How to fix Twitch Black Screen Issue on Windows 10?

Twitch is an amazing platform where you can stream a game and go live with your audience. The service, which was launched back in 2011 by Amazon, also supports music broadcasting and creative live or on-demand content.

Unfortunately, Twitch has been facing a major error where the entire streaming window goes black. The issue has been troubling users for a while now, and in our post today, we share various workarounds on how to fix the Twitch black screen error.

Why Does the Screen Go Dark on Twitch?

Users experiencing this error can chat properly and see all the user profiles, but the entire streaming window stays black. If you’re facing the same situation, you must be wondering, “Why is my screen not showing on Twitch?”

As noted earlier, Twitch is a video streaming platform, which means its function is dependent on your computer’s network and video configurations. Here are some of the possible causes of the black screen error on Twitch:

• DNS settings – if your DNS settings are not properly configured, the program might fail to resolve the DNS query.
• Hardware acceleration – enabling hardware acceleration can cause conflicts with the application.
• Your IP settings – if your IP address settings are misconfigured, you may run into network issues that are causing the black screen issue on Twitch.
• Server issues – if the Twitch server is down, you might experience some issues on the platform.
• Router problems – a wrongly configured router might cause network problems, hence the black screen error.
• Browser issues – if the browser you’re using has a corrupted cache or data, some applications, like Twitch, might not function properly.

How to Resolve the Twitch Black Screen Error on Windows 10

Solution 1: Restart Your Network Devices

Before you begin, have you checked that you have an active internet connection? Twitch can only work when your Internet connection is stable. So, the first step is to check your network devices. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Unplug your modem and router from the power source.
2. Wait at least 60 seconds before plugging them back in.
3. Restart your computer and relaunch the Twitch streaming service.

If it works properly again, well done! If it doesn’t, check if other applications are connecting correctly. If they do, you might have to contact your ISP providers for assistance. You could also try limiting the number of devices connected to your network to free up some bandwidth for the Twitch application. If there’s nothing wrong with the internet but Twitch is still having the black screen issue, move on to the next fix below.

Solution 2: Check Your DNS Settings

The DNS (Domain Name System) is what makes it possible to access websites and applications on your computer. It resolves website names and other addresses to complete its operations. By default, the DNS address you’re using is supplied by your ISP as the gateway to the web. So, if the server is slow or misconfigured, you will experience a slow internet connection.

If applications like Twitch have problems fulfilling requests, it might explain the black screen issue. To rule out your DNS settings as the culprit behind the error in question, you can try setting Google DNS as the default DNS server.

Here is how to do that:

1. Press the Windows logo key on your keyboard and type “Control Panel” (without quotes).
2. Launch the Control Panel and open Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center.
3. You’ll see the active network that you’re using. Click on the network name next to “Connections”.
4. In the window that pops up, click on “Properties” to open the Network Properties window.
5. Next, double-click on “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” to open its properties.
6. Under the “General” tab, select “Use the following DNS server addresses:” so that the input fields below become available for editing.
7. Set the following values:

• Preferred DNS server: 8.8.8.8
• Alternate DNS server: 8.8.4.4

8. Click on “OK” to save the changes and close all the open windows.
9. Restart your computer and check whether this has fixed the Twitch black screen error.

Solution 3: Disable Hardware Acceleration

Typically, hardware acceleration is meant to enhance the performance of applications and videos on your computer. When activated, it utilizes the computer hardware instead of software rendering, thereby improving the load on your operating system.

However, the feature is also known to cause issues with other modules. To rule out hardware acceleration as the reason behind the Twitch black screen error, here’s what you need to do:

Chrome:

1. Launch the Google Chrome browser and click on the three vertical dots in the top right corner to bring up its menu.
2. Select “Settings” and expand the “Advanced” option.
3. Locate “System” and toggle the switch for “Use hardware acceleration when available” to off.
4. Relaunch Chrome to apply these changes.

Run Twitch to check if the fix got rid of the black screen.

Firefox:

1. Launch Mozilla Firefox and click on the menu button in the top right corner.
2. Select “Options” from the list and uncheck “Use recommended performance settings” under the “General” tab.
3. Uncheck “Use hardware acceleration when available” and relaunch Firefox.

Now test if Twitch is functioning properly once again.

Microsoft Edge:

1. Launch the Edge browser and click on the three horizontal dots in the top right corner to open its menu.
2. Select “Settings” from the list and click on “System” in the left sidebar.
3. Locate the “Use hardware acceleration when available” option in the right sidebar and disable it.
4. Exit Edge and check whether the black screen issue on Twitch has been resolved.

