Black Screen when alt-tab or exiting fullscreen games in Windows 10

Question

When I use alt+tab on a fullscreen game to go back to the Desktop in Windows 10, most of the time the screen goes black. It doesn't happen all the time which is makes this even more confusing. It also turns black sometimes after exiting the game. I have a single monitor and an Nvidia Graphics card. Some things I've found about this:

I can press alt+tab again and it comes back to the game
I can press Windows+P two or three times and Enter to blindly try to switch to multiple monitors setup, doing two or three times gets me back to the desktop
I can unplug and plug again the HDMI cable and it gets me back to the desktop
It also happens if I try to press alt+enter to get the game to go to windowed mode

It has happened to me in the games Overwatch, Destiny2, DragonAge Origins and the Final Fantasy XV Demo, so I'm pretty sure it's a general error when going fullscreen.

Here's some research I've done for similar problems.

This thread in Steam forums talk about something similar in several games on Windows 7 due to the monitor set to 59hz by default. I checked and mine is set to 60hz.
This thread in Nvidia forums talk about this problem in GTA and they solve it by renaming the executable to something other than gta_sa.exe. This I haven't tried since I open the games from the Steam/Blizzard launchers.

Is there a way to solve this?

Update
Here are the things I've tried and haven't worked:

Updating Nvidia Drivers
Switching refresh rate to 59Hz

Edit 2018-12-18
It's been a long time since I asked this question. Both Windows 10 and Nvidia Drivers had several updates since then and now I don't have this problem anymore. But I did used fullscreen windowed mode when available until I found the problem fixed itself so I'll mark that as the answer.

Khushraj Rathod · Accepted Answer

You can fix this by running the game in full-screen windowed mode, instead of running it in full-screen. The difference here is that you might lose out a tiny bit on high graphic games. When a game runs in full screen, it occupies the whole of grapic card power, leaving none to the Host OS, While in full screen windowed mode, the game loses out a bit on the "exclusive mode" & graphical interface.
Starting a Full Screen Windowed game

Download Fullscreenizer from here

Extract and run fullscreenizer.

Run your game in a window. If your game runs in a regular window or you can run it in a window, go to Step 4. If your game runs in fullscreen mode, try going to the game settings and then try changing the window type to windowed mode. If it is not possible to do this, then try CTRL+ALT+DEL and open task manager. This should minimize the game. In the fullscreenizer, click refresh, click on your game and click on fullscreenize. Note that this is not likely to work. Try the other solution given if this doesn't work.

In the fullscreenizer, click refresh, click on your game and click on fullscreenize.

Another solution is not to fix the alt + tab, but instead to use a different solution:
Using Windows 10
Doing this on windows 10 is easier than on windows 7/8/XP, since windows 10 has this feature built in. First you must create a new desktop.

Create a new desktop. You can do this using the CTRL+WIN+D or you can also click the three-window icon on the desktop and then click new desktop (see picture)

Make Sure You can switch between desktops. Press Ctrl, WIN & an arrow key to switch desktops. E.G. CTRL+WIN+LEFT or CTRL+WIN+RIGHT.

Running Your Application NOTE: You will probably make a new desktop on each startup. Run your game in desktop 1. Press CTRL+WIN+RIGHT to switch to desktop 2.

Using a OS that is XP or above
Since Windows XP/7/8/8.1 don't have this function built in, you will have to use the Microsoft Systernals Desktops program to achieve this. Go to this website and use the given program to create virtual desktops.

Softability · Answer

This is common among some games. I've noticed that more powerful CPU's don't get this issue as often as weaker ones since alt tabbing is pure multitasking.

If you tried:

Checking the monitor refresh rate (if it is for example 59 instead of 60 hz). And check if it is the monitor at all (unplug and replug the monitor when the screen is black to check if it is working again)
Reinstalling GPU drivers

If it doesn't work, you can check this thread with multiple solutions that worked for each specific user/scenario.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-desktop/black-screen-after-exiting-a-game-windows-10-pro/dc69b7d7-d2d0-45fb-9556-40ca83e436e3?page=4

Good luck! I had the same issue on the previous PC and the refresh rate was the problem.

k0pernikus · Answer

I experienced the issue on my Windows 10 installation with an AMD Raedon RX 580.

I managed to get it working by enabling

Virtual Super Resolution
GPU Scaling

in the RAEDON SETTINGS at the Display panel. Interestingly, it continued to work even if I disable it afterwards again.

Nick · Answer

For Nvidia: Setting Scaling tab to No Scaling under Adjust Desktop Size and Position in Nvidia Control Panel fixed this behavior for me.

It was set to Aspect Ratio previously

Richard DiTommaso · Answer

After reading, and trying 100 different things i fixed it on my own. For me anyway. Right click , Display settings , click Advance scaling settings and disable it. After a month of frustration that fixed it for me.

Answered by Richard DiTommaso on November 26, 2020

Tim · Answer

So I was having this problem and playing games in Fullscreen (windowed) didn't fix it. I found the issue was that my main monitor had the option 'play HDR games and apps' while my second monitor didn't. Disabling the option on my main monitor fixed the issue

Answered by Tim on November 26, 2020

Black Screen when alt-tab or exiting fullscreen games in Windows 10

6 Answers

Starting a Full Screen Windowed game

Using Windows 10

Using a OS that is XP or above

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question