Laptop screen stays black

You can hear the laptop running, the fan spins, a light glows, maybe it even chimes, but the screen stays black. The good news is hiding in that description: a machine making signs of life has usually started fine, and the fault is in how the picture reaches you rather than in the laptop itself. That is normally one of three things, the backlight, the cable that feeds the screen, or the panel, and they are told apart with simple checks rather than guesswork. Tell us exactly what you see and hear and we will find the real fault, then give you one fixed quote before anything is opened. If we cannot fix it, you pay nothing for the repair.

Send an enquiry Book a repair

No fix, no fee on the repairIf we cannot fix it, you do not pay for the repair. In writing, on every job.
Free advice by messageDescribe the fault and we will tell you what it sounds like and whether it is worth doing, before anyone travels.
We come to youAcross Leeds, West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire, or we collect and return.
A real person repliesNot a call centre, not a ticket queue: we read every enquiry, day and night, Sunday to Friday. The fixed quote you agree is the price you pay.

The short version

Fan noise or lights usually mean the laptop itself started fine.
An external monitor settles screen fault or machine fault in a minute.
A ghost image under a torch means the backlight, not the panel.
Picture that comes and goes with the lid means the cable.
Your files are not touched by any display fault.

Try this first

Four tests you can do before anyone visits

None of these need tools. One carve-out first: if the laptop was dropped or had liquid on it before the screen went black, skip all of this, leave it switched off and start at the water damage page - more power is what does the damage there. The first one is the important one: it splits a screen fault from a machine fault, which is the whole question this page exists to answer.

Plug the laptop into a monitor or a TV with an HDMI cable, then give it a moment. A picture on the external screen proves the laptop, the graphics and your files are all healthy, and the fault is confined to the laptop's own display. If nothing appears on either screen, that points at a boot fault instead.
Darken the room and shine a torch across the screen at an angle. If you can make out a faint desktop, a cursor or a menu bar, the panel is still drawing the picture and it is the backlight behind it that has failed. That is the lighting side of the display rather than the whole panel.
Open and close the lid slowly and watch the screen the whole way. A picture that flickers, returns briefly, or only holds at certain angles points at the display cable, which flexes through the hinge every time you open the laptop.
If none of that changed anything, hold the power button until it goes quiet, wait, then press it once. A machine that comes back with a picture was asleep or stuck rather than broken. Worth ruling out once, though a black screen that returns is a real fault and not something to keep restarting through.

What it usually means

Why a laptop runs but shows nothing

The backlight has failed, so the picture is there but unlit. A torch on the glass often reveals a ghost of the desktop
The display cable has worn where it runs through the hinge, so the picture flickers, dims or drops as the lid moves
The panel itself has failed or been damaged, so there is no picture at all even though the machine underneath is running normally
The laptop never reaches the point of drawing a picture, which is a boot fault rather than a screen fault
A graphics fault on the board, less common than any of the above, and something we prove before we ever name it
The machine is running but asleep or stuck, where a forced restart brings it back and nothing is broken at all

Not sure which is yours? Describe it in a message and we will tell you, free. Tell us what it is doing and we will work it out.

At a glance

What the screen is doing tells you which fault it is

Three different repairs all look like a black screen from the outside, and two things that are not screen repairs at all look the same again. Find the row that matches what you can see.

What you see	What it usually is	What that means for the repair
A faint picture when you shine a torch at the glass	The backlight has failed; the panel is still working	The lighting side of the display, and usually a smaller job than a panel replacement
The picture comes and goes as the lid moves	The display cable, worn where it passes through the hinge	A small part, and worth doing promptly, because a cable failing at the hinge gets worse rather than better
Nothing on the laptop, but an external monitor shows the desktop	The panel itself has failed or been damaged	A panel replacement. Routine on most laptops; a MacBook is its own conversation
Nothing on the laptop and nothing on an external monitor	The machine is not reaching the point of drawing a picture	A boot fault rather than a screen fault. Start with our laptop will not turn on page instead
A forced restart brings the picture straight back	It was asleep or stuck, not broken	No repair needed, and nothing to pay for a repair you did not have

Two of those five rows are not a screen repair at all. That is exactly why we test before quoting rather than after, and why we would rather you ran the external monitor check yourself first.

What we do

How we tell a dead screen from a dead laptop

You tell us what you see and hear: lights, fan noise, anything that flashes up, and what the picture does as the lid moves
We come to you across Leeds, at home or at work, or we can collect the laptop and bring it back if that is easier
We plug in an external monitor. A picture there proves the machine is running and puts the fault in the laptop's own display
We check for a ghost image with a torch, which separates a dead backlight from a dead panel
We test the display cable and its run through the hinge, flexing the lid to catch the fault that only appears at certain angles
If there is no picture anywhere, we test the machine as a boot fault rather than sell you a screen it does not need
You get a fixed quote before any work begins, and if it cannot be fixed, or it is not worth the money, we say so and you pay nothing beyond any call-out you agreed

Is it worth fixing?

