How to Fix Black and White Screen on Windows 10/11: 6 Easy Solutions

Isabella Shinn

Updated: October 23, 2025

If your Windows 10/11 screen suddenly turns black and white (grayscale), don't worry—it's usually caused by an accessibility setting or a display configuration. This guide shows six quick fixes to restore color, starting with the fastest: turning off Color Filters with a simple keyboard shortcut.

How to fix Windows black and white screen

Way 1: Turn Off Color Filters (Win + Ctrl + C)
Way 2: Disable Color Filters in Settings
Way 3: Turn Off High Contrast Mode
Way 4: Reset Graphics Color Settings (Intel/NVIDIA/AMD)
Way 5: Update or Roll Back the Display Driver
Way 6: Check Color Management, SFC/DISM, and Monitor

Way 1: Turn Off Color Filters (Win + Ctrl + C)

The fastest fix: press Win + Ctrl + C to toggle Color Filters. If grayscale was enabled by mistake, colors should come back instantly.

Press Win + Ctrl + C to toggle Color Filters

Tip:

This shortcut only works if Color Filters are enabled in Settings. If nothing changes, use Way 2 below.

Way 2: Disable Color Filters in Settings

Step 1 Press Win + I to open Settings ➜ go to Accessibility (Ease of Access in Windows 10) ➜ Color filters.

Step 2 Turn Color filters off. If you need it on, ensure the filter is not set to Grayscale or Grayscale inverted.

Turn off color filters in Windows settings

Step 3 Optionally disable Keyboard shortcut for color filters to prevent accidental toggles.

Way 3: Turn Off High Contrast Mode

High Contrast can make the screen appear monochrome-like.

Step 1 Open Settings ➜ Accessibility ➜ Contrast themes (Windows 11) or High contrast (Windows 10).

Step 2 Set theme to None and apply.

Turn off High Contrast Mode in Windows Settings

Way 4: Reset Graphics Color Settings (Intel/NVIDIA/AMD)

GPU control panels allow per-display color adjustments (saturation, hue, digital vibrance). Reset them to defaults.

Intel Open Intel Graphics Command Center ➜ Display ➜ Color ➜ reset or increase Saturation from 0.

NVIDIA Open NVIDIA Control Panel ➜ Adjust desktop color settings ➜ restore defaults or adjust Digital Vibrance.

Reset Color Settings

AMD Open AMD Software (Adrenalin) ➜ Display ➜ reset color controls.

Way 5: Update or Roll Back the Display Driver

Driver issues can force grayscale or break color profiles.

Step 1 Right-click Start ➜ Device Manager ➜ expand Display adapters ➜ double-click your GPU.

Step 2 On the Driver tab, click Roll Back Driver if the issue started after an update. If unavailable, click Update Driver and search automatically.

Step 3 Reboot and test.

Way 6: Check Color Management, SFC/DISM, and Monitor

Color Management Press Win + R, type colorcpl, press Enter. On the Devices tab, select your display ➜ check the profiles. Click Advanced ➜ Change system defaults… ➜ restore defaults if needed.

SFC/DISM Open an elevated Command Prompt and run: sfc /scannow, then DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth. Reboot.

Monitor & Cable Test a different cable/port and another display. Many monitors have a built‑in grayscale mode—reset the monitor to factory defaults.

Conclusion

In most cases, a black-and-white screen is caused by Color Filters or High Contrast. Toggle Win + Ctrl + C or disable those settings to restore color quickly; if that doesn’t work, reset GPU color settings and check your display driver and color profiles.