroll down and expand the drop-down menu associated with Device Manager.
• Right-click the active display adapter driver and select the option Uninstall device in the context menu that just appeared.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to uninstall the dedicated display adapter driver, and then restart your PC.
• On next startup, your Windows installation will notice that the display adapter driver is missing and will install a generic equivalent.

In case this method does not help you fix the issue and your monitor(s) still turn off after initial startup, please move on to the next method below.

2. Reinstall GPU driver + dependencies

In case booting into safe mode and reinstalling the display adapter doesn't fix the problem, you should turn your attention to the remaining components of your GPU driver. According to some affected users, this issue could also be caused by some associated graphics driver dependencies.

If this scenario is applicable, you should be able to fix the issue by completely uninstalling the GPU driver (along with all associated dependencies) before reinstalling the latest version from scratch.

It is important to make sure you remove any leftover files from your previous GPU driver installation before reinstalling it.

Follow the instructions below for specific instructions on how to do this:

• To start, open a dialog box Run by pressing the key Windows + R.
• Then type the command 'devmgmt.msc' and press Enter to start Device Manager.
• If you see a UAC (User Account Control) message, click Yes to continue.
• Once you are inside the Device Manager, find and click on the drop-down menu called Display Adapters.
• From there, locate and right-click each graphics driver one by one and select Uninstall from the context menu.

• Once you have uninstalled all relevant drivers, close Device Manager and open another Run dialog box by pressing the key Windows + R.
• Then type the command 'appwiz.cpl' and press Log in for the screen to appear Programs and characteristics.
• Once you're inside Programs and Features, take a look at the list of installed applications and start uninstalling anything related to your GPU manufacturer (Nvidia AMD or Intel).

Nota: You can make sure you don't miss anything by clicking on the column Editor which will sort the programs alphabetically. Simply right-click on each GPU-related dependency or driver one by one and select uninstall in the context menu that appears.

• Within the uninstallation screen, follow the instructions provided to complete the process.
• Once all relevant drivers have been uninstalled, restart your computer and wait for it to boot again before continuing.

Nota: Make sure you select the correct GPU model and the correct version of Windows before starting the download.

• From there, download and install the latest driver version available for your particular graphics card model.
• Finally, restart your computer once again and see if the monitor issue is now resolved.

If you still encounter the error, be sure to try the method explained below.

3. Disable fast startup (if applicable)

Windows 10's fast startup feature is notoriously known to cause this type of problem, especially when the CPU is left idle for too long.

Dozens of users report that they managed to fix this annoying problem by going into the Power Options menu and disabling the Fast Startup option.

Nota: This method has been shown to work in OS Windows 10 and Windows 11.

If you currently have the fast startup option enabled, follow the instructions below to learn how to disable it from the Power Options menu and see if this fixes the monitor shutting off issue:

• To open the menu Energy options, press the Windows key + R to open a dialog box Run.
• Then, type the following command «powercfg.cpl» within the menu Run and press Enter.
• On the menu Energy options, you need to use the menu on the left side to click on Choose what the power buttons do.
• On the menu System Settings, click Change the setting that is currently unavailable.
• After this, you have to uncheck the box that is associated with the option Activate fast startup. Now click Save Changes right at the bottom of the window.
• Restart your PC and check if your monitors still turn off once the next startup is complete.

If Fast Startup was already disabled or disabling it did not fix the monitor issue for you, move on to the next method below.

4. Use new monitor cables

If none of the above methods have proven to be effective in your case, and you have already gone through most of the driver-related issues that can cause this type of behavior in Windows.

Before moving forward, you should take the time to make sure all of your monitor cables are working as intended.

Start by checking your HDMI/DVI cable: replace it with a replacement and see if the problem stops occurring.

Continue replacing the power cord of your monitor(s): The vast majority of monitor and TV manufacturers use the same power cord, so you should have no problem trying a different power cord and checking to see if the problem is resolved.

Nota: According to some affected users, in your case, the monitor display was interrupted due to an inconsistent cable.

If you have already tried replacing the cables and the problem persists, continue with the following methods below.

5. Disconnect non-essential devices

This type of behavior in Windows 10 and Windows 11 can also be associated with an inconsistency indirectly caused by devices connected via front panel ports (wireless keyboards, hard drives, printers, hubs). USBetc.).

Some users have found that immediately after unplugging certain unnecessary peripherals, their monitors stopped turning off at random intervals. In some cases, the problem disappeared after unplugging an external HDD/SSD, while others had success by unplugging their USB-powered headphones.

It sounds like you might be dealing with an I/O (input/output) issue or it could be a classic case of an underpowered PSU (power supply unit) that can't supply enough power to every component that's currently connected to your PC.

