What to Do if Your Windows Computer Screen Turns Black and White

If your Windows PC has decided it wants to be more like an old television than a computer, here's how to fix it.

Has your Windows computer screen turned black and white all of a sudden? There can be several causes for this, including misconfigured accessibility settings, corrupted graphics drivers, and a buggy Windows build.

If you can’t seem to identify the exact cause, don’t worry. Below, we share some useful troubleshooting tips that should help restore your Windows computer's display to its previous colorful state.

Both Windows 10 and 11 include several accessibility features to assist users with visual impairments. One of these options is color filters, which can result in your Windows computer screen displaying only black and white colors. If you have inadvertently activated this feature, follow these steps to disable it.

Another reason why your computer screen may turn black and white is if you have enabled high-contrast themes on Windows. Here's how you can disable them.

It's worth noting that Windows may enable a high contrast theme if you unintentionally press the Left Alt + Left Shift + Print Screen keys together. If you don’t want that, use these steps to disable the keyboard shortcut for enabling contrast themes on Windows.

If the above tips don’t help, you can try applying some basic Windows fixes and see if that gets your computer screen to display colors.

Seeing your Windows computer screen in black and white instead of the usual colors can be unsettling. We hope that one of the tips mentioned above has successfully resolved the issue, and your screen is now displaying colors as expected.

Pankil is a freelance tech writer from India who has been writing about Windows since 2021. As a long-time Windows user, he has extensive knowledge of the ins and outs of the operating system and specializes in creating how-tos and troubleshooting guides. With a focus on practical advice and real-world solutions, Pankil aims to make technology accessible and user-friendly for everyone.