Windows 10: Fix Black Screen with Cursor

Have you opened your laptop only to see a black screen with a cursor on it? This usually happens when when your computer wakes from sleep mode or after a reboot. While this error has always been around, it’s become more common after the 1809 Windows 10 update.

The worst bit about the black screen with cursor on it is that nothing seems to help, not even Ctrl+Alt+Del doesn’t always help. You have to hard-reboot your PC for your Windows to load normally. Let’s have a look at ways to solve this problem!

Fix 1: Restart the Explorer.exe Process

This isn’t a real fix but at least you’ll be able to start using your computer again. Doing this will help if Windows has trouble starting the explorer.exe process. Here’s how to launch explorer.exe manually:

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to launch the Task Manager
2. Expand the File menu and select Run
3. In the run box, type explorer.exe, check the box to run the task with administrative privileges, and click OK
4. The explorer.exe process will be launched and your screen will be back to normal

Fix 2: Reset Power Settings to Default

Because Windows 10 power settings are responsible for the black screen with cursor error, setting them to default values often helps to fix the problem. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Open the Control Panel and click on Power Options (or you can simply search for Power Options and select the first result)
2. Click on Change plan settings
3. Select “Restore default settings for this plan”
4. Click on Yes to confirm your action
5. Restart your PC

Everything should be back to normal.

Fix 3: Disable Hibernation

If resetting your power plan settings to default values didn’t help, you can try disabling hibernation.

1. Open the Control Panel and go to Power Options
2. On the left side, click on Choose what the power button does
3. Under Define power buttons and turn on password protection find the Shutdown section and uncheck Turn on fast startup (recommended)
4. Save the changes

This will disable hybrid shutdown and thus fix the black screen with cursor error.

Fix 4: Repair Corrupted System Files

If you’ve started getting the black screen with cursor error after a Windows 10 update, chances are that the update didn’t go correctly and some system files became corrupted. While it’s next to impossible to find and fix corrupted system files manually (you have to be a real pro for that), running our recommended Windows repair tool will fix everything automatically.