Get Rid of that Black Spot on Your Laptop Screen

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Learn how dead pixels are caused and how to fix it

Co-authored by Darlene Antonelli, MA Reviewed by Luigi Oppido

Last Updated: October 13, 2024 Fact Checked

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Common Causes

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Top Fixes

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Tips

Are there dark areas, black spots, lines, or shadows on your laptop screen? From dead pixels to faulty LED panels to physical damage, there are many reasons why there might be black spots on your screen. This wikiHow article lists various ways to diagnose and fix shadows on your laptop screen.

What Causes Black Spots on Your Laptop Screen

Hardware issues and physical damage are top of the list of reasons why your laptop screen has black spots, vertical lines, or shadows. If the issue is too complicated to fix, bring your laptop to a repair professional.

Section 1 of 2:

Common Causes

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No matter what you do, you cannot revive dead pixels.
Physical damage can also be caused by excessive heat and moisture.

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If you're using an external display, having the correct display settings will vastly improve the graphics on your screen.
It's a long shot, but outdated graphics cards might not display a page or a certain screen correctly.

Section 2 of 2:

Top Fixes

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1
Check for physical damage. Some laptops have a case that you can remove so you can fix and clean the insides. If this applies to you, open your laptop by unscrewing the edges, and look for damaged wires or loose connections inside your laptop. Take note of the outside appearance as well: look for dents or bowing that indicate damage.
- For example, if you dropped your laptop, you may have bent the casing enough that it puts pressure on the backlighting of your screen, which causes black spots, lines, and shadows. You might be able to fix it yourself if you're confident, but if the components are too badly damaged, you'll need to buy a new laptop.
- Some laptops have faulty LCD panels, so replacing them with the same make and model could result in the same dark spots, lines, and shadows appearing on the screen.
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Adjust monitor settings. Incorrect settings can create spots, shadows, and lines. Find the screen settings for your laptop (every brand is different) and optimize the contrast, brightness, resolution, etc.
- For Windows laptops, right-click on an empty spot on your desktop and click Display Settings > Display.^{[1]
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- On a MacBook, click the Apple logo and select System Settings > Displays.^{[2]
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Update graphics drivers. Out-of-date graphics drivers can cause black spots, shadows, and lines on your screen.
- To update your graphics driver, you can run a system update (which is the only way for Macs), open the software that works with your graphics driver (like NVIDIA GeForce Experience for NVIDIA GPUs), or you can right-click on the driver in Device Manager and update that way.
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Run troubleshooters. In this case, your laptop will go through diagnostics on its own. This is a fantastic tool that helps you figure out what's the source of the problem: hardware vs software.
- For Dell laptops, run the LCD Built-in Self-Test. Turn off your laptop, disconnect any peripherals and make sure it's plugged into the charger. Press and hold the D key on your keyboard as you turn on the laptop. Release the key when you see colors on your screen. Watch as your screen changes from black, white, green, red, and blue to see if you can see the vertical lines or shadows on your screen.^{[3]
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  - If you can, it's a hardware issue that Dell Technical Support should be able to help with.
  - If you don't see the black spots, shadows, or lines during this test, continue troubleshooting for software issues.
- For HP laptops, run HP PC Hardware Diagnostics as an administrator, then click Device Check > Video and follow any on-screen steps to start the test. Watch as your screen changes from black, white, green, red, and blue to see if you can see the black spots, vertical lines, or shadows on your screen.
  - If you see black spots, shadows, or vertical lines, there might be physical damage to the hardware. In that case, get in touch with HP Tech Support for more help.
  - If you don't see any anomalies, continue troubleshooting for software problems.
- Some Lenovo laptops have a self-test that you can use. To run it, turn off the laptop, plug it into the charger, and press and hold FN + Left Ctrl + Power. Watch as your screen changes from black, white, green, red, and blue to see if you can see the black spots, vertical lines, or shadows on your screen^{[4]
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  - In case you do see dead pixels, lines, or shadows, get in touch with Lenovo PC Support for more help resolving the hardware issue.
  - If you don't see anything abnormal, continue troubleshooting for software fixes.
- For MacBooks with Apple silicon processors: Press and hold the Touch ID as your laptop starts up. When you see "Options," let go of the Touch ID key and press and hold Cmd + D.
- For MacBooks with Intel processors: press and hold the D key as your laptop starts up (try Opt + D if that didn't work), then release the key when you see a progress bar.^{[5]
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  - You'll see reference codes if there are any hardware issues. Look out for VFD001, VFD002, VFD003, VFD004, VFD005, VFD006, VFD007 or ALS001, which might be the cause for the black spots, shadows, or lines on your screen. If you see any of those codes, contact Apple for more hardware help.
Many times, they will be able to help more specifically if these troubleshooting steps didn't work. If your laptop is still under warranty and displaying black spots, lines, or shadows, you might be able to get a free replacement or repair!

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Tips

If you're confident in your ability to remove your laptop's screen, you can most likely fix it yourself.

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In case the shadow or black spot on your screen turns out to be a smudge, you can gently clean your screen with a damp microfiber cloth.

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