White Screen While Gaming - Try These Methods

Jerry updated on Mar 15, 2024 | Home >Computer Instruction

Gaming on your PC is a great way to utilize your free time and refresh your mind. As a gamer, things will always run smoothly if your PC functions correctly. Despite that, it's possible to encounter the issue of White Screen while gaming. What are the possible causes of this error, and how can you solve it?

If you're asking the same question, this article has come to your rescue. EaseUS will discuss in detail what this error entails and outline eight fixes you can apply to address it. What more? You'll learn how to back up your game saves via EaseUS Tood Backup, a free backup utility for Windows PCs.

Why Is My PC White Screen While Gaming

While gaming, the White Screen of Death (WSoD) is an error on your laptop that causes the screen to freeze and turn whitish. This error prevents you from proceeding with the game, but instead, stare at a white screen that won't go away. This is common when playing games such as FIFA 23, Cricket 22, CSGO, Elden Ring, Madden 23, etc.

The gaming monitor white screen is different from the Blue/Black Screen of Death since it has no error code. It, therefore, becomes difficult to determine the exact cause of the error. However, the common causes of this issue include the following:

  • Incompatible/damaged hardware: if your PC has malfunctioning hardware, you'll likely experience the problem.
  • Outdated graphics driver: your PC should run on updated graphic drivers for efficient gaming.
  • Corrupt system files: if one or more files get corrupted, they may hinder normal gaming on your laptop.
  • Interference from background apps: if background apps run concurrently with your gaming, they may lead to a scramble for resources, hence the white screen error.
  • Windows update problems: sometimes, an outdated OS or interference from new updates may lead to the White Screen of Death while gaming.

In the next section, we shall outline how to fix these problems and avoid the White Screen issue on your HP, Dell, ASUS, MSI, Acer, or Lenovo laptop.

How to Fix White Screen When Playing Games

Encountering a White Screen while playing games could be annoying. However, that shouldn't worry you since you can apply different fixes to solve the issue. In this section, we'll outline eight ways to fix the White Screen of Death, including the following:

  1. Fix 1. Restart Game
  2. Fix 2. Check If Your PC Is Overheating
  3. Fix 3. Disable Background Apps
  4. Fix 4. Disable Antivirus Programs
  5. Fix 5. Disable Integrated Graphics
  6. Fix 6. Update Graphics Drivers
  7. Fix 7. Update Windows
  8. Fix 8. Reset Windows

Fix 1. Restart Game

One of the first fixes you should consider when you encounter the White Screen while gaming is to perform a simple restart. This could fix minor bugs preventing your game from running correctly, hence the white screen.

Apart from restarting the game, you can restart your Acer, Lenovo, HP, MSI, or Dell laptop. If the issue persists after that, you can proceed to the next fixes. 

Fix 2. Check If Your PC Is Overheating

Overheating is a common encounter when gaming. However, when it's too much, it may lead to several problems, including the White Screen of Death. You can check for overheating on your laptop by feeling the area near the fan with your hand. If you find that your laptop is too hot, it means that it has overheated.

Therefore, the next step is to find ways to cool your device, such as clearing any debris near the air vent, ensuring the fans don't have dust, or adding an extra fan to your gaming laptop. You can also find ways to keep your device elevated while gaming for efficient air circulation. The trick is to ensure your laptop operates at normal temperatures to boost efficiency. 

check if your PC is overheating

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Fix 3. Disable Background Apps

Gaming consumes a lot of system resources. Adding background apps to the minimal available resources may cause several gaming errors, such as the White Screen. As a remedy, you should turn off all the unnecessary background apps. Follow these steps:

Step 1. Right-click on the Start Menu, then select "Task Manager."

Step 2. Once the Task Manager opens, navigate and click on the "Startup" tab.

click Startup

Step 3. Find the apps whose status is marked as "Enabled." Right-click each of these apps and select the "Disable" option to close them. After that, you can restart your computer and check whether the error has disappeared.

select Disable

Fix 4. Disable Antivirus Programs

Antivirus programs could sometimes impact how your games run. You can try disabling these programs temporarily during gaming to check if they cause the White Screen error. Once done with the gaming, you can re-enable them. Below are the steps to disable antivirus on Windows 10:

Step 1. Open Settings on your laptop.

Step 2. Navigate to "Update & Security">"Windows Security">"Virus & threat protection."

find Virus & threat protection

Step 3. Next, select the "Manage Settings" option and turn off the button for "Real-time protection." This will temporarily disable the antivirus programs on your device. You can now check if the White Screen error has disappeared while gaming.

turn off the button for Real-time protection

Fix 5. Disable Integrated Graphics

The two common graphics cards you may use for your GPU configuration include Integrated and Dedicated graphics. The integrated graphics card is mostly used for graphic operations in a specific scenario. On the other hand, the dedicated graphics card is used for heavy processes such as gaming.

