Mike Evans
Jen GentlemanReminder that if you encounter a black screen on your PC, try pressing WIN + CTRL + SHIFT + B
Tells the computer you're experiencing a black screen and tries to fix it
kib@wetdry:~$ 
Judgment Dave@JenMsft *stops tearing hair out
Alodar101@JenMsft for years I tried to find lists of all these controls. Who knew I only needed to follow you
@Alodar101 Hahaha, we have a pretty comprehensive list here too: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/keyboard-shortcuts-in-windows-dcc61a57-8ff0-cffe-9796-cb9706c75eec. I need to update it with a few more
Rob Pomeroy@JenMsft @Alodar101 Grand - thank you!
mruszczyk@JenMsft This is a fantastic tip! Thanks for the information.
Dale Ross@JenMsft
The improved Ctrl + Alt + Del
The improved Ctrl + Alt + Del
Peter Ritchie🌍🍁@JenMsft Ironically, I can't see this post when I'm experiencing a black screen ;)
@peterritchie You could see it on your phone, though
@JenMsft Sometimes I find Win+P, Home, Enter works too
@JenMsft Nice! 👍
"discard the desktop surface buffer and re-create the allocation from DWM"
https://superuser.com/a/1497556/997390
TIL today.
Pär Björklund@JenMsft now I'm curious about the issue and why a workaround was added
@Paxxi There can be multiple reasons why someone might experience a black screen. Depending on the cause, the keyboard shortcut may or may not help. As to why it was added, it was years ago during development when there was a particularly prevalent one (I no longer remember what it was, it was ages ago). The shortcut proved handy so was kept
@JenMsft thanks 😀 always interesting how these things come to be
Sue Loh, local optimist@suedeyloh @JenMsft ahh nice 😀
@energiepirat@JenMsft On Windows, right?
(ง'̀-'́)ง TimmGleason🍖🍖@JenMsft As a 20+ year Linux user, it's mystic incantations like this that fascinates me about Windows. Where is this stuff documented?
For comparison, when I bought my HP 48SX calculator for engineering class in college, it came with am instruction book that was 6-7 cm thick (2.5 inches for those educated in the US).
I miss physical documentation with software.
For comparison, when I bought my HP 48SX calculator for engineering class in college, it came with am instruction book that was 6-7 cm thick (2.5 inches for those educated in the US).
I miss physical documentation with software.
Ian Douglas Scott@timmgleason
@JenMsft It reminds me of Ctrl-L in a Linux/Unix terminal, which also sometimes works as a mystic incantation to fix things. A little less magical though.
@JenMsft It reminds me of Ctrl-L in a Linux/Unix terminal, which also sometimes works as a mystic incantation to fix things. A little less magical though.
Martin Edwards@JenMsft I had a customer with a black screen on their laptop recently. Turned out it was possible to use the 🔅🔆 keys to reduce the brightness to nothing. I was disappointed in the manufacturer for making this possible.
@medwds @JenMsft With an LCD, this only dims the backlight, so you can still faintly see what is on the screen if you shine a light at it.
I wish backlights and backlight keys were completely standardized in some way, so a single driver on Windows/Linux/etc. could handle them in an entirely consistent way.
@JenMsft from my experience this works almost always, but when it doesn't, there is another way to fix it:
Grab your phone and login via Remote Desktop to your computer, then logout and try using computer - black screen should be gone.
Grab your phone and login via Remote Desktop to your computer, then logout and try using computer - black screen should be gone.
J. A. Guerrero-Saade@JenMsft wait what!?
Compuguy 🐱@JenMsft Really huh. Does it work with solid blue screens (not BSOD)?
Six Possums In A Trenchcoat@JenMsft I never would've guessed that there would be a key combo to reset the graphics driver. Neat!