How to fix black vertical lines on Dell laptop screen

FIX: Vertical or horizontal lines messing up the screen

How to fix black vertical lines on Dell laptop screen
by Milan Stanojevic
Windows & Software Expert
Milan has been enthusiastic about PCs ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Read more
Affiliate Disclosure
  • Vertical lines on a PC screen may be a result of hardware failure, or a problem with your graphics card.
  • If the lines are different colors, or with changes when you add pressure from the panel, then the issue is probably your PCs LCD screen.
  • Check out ourPeripherals Hubfor more helpful troubleshooting guidesfrom our tech experts.
  • Take a look at ourFix section to find the troubleshooting guide you need.
How to fix black vertical lines on Dell laptop screen
How to fix black vertical lines on Dell laptop screen

You may have encountered lines running from the top to the bottom of your PC screen, either blue, white or multi-colored.

This may create a lot of anxiety especially when you fear that your PC may be crashing.

In order to fix this problem, we prepared a list of possible solutions that should come in handy. Make sure to check them out below.

How can I fix the vertical lines on my PC monitor?

1. Check your screen resolution display settings

How to fix black vertical lines on Dell laptop screen
  1. Right-click Start, and select Control Panel.
  2. Navigate to Appearance and Personalization.
  3. Click Adjust screen resolution.
  4. Go to Resolution and click the drop down arrow.
  5. The resolution marked Recommendedis the one suitable for your laptop screens native resolution (the highest your monitor can support)
  6. You can set brightness and contrast from monitor controls.

For a laptop screen, these are adjusted within Windows under Power Options:

How to fix black vertical lines on Dell laptop screen
  1. Right-click Start and select Control Panel.
  2. Go to the top right corner and change View by option to Large icons.
  3. Click Power Options.

Didnt work? Try the next solution.

  • Cant open Control Panel on Windows 10? Then take a look at our handy guide.

2. Update your graphics driver

  1. Right-click Start button, and select Device Manager.
  2. Check for graphics or video card drivers with either ayellow exclamation mark/ question mark/ down-arrow mark/ error notification.
  3. If the driver has a yellow exclamation mark on it, double-click on it.
  4. OpenProperties.
  5. UnderDrivers tab, chooseUpdate Driver.
  6. Restartyour PC.

Note: You may need to know the name of yourvideo card, for instance, if it is NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel because then youd have to download directly from the website of either of these.

Keeping your drivers updated is crucial if you want to achieve maximum performance. You can update them manually, by following the steps we mentioned above. Alternatively, you can opt for an easier solution and use third-party software.

Therefore, you can get a fitting solution to keep your drivers always updated and avoid issues with your PC screen. So we suggest you have a try with DriverFix

3. Downgrade the video card driver to an older version

How to fix black vertical lines on Dell laptop screen
  1. Press Windows key + X and chooseDevice Manager.
  2. Right-click on Display Adapters.
  3. Select Properties and check the version.
  4. Find a previous version and install it.

4. Use Display Quality Troubleshooter

How to fix black vertical lines on Dell laptop screen
  1. PressWindows key + R, typecontrol panel,and clickOK.
  2. Click View by on the right corner and select Large icons.
  3. Choose Troubleshooting.
  4. Go to the left pane and click View All.
  5. Select Display Quality.
  6. Type in a password for admin, or give permissions when prompted.

Has this worked? If not, try the next solution.

5. Check whether the vertical lines appear in the BIOS

  1. Shut down your PC, but keep the power cable connected.
  2. Turn it on again.
  3. Press F10 repeatedly.

If you get to the BIOS settings and the lines are still displaying, it may be a hardware failure. In this situation, perform a hard or forced reset, then a BIOS update.

Keep in mind not to interrupt the process as it might cause more damage thats harder to fix. If updating BIOS seems scary, you can make things way easier with the help of our tech experts.

If you dont get any vertical lines displayed in the BIOS, it is a software-related issue such as outdated drivers. In this case, you need to update the display drivers by following:

  1. Start your computer on Safe mode.
  2. Uninstall your current display adapter.
  3. Check for driver updates.
  4. Exit Safe Mode.
  • Safe mode is not working on Windows 10? Then check out this helpful guide.

6. Perform a clean boot

How to fix black vertical lines on Dell laptop screen
  1. Type msconfigin the search box and press Enter.
  2. Find Services tab, and check the Hide all Microsoft servicesbox.
  3. Click Disable all.
  4. Go to the Startuptab, and select OpenTask Manager.
  5. Close Task manager then click Ok.
  6. Reboot your PC.

Performing a clean boot for your computer reduces conflicts related to software that can bring up the root causes of the Startup repair incompatibility with your operating system.

These conflicts can be caused by applications and services that start up and run in the background whenever you start Windows normally.

If you cant open Task Manager, then weve got the right solution for you.

You will have a clean boot environment after all these steps are carefully followed, after which you can try booting your computer again.

Did any of these solutions work? Let us know by dropping your comment in the section below.

This article covers:Topics:
  • fix monitor
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