If both cards run concurrently, they may conflict, leading to issues like the WSoD error while gaming. In such a situation, it's recommended to disable the integrated graphics card and only remain with the dedicated graphics card, which is essential for gaming. You can do this via your device's Nvidia Control Panel/ATI Catalyst Center.

disable the integrated graphics card

Fix 6. Update Graphics Drivers

Games require updated graphics drivers to function correctly. If such drivers are outdated, you'll likely experience the White Screen of Death error. Follow the steps below to update graphics drivers on your Windows laptop:

Step 1. Right-click on the Start Menu, then select "Device Manager."

Step 2. Once the Device Manager window launches, double-click the "Display Adapters" option to open it.

double-click Display Adapters

Step 3. Right-click on the graphics adapter under this section, then select "Update Driver."

selete Update driver

Step 4. Next, select "Search automatically for drivers." Stay patient as the system scans for the latest drivers. Lastly, restart your PC and confirm if the game works correctly.

Fix 7. Update Windows

With the latest version of Windows, your computer will run optimally, avoiding common bugs and glitches that could affect gaming. Follow the steps to update Windows:

Step 1. Launch Windows Settings, then click on "Update & Security."

Step 2. Next, click the "Windows Update" tab and select "Check for Updates."

click Windows Update

Step 3. The system will scan for any available updates. If found, please click on "Download and Install." Once done, you can restart your PC and relaunch the game you were playing.

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Fix 8. Reset Windows

If you've tried all the other solutions but the White Screen of Death error persists, you can finally try resetting your device. This will erase all settings on your device and fix the issue causing the white screen. Before performing this operation, it's important to back up your files. After that, you can reset your system to its defaults using the following steps:

Step 1. Hit Win + X to open Settings. Next, click on "Update & Security."

Step 2. Click on the "Recovery" tab, then click the "Get Started" button under the "Reset this PC" option.

click Get Started

Step 3. When the Reset this PC window displays, select "Keep my files" or "Remove everything." After that, please follow the onscreen instructions to initiate the reset process.

select Keep my files or Remove everything

Step 4. Once done, your computer will restart. You can then launch your game afresh and continue playing without any disturbance.

Pro Tip: How to Backup PC Game Saves

To minimize losing data when you encounter the White Screen error, it's important to back up your game saves. EaseUS Todo Backup Free is one efficient tool for this purpose. This software supports the backup and recovery of app data such as game files, browsing history, bookmarks, extensions, etc.

It offers security zone backup to ensure the safety of your game saves if a ransomware or malware attack happens. It can help create full, incremental or differential backups and store them in various locations. EaseUS also saves on the backup size through its intelligent backup feature that allows you to back up only the used sectors of your hard drive. The tool supports the AI Smart Backup feature with a 7-day complete backup cycle.

EaseUS Todo Backup

The main backup features of EaseUS Todo Backup include:

Ensure you download EaseUS Todo Backup today and back up your PC game saves. The steps to getting started with this tool are quite straightforward.

To Wrap Things Up

This article has outlined how to fix the White Screen while gaming problem. The fixes we've discussed include restarting the game, checking for overheating issues, disabling background apps, disabling antivirus programs, updating graphics drivers, updating Windows, resetting Windows, etc.

To protect your game saves, creating a backup using EaseUS Todo Backup is important. This tool allows you to backup your app data to different locations, including USB drives, shared locations, and the cloud. Ensure you download EaseUS Todo Backup today to start using it.

FAQS on White Screen of Death While Gaming

Below are frequently asked questions about White Screen of Death while gaming.

1. What Is the White Screen of Death?

This is an error that a user may encounter while gaming, where the laptop's screen suddenly turns white and remains blank. The screen usually remains in this state unless you find ways to fix it. You'll, therefore, stare at a blank white screen.

2. What Causes a Screen to Go White?

Your screen may go white due to different hardware and software causes, including the following:

  • Corrupt system files.
  • Windows update problems.
  • Damaged hardware.
  • Background app interference.
  • Outdated graphics drivers.

Ensure you fix these issues to solve the problem.

3. What If Screen Goes Black While Gaming?

If your screen goes black while gaming, it points to an underlying software or hardware issue. This could range from outdated graphics drivers to third-party app interference. To fix the issue, you can try updating your graphics drivers or temporarily disabling apps running in the background. You can also restart your PC to check if the error goes away.

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Updated by Jerry

"I hope my articles can help solve your technical problems. If you are interested in other articles, you can check the articles at the bottom of this page, and you can also check my Facebook to get additional help."

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