One Second Black Screen usually When First Entering Spotify

[Va6lue]

Country

Taiwan (R.O.C.)

Device

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700

RAM: DDR5 6000MT/s 16GBx2

GPU: NVIDIA Geforce RTX 4090

Monitor: ROG XG349C (3440x1440, 144Hz, G-Sync Compatible)

Operating System

Windows 11 25H2 (latest)

My Question or Issue

When I open Spotify first time from starting PC, there's a high probability that a black screen occurs for a second. Spotify website has the same issue. Although I can listen to the music normally after it recovers, it's annoying to see a second black screen every time.

[Dessi]

Hi there @Va6lue,

Thanks for reaching out!

We haven't seen any recent reports about this here on the Community, but some users here with a similar issue shared that disabling NVidia High Definition Audio fixed this for them so it's worth checking if that helps. You can also try updating or reinstalling your GPU drivers as we think this might be a graphics‑related compatibility issue. It's a good idea to clear the app's cache, as well as your browser's one to make sure that it's not interfering with Spotify's performance.

Hope this helps.

[Va6lue]

Thanks for replying!

I just found the same Reddit post as you found a second ago. Under that post, we can still see many people encounter this problem these days. I'm pretty sure that reinstalling GPU drivers doesn't work because I've installed many times. Now, I'm trying disabling NV High Definition Audio and it seems work so far.

<Edited>

The problem remains. ☹️

[Paula_Vi]

Hi again, @Va6lue 

Thanks for keeping in contact!

Let's try disabling the Hardware Acceleration on the desktop app to see if it helps. To do this, go to the three dots on the upper left corner and click on them > go to the Help menu > Troubleshooting > Disable Hardware Acceleration and Restart.

Also, is the issue still present if you try with a different internet connection (another Wi-Fi/ethernet network or a mobile hotspot)?

Let us know how it goes!

[Va6lue]

Hi!

I've tried disabling hardware acceleration and restart the app before. Although it seems helpful, sometimes the problem occurs again. It's worth noticing that it doesn't always happen, like I opened the app today without seeing any black screen even when the hardware acceleration was on. 

Another try on Spotify website is also mysterious. In my experiences, it happens more frequently on the Spotify website. Today, the problem occured when I entered the website, and I tried to disable hardware acceleration in my browser settings. After I restarted my browser, Spotify website went normally. Then, I tried reopening hardware acceleration and restarted my browser again, Spotify website still went normally.

I use ethernet on my desktop, but this problem happens not only on my desktop. I encountered it also on my laptop and my lab desktop before. Maybe it happens more frequently on my desktop is because I use it more often.

[Ivelina]

Appreciate all of the details @Va6lue.

Would it be possible to ask someone else, such as a relative or a friend to log in to their account both in the Spotify app and Web Player on your PC and laptop? Since this issue seems to be happening across desktop devices with your account I'm thinking if there could also be an issue with your account itself.

In the meantime if you've got a mobile device to test this on with your account, that'd be helpful as well.

We'll be on the lookout.

[Va6lue]

I've been using Spotify on my iPhone, my Google TV both with my account for a long time and they work properly. Both Spotify app and website work properly on my laptop (AMD 8845H + RTX 4060 + 2560x1440p 165Hz G-sync monitor) today. My desktop worked properly at the early of today but has this issue after rebooting PC. Sometimes, rebooting makes the issue go away, and sometimes that makes the issue come back. Moreover, sometimes I open it first time after rebooting, it occurs, but when I close it and open it second time, it works properly again. This is really mysterious and unpredictable.

I remember that sometimes when an AD with a video pops out, it may cause the same issue. In this case, the sound of the AD proceeds, the screen goes black for 1-2 seconds and turn it back. This happened many times on my laptop and desktop in last year and last last year. Maybe it won't happen anymore because it's been fixed, I'm not sure, or maybe I just haven't noticed it yet this year. So, I guess this is related to compatibility issue between Spotify and GPU drivers, but unfortunately, disabling hardware acceleration can't solve the issue completely, especially on high-end PC devices.

<Edited>

I just found a similar bug had been posted in Black Screen of Death (Windows 11) - The Spotify Community, and the recent replies show that there are many people still suffer from this issue.

[Ivelina]

Thank you for the quick response @Va6lue.

We appreciate the details you've shared so far. Since the issue occurs sporadically and you haven't found a specific trigger, it suggests the behavior might be related to your unique desktop configuration.

Many of the users in the thread you've linked have noted that this issue occurs when using second monitors. There are, however, several troubleshooting steps and workarounds mentioned there that may offer relief in your case. This behavior has been shared with our team for review, but unfortunately we don't have a specific timeline for a fix at this stage. 

Thank you once again and don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything else, we'll be happy to assist you.

[Va6lue]

Just to remind that I use one monitor only, and some people using single monitor said they encountered this issue in that link, too.

I used to send my PC components (RAM, motherboard, graphics card, CPU, power supply) back to RMA one after another in order to solve my PC problems including this issue. The results are that only my power supply was detected defective and repaired. After reassembling these components, the only remaining issue is Spotify. Before I sent almost all the PC components to repair, I had tried reinstalling Windows many times, so I'm pretty sure that this issue belongs to Spotify itself.

Today, I tried to record this issue from a Windows built-in recorder (Xbox Game Bar), and I found this phenomenon can't be captured by a system recorder. That shows there must be something wrong in the code, which causes a communication problem between the graphics card and monitor. My monitor (ROG Strix XG349C with DP 1.4) has been working fine on games, G-sync or any other non-Spotify scenario, and I've installed my monitor's driver properly. Please tell the coding team these details and I hope you guys can solve this issue eventually.

[dhyan17s]

i too face this issue always i cant seem to find a fix 

[Markswell]

This complaint is quite common both on this forum and on NVIDIA, also on Reddit, and other platforms.

Disabling High Definition Audio, hardware acceleration, updating drivers, reinstalling the app, switching Windows versions - this is just a partial list of things that don’t help. Changing user profiles doesn’t help either. Disable HDCP just for Spotify? No, thanks.
Most likely, the problem isn't with the user's configuration, but with your content protection system. Send me a version of your app with the protection system removed, and I assure you - it will work properly and won't cause any issues. 

You can throw accusations back and forth between yourselves and NVIDIA, but the main thing is to solve the problem. Do it yourselves, rather than advising users to dance with a tambourine in the rain on thursday, hoping for the best.

[edu201]

Plan

Premium duo

Device

PC (Rx 7800xt, ryzen 9800 X3D, SSD, 32GB,HDMI, samsung qn90d)

Operating System

Windows 11

My Question or Issue

I'm having a strange issue on Windows where my monitor briefly goes black and loses signal for 1–2 seconds whenever I open or close Spotify. The problem seems random but only happens with Spotify.

What I've already tried:

- Clean Windows reinstall

- Different HDMI cable

- Different monitor

- Reinstalling AMD GPU drivers

- Disabling hardware acceleration

- Disabling FreeSync/VRR

- Disabling MPO

- Disabling HDR

One weird thing I discovered: the issue stops happening when I use video wallpapers in Wallpaper Engine instead of rendered/interactive wallpapers.