Screen goes black when i play spotify music or a discord gif/video and the only way to fix it is to restart pc

Troubleshooting Screen Blackout Issues During Spotify and Discord Usage: Causes and Solutions

If you’ve recently experienced instances where your computer’s screen turns completely black while playing Spotify music or viewing GIFs/videos on Discord, you’re not alone. Many users across various setups have encountered this frustrating problem, where the display only shows the taskbar with the rest of the screen being unresponsive or black. The only visible element might be the Windows button, but other shortcuts seem non-functional, leaving users seeking effective resolutions.

Understanding the issue

This kind of display anomaly typically suggests a conflict or error related to graphics drivers, system resources, or specific applications running concurrently. When the screen blacks out during media playback or real-time content viewing, it indicates that the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) or its drivers might be encountering instability or incompatibility.

Common Causes

1. Graphics Driver Conflicts or Outdated Drivers
   Out-of-date or corrupted graphics drivers are a frequent culprit. If your drivers are incompatible with recent Windows updates or the applications you’re using, display issues can occur.

2. Hardware Acceleration Conflicts
   Both Spotify and Discord utilize hardware acceleration to improve performance. However, in some systems, this feature can cause conflicts leading to display problems.

3. System Resource Limitations
   Running multiple resource-intensive applications simultaneously might strain your system, causing display failures.

4. Display or GPU Hardware Issues
   Faulty or overheating GPU hardware can cause black screens during demanding tasks.

Potential Solutions

1. Update Graphics Drivers
2. Visit the GPU manufacturer’s website (NVIDIA, AMD, Intel) and download the latest drivers.
3. Alternatively, use Windows Device Manager to check for driver updates.

4. Restart your computer after updating to ensure changes take effect.

5. Disable Hardware Acceleration in Applications

6. For Discord: Go to User Settings > Appearance > Hardware Acceleration, and toggle it off.
7. For Spotify: Navigate to Settings > Show Advanced Settings > Hardware Acceleration, and disable it if available.

8. Restart the applications and monitor if the issue persists.

9. Check System for Windows Updates

10. Ensure your Windows OS is up-to-date, as updates often include important driver fixes and system stability improvements.

11. Perform a Clean Boot

12. Temporarily disable non-essential startup programs to identify if a specific application is causing the conflict.
13. Instructions for clean