MacBook: screen stays black - causes

If the screen of your MacBook stays black, there is not necessarily a serious error. At best, your device simply needs power or there is an operator error. Try our steps to find out the cause of the black screen.

MacBook: How to find out why the screen stays black

First, shut down your MacBook before taking any further steps. To do this, briefly press and hold the power button. After that, the computer will shut down automatically. Then try the following tips:

1. In the best case, only the battery of your MacBook is empty. Connect the original charging cable to the device and wait a few minutes.
2. Disconnect any external devices you have connected to your MacBook.
3. To rule out or track down a driver error, start the MacBook in single-user mode. Turn on the device and hold down [cmd] and [s] at the same time. If a command line now appears, there is a driver problem. In this case, enter recovery mode and reinstall macOS.
4. Connect a second monitor to the MacBook. Be sure to try all ports here, in case one of the ports is defective. If the external screen also remains black, it is most likely a damage to the hardware.

If the screen of your MacBook still remains black, your last option is to give the device to Apple in repair.

How to prevent data loss

Create a backup at regular intervals via Time Machine and store it on an external hard drive. This way you are protected against data loss in case of a major damage.