There are many reasons why a computer display may go blank or black. Most often than not, this issue is related to some piece of hardware, whether it’s the video card, cables, monitor, RAM or motherboard.

Occasionally, it can be software related issue also. The worst case scenario is having to get a piece of hardware replaced on your computer.

Check the power. Check to make sure the monitor is turned on, which is usually indicated by some kind of light on the power button itself. If the light is on, the monitor is on and you should see some message.

If the monitor is on, but nothing is showing up, try to press the menu button to bring up the built in monitor controls. If you still have a blank screen, then this could mean there is a problem with your monitor.

Check the cables. Whether you are using VGA, DVI, HDMI OR DisplayPort to connect your computer to your monitor, cables can sometimes become detached. This is especially true for cables that don’t screw into the back of a monitor.

Make sure you check the connection at the PC and on the monitor. For those of you who have more than one video card, you need to be careful how you connect the monitors.

Check the BIOS and Recovery Options. If you can see the initial boot screen when you turn on your computer, but it goes blank once Windows starts to load, then you know it’s an issue with Windows.

If Windows is corrupt, then your only option is to boot into safe mode and then try to repair Windows either using System Restore/ Automatic Repair or using the Reset or Refresh My PC feature.

If system restore or automatic repair do not work, then try resetting your PC. Resetting your PC will preserve all your programs and data, but reinstall the Windows system files.

Finally, the last step is to check the hardware. Before you do anything else, you should try disconnecting all devices and peripherals from the computer like the keyboard, mouse, external hard drive, speakers, printers, etc.

Sometimes a problem with another piece of hardware can cause the display to go blank. If that doesn’t work, then you need to check the actual port connectors on the computer and on the monitor for damage.

There are times when someone doesn’t properly take out a cable and it ends up bending the video port on the computer.

Sometimes, people try to stick a cable into a connection that doesn’t match and that can end up damaging the gold or silver connectors that you see inside the port.