How to use the black screen
- Press Full screen. Your whole display turns black.
- The pointer disappears when you stop moving it. Click or tap to bring back a small panel.
- Press Esc, or the panel’s button, to leave.
Turn on Keep the screen on, where your browser offers it, if you want the black screen to stay up instead of the computer going to sleep.
What people use a black screen for
- Resting your eyes or darkening a room without turning a screen off, for example between slides or during a film night.
- Hiding what is on screen when someone walks past, without closing anything.
- Saving power on an OLED screen. OLED pixels make their own light and switch off completely for black, so a black screen uses very little power. On an LCD screen the backlight stays on, so it saves little.
- Checking for bright pixels: a pixel stuck on shows as a bright dot against black.
- Checking backlight bleed on an LCD screen: in a dark room, light glowing in from the edges or corners is the backlight leaking.
- Cleaning the screen. Fingerprints and streaks show up well against black, and a dark screen is easier to wipe.
Black screen or turning the screen off?
If you only want the screen dark, turning it off or letting it sleep saves the most power. The black screen is for when you want it to look off while the computer, a video call or a presentation keeps running, or when you are checking the screen itself.
The other buttons fill the screen with other colours, and the brightness slider dims any colour except black, which is already as dark as the screen can go.
For the opposite, use the white screen. To check the screen for dead pixels and other faults, use the screen test.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make my screen completely black?
Press Full screen on this page. The display turns black and the pointer hides itself until you move it. Press Esc or tap the button to leave.
Does a black screen save battery?
On OLED screens, yes: black pixels are switched off. On LCD screens the backlight stays on, so the saving is small, and turning the screen off saves more.
Can I use a black screen to find dead pixels?
It shows pixels that are stuck on, as bright dots. Dead pixels that stay dark show up on the white screen instead; the screen test has both.
How do I keep a black screen on without the computer sleeping?
Turn on Keep the screen on before going full screen. It keeps the display awake while the page is showing, in browsers that support it.
Does the black screen work on a phone?
Yes, in the phone’s browser. On some phones the browser’s own bars stay visible, but the rest of the screen turns black.