Solution 4: Disable Browser Extensions

Browser add-ons could be causing conflicts with applications like Twitch. If you have installed several extensions, you can disable all of them to check if they are the culprits. If Twitch functions properly after disabling your add-ons, enable them one by one and then launch Twitch. When you find the problematic extension, leave it disabled or remove it from your computer.

Solution 5: Reset Network Configurations

If your network configurations are incorrect, Twitch won’t be able to connect to its servers and therefore won’t be able to stream content. To resolve this, try resetting your network configurations using the steps below:

1. Open an elevated command prompt. To do that, press the Win + R keyboard shortcut, type CMD into the “Run” dialog box, and press the Ctrl + Shift + Enter combo.
2. Click “Yes” on the system prompt.
3. After the Command Prompt with administrator privileges launches, type or paste the command lines below one by one and press “Enter” after entering each one:

• ipconfig /flushdns
• ipconfig /renew

4. After resetting your network configurations, restart your computer and check if the Twitch black screen error has been fixed.

Solution 6: Clear Cache and Cookies

Browser cache enables you to access websites faster when you open them. However, the cache can sometimes get corrupted or outdated, causing streaming issues on Twitch. Clearing your cache and cookies once in a while ensures that everything is running smoothly. Your websites might load a bit slowly after clearing the cache and cookies.

Here are the steps:

On Chrome:

5. Launch the Chrome browser and click on the three vertical dots in the top right corner to open its menu.
6. Select More tools > Clear browsing data.
7. Click on the blue “Clear data” button to clear cookies, cache, and browsing history.
8. Restart Chrome and then run Twitch to check if the issue has disappeared.

On Firefox:

1. Launch Mozilla Firefox and click on the three horizontal lines in the top right corner to bring up the menu.
2. Select “Options” and click on “Privacy & Security” in the left sidebar.
3. Scroll down to the “Cookies and Site Data” section and click on “Clear Data”.
4. Check the appropriate boxes and click on the blue “Clear” button.
5. Confirm your action by clicking on the “Clear Now” button in the window that pops up.
6. Restart Firefox and try running Twitch to check if the black screen issue is still there.

On Microsoft Edge:

1. Launch the Edge browser and click on the three horizontal dots in the top right corner to bring up its menu.
2. Select “Settings” and click on “Privacy, search, and services” in the left sidebar.
3. Click on the “Choose what to clear” button under “Clear browsing data” in the right sidebar.
4. In the pop-up window, make sure the “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files” boxes are checked, and then click on the “Clear now” button.
5. Exit Edge and try running Twitch to see if you managed to resolve the black screen error.

Solution 7: Enable TLS on Your PC

1. Launch the Control Panel via the Start menu and select Network and Internet > Internet Options.
2. In the pop-up window, click on the “Advanced” tab and locate TLS under the “Security” section.
3. Check all the TLS boxes and click on Apply > OK.
4. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect and check if this has resolved the Twitch black screen error.

Solution 8: Could It Be a Server Issue?

If you’ve exhausted all the solutions but none seemed to work, Twitch could be having server issues that are beyond your control. The server could be down for maintenance or to patch a few bugs.

Checking this will ease your mind knowing that the issue is not on your end. All you have to do is wait for the server to be back online and go back to enjoying Twitch.

On a final note, when was the last time you ran system maintenance on your Windows 10 PC? You see, continued use usually results in the accumulation of leftover files, changes to system settings, corrupted registry keys and entries, and so on. All these issues contribute to the slow PC performance that you’ve been experiencing lately.

To resolve them all, why not try a program like Auslogics BoostSpeed, which is designed to tweak and optimize your PC for improved performance? The program comes with more than a dozen tools to help you fix speed-reducing issues on your computer so that you can enjoy faster internet speeds and load times.

One such tool is Optimize, which gives you access to various optimization features, like Disk Defragmentation, which helps you increase your drives’ efficiency, and Windows 10 Protector, which is designed to optimize your system. You’ll also find several modes meant to boost your PC’s performance based on the tasks you want to accomplish.

On top of that, you’ll find other options to optimize your tasks, features, startup apps, memory, processor, and so on. Running BoostSpeed regularly guarantees a fast operating system, and thanks to the scheduler feature, you can configure automatic system maintenance and let the program handle the rest.