Is a black laptop screen worth repairing?

Usually, yes. A display cable is a small part, and a replacement screen for most laptops is a routine repair next to the cost of a new machine, so a laptop that is healthy underneath is normally well worth putting a working picture back on. The honest exceptions are a top-end or unusual panel on an ageing laptop, where the part alone can push the sums the wrong way, and a black screen that turns out to be a board-level graphics fault, which is a bigger conversation. A MacBook is its own case again, because the display is a bonded assembly rather than a bare panel, and our MacBook screen page sets out how that changes the maths. Either way you will know from the free advice by message exactly which fault you have and what the repair costs before you decide, and if the machine is not worth it we will say so plainly.

This is a laptop screen replacement job. Advice by message is free, then you get one fixed quote before any work starts. If we cannot fix it, there is nothing to pay for the repair.

Send an enquiry and describe the fault

Where we work

We come to you across Leeds, West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire

Home or work, day or night, Sunday to Friday. There is no walk-in shop, so we come to the machine, or collect it and bring it back. Start at computer repair in Leeds, or pick your area.

Questions

Black screen questions we get asked

My laptop turns on but the screen stays black. Is it broken?

The machine is probably fine, and that is not just optimism. Fan noise, lights or a start-up sound mean the laptop has powered up and is running; what has failed is the path between the computer and your eyes, usually the backlight, the display cable or the panel. Those are display repairs, not a dead machine, and your files are untouched by any of them. The free advice by message tells you which of the three you have, and you get a fixed quote for exactly that repair before anything is opened.

How do I tell if it is the screen or the whole laptop?

Plug in an external monitor or a TV over HDMI, and give the laptop a moment. If the picture appears on the external screen, the machine is running normally and the fault is in the laptop's own display, the backlight, the cable or the panel. If nothing appears there either, the laptop may not be reaching the point of drawing a picture at all, which is a boot fault rather than a screen fault, and the page on a laptop that will not turn on is the better starting point. That one check is the most useful thing you can do before calling, and telling us the result points us straight at the right repair.

I can just about see the picture if I shine a torch at the screen. What is that?

That is the backlight, and spotting the ghost image is genuinely useful detective work. The panel is still drawing the picture, but the light behind it has failed, which is why the desktop is faintly there when light hits the glass at an angle. It matters because the fix is the lighting side of the display rather than the whole panel, and on many machines that is the smaller of the two repairs. Mention the torch test when you get in touch and we will know exactly where to start.

The screen only goes black at certain lid angles. Why?

That points at the display cable, which carries the picture from the board to the screen and runs through the hinge, flexing every single time the lid opens and closes. Years of that can wear it until the connection only holds at some angles, so the picture flickers, dims or drops as the lid moves. It is one of the smaller display repairs, and worth doing promptly, because a cable that is failing at the hinge tends to get worse, not better, and it can take the enjoyment out of an otherwise healthy laptop.

Will I lose my files because the screen is dead?

No. The screen is only the window; your photos, documents and everything else live on the drive, which a display fault does not touch. Everything will still be there when a working picture is put back in front of it. Even if you decide the laptop is not worth repairing, the files can be moved off it to a new machine, so a black screen is not a data emergency, just an inconvenient one.

It is a MacBook. Is this the same fault?

The symptoms overlap, but the repair does not. A Mac display is several layers bonded together, so the practical repair is usually the whole assembly rather than a bare panel, and that changes both what is possible and whether it is worth doing on an older machine. The external monitor test is just as useful, and just as reassuring, so run that first either way. Our MacBook screen page covers the rest, including why a crack you can see but cannot feel is completely normal on a Mac.

Is it worth replacing the screen, or should I buy a new laptop?

If the machine underneath is healthy, a display repair is usually well worth it: a cable is a small part, and most replacement panels cost sensibly next to a new laptop. The honest exceptions are an unusual or top-end panel on an ageing machine, where the part alone can tip the balance, and a fault that turns out to be the graphics on the board rather than the screen. The free advice by message settles which fault yours is, and you decide with the real repair and a fixed quote in front of you rather than a guess.

Sound more like one of these?

Tell us what is wrong.

Send an enquiry and describe the fault. We will find the fault properly, give you a fixed quote before any work, and if we cannot fix it there is nothing to pay for the repair. A real person who does the work, not a call centre.