You would think that the monitor shouldn't be affected by this since it has its own power cable connected externally. That's true, but the display issues are likely due to the fact that your GPU doesn't have enough power bandwidth available.

Important: If you do not wish to upgrade your PSU to a new unit with higher capacity, our only option is to disconnect all non-essential devices currently using power supplied by your PSU.

If you have already tried removing all the non-essential devices that are connected to your PC and you are still facing the same issue with your monitors, then move on to the next method below.

6. Restore default power schemes (if applicable)

If you have previously modified the default power plans and customized them to suit your own needs, this could have the unintended consequence of disrupting power to your external monitors.

Several affected users facing the same type of monitor issue have confirmed that in their case, the monitors turned off due to a power plan setting.

The best way to fix this issue is to simply revert the changes you made to the default power scheme and just keep your custom settings which will not affect your monitor.

But if that's not an option for you, you can go for the nuclear option and open a gauge. CMD from which you can run a command 'powercfg' which will automatically restore the default scheme.

If you are looking for specific instructions on how to do this, please follow the steps below:

• Press Windows key + R to open a dialog box  Run.
• Then write 'cmd' inside the text box and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open a symbol of the system high.
• When the User account control (UAC) prompts you, click Yes to grant administrator access.
• Once you are inside the elevated CMD window, paste the following command and press Log in To reset the default power scheme:

powercfg -restoredefaultschemes

• After the command has been processed successfully, restart your PC and see if your monitor issues have been resolved.

If the problem is still not resolved, please move on to the next method below.

7. Use DVI instead of HDMI or vice versa (if applicable)

If you are using a monitor that has both HDMI and DVI markings, try connecting it to your PC using the alternative slot.

Several affected users have confirmed that their monitors stopped turning off at random intervals after boot once they used the different connection option.

In case you currently have it connected via HDMI, use the DVI option instead.

If you are using a DVI connection, connect using an HDMI cable instead.

Nota: In case your monitor only supports HDMI or DVI, skip this method entirely and move on to the next method below.

8. Disable hybrid sleep (if applicable)

Another power option that is often reported to cause monitor issues like this is hybrid sleep.

Nota: Hybrid sleep is a power state that combines sleep and hibernation. When you use this feature, your operating system will write all of your RAM to the hard drive or SSD, then you will enter a low power state that keeps your RAM refreshed.

While this option is good in theory, many Windows users report that it ends up cutting off the display to secondary monitors whenever your PC remains in idle mode for too long. Once this problem occurs, the only way to get the display back is to restart the PC.

If you want to prevent this from happening in the future, you will need to access the Power Options screen and change the default power settings to disable hybrid suspension.

To have precise instructions on this procedure, you just have to take note of the instructions that we show here below:

• Start by pressing Windows key + R to open a dialog box  Run.
• Then write 'control' inside the run box and press Log in to open the classic menu from the Control Panel.
• Once you are inside the classic menu Control Panel, go to “Preferred Plan”, then click  Change plan settings.
• In the next menu, click  Change advanced power settings.

• From the menu that just appeared, expand the tab  Sleeping, then open the option Allow hybrid sleep and set it to Off.
• Click on Accept to save the changes, then restart your PC and see if your monitor issues are now fixed.

If the issue persists or Hybrid Sleep was already disabled, please move to the next method below.

Performing a Mem test

According to other affected users, this monitor issue could also be related to your RAM component.

It is possible that one or both of your RAM sticks are starting to fail, in this case our recommendation is to run a MemTesy86 stress test and see if you are currently dealing with any hardware issues affecting your memory.

In case you suspect that your memory might be causing this problem, follow the instructions below to implement a MemTest86 stress test:

• To download MemTest86, open your default browser and go to the download page.
• Once you are on the correct page, click on the Download button to get the free version of MemTest86.

• After the download is complete, use an extraction program such as 7 Zip, WinZip or WinRar to unzip the file. memtest86-usb.
• After that, follow the instructions in the official documentation to create a USB drive that will be used to stress test your RAM.
• Use MemTest86 according to the instructions and see if your RAM is causing the problem.

If the stress test came back clean, move down to the final method below.

10. Take your PC to a technician

If none of the above methods have proven to be effective in your case, it is clear that you are dealing with some kind of hardware issue.

If you don't have the knowledge to investigate each component individually, the best course of action is to take your PC or laptop to a certified technician and have them investigate.

Additionally, if you have a spare monitor, you should also replace the one that is causing the problem and see if the screen stuttering stops.

I hope that with these simple tips, you will be able to fix monitors that turn off after startup in Windows. Thanks for reading, see you in the next post.