How to fix a pink screen on your laptop

If you have a laptop, then over the time you own it you’re likely to have issues with it at some point. One lesser known issue that isn’t as common is a laptop screen going pink.

This can happen due to a variety of different reasons, and there’s usually a way you can fix a pink screen on a laptop. This could be via a variety of different methods, from GPU issues to an issue with your connector cable.

So whilst this isn’t a common problem, you’re not alone if you have a pink laptop screen. How can you fix the screen if it’s already like this? Well, we’re going to look at a few ways that you can fix your laptop screen if it’s started to turn pink.

How to fix a pink screen on your laptop

If you have a pink screen on your laptop, then the first thing that you’ll need to do is connect your laptop to an external monitor. No, I’m not just saying use a monitor with your laptop permanently! If you can, use a monitor of yours or a friends monitor to connect your laptop to it. Then, see if the pink colouring also affects your laptop when it’s using a second monitor and not using it’s own laptop screen.

This way, it’s easy for us to tell whether there’s a problem with your laptops video card or not. Hopefully it’s not, because if the issue does happen on the monitor too, then you’ll need to try and get your GPU fixed or replaced – there is no easy way around this.

You can also think about trying to restart your laptop too, as well as checking your graphics card drivers if you can. But, we’ll need to go into this in a little bit more detail. So, let’s look at the possible causes of why you’ve got a pink screen.

Causes of a Pink Screen on Laptop

Whilst there are a few things that could cause this issue, some things are far more likely than others. I’ll run through them in the order of how common they are, and their likeliness to be the cause of the issue. This way, you can solve the problem as quickly as possible.

Ribbon Cables

The most likely hardware cause of a pink screen on your laptop is going to be the ribbon cables inside the device. This is true if your screen just has a faint pink tint to it, which is usually a symptom of this problem.

If you have the technical nouse, then you can decide to do this yourself. As a hardware problem, it’s actually not that difficult if you feel comfortable taking apart a laptop and playing with the internals. If not, you’ll have to get someone else to do it for you.

Problems with GPU/Graphics card

As I just mentioned, if your problem is the same on an external monitor, then this could indicate that there’s a problem with your graphics card.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that your graphics card is bad, as it could just be a problem with the connector cable that you’re using. In a worst case scenario, it may be that your GPU temperature has got too high, or you could have a bad GPU.

If this is the issue, then there’s no way around this aside from going to a professional to get it fixed. You may have to buy a new graphics card which could be costly, and difficult to change in a laptop. Professional help will likely be need if this is the case.

The good news is that this definitely isn’t the most likely cause. Let’s look at some of the other ways that you can fix the issue.

Simple Fixes to a Pink Screen

In the majority of cases, there’s going to be a really simple fix to your problem. So, before you go out and spend any money on getting a professional to help you out, then check out this list of fixes and see if any of these could apply to you.

Turn it off and on again

Although it’s old and often given advice, if this is a new issue then turning your device off and on again is the first thing you should do.

This can help you to diagnose whether it was just a short temporary problem, or it’s something more serious that will require your attention. It’s the first place to start if you’ve got a pink screen.

Update your drivers

Another potential cause for this problem if it’s happened suddenly is that it may be caused by your drivers, which is essentially what tells your laptop what to you. You can easily do this within the Device Manager on your device.

It may be that you need to update your laptops drivers, but it also may be that reverting your drivers back could fix the problem too. So, trying both of these out makes sense if you’re trying to resolve the issue.

Disable Hardware Acceleration

Sometimes, the issue itself may be easily fixed by disabling hardware acceleration. This is essentially a software that’s designed to make your hardware work faster at running software and completing tasks, but it can cause a pink screen.

You can usually find this in your Advanced Display settings. Try toggling it off and see if it makes a different with your display.

Check all your cables

If it’s not a problem with the power supply, then it could be caused by any of the other cables in your setup. This includes those that you may not have thought of, like your HDMI cable, but also the cable connectors you’re using with your graphics card too.

Dell – True Color

Although I’ve not had this problem myself, it seems like a few people have had problems with Dell’s True Color causing their entire screen to go pink. If you have a Dell, then it could be worth checking this out and seeing if it’s causing a problem. You can access this in the properties section of your device.

Night Light

Another very simple fix to this problem is that you may have switched the night light on your device on by accident.

This is likely a cause of the problem if it’s suddenly happened on your laptop and you’ve not had any issues with a pink screen before. Of course, this is an easy fix – you can just switch the night light off.

Conclusion

Although I love pink laptops as much as anyone else, no-one wants their laptop to have a pink screen. All in all, in the majority of scenarios, it will be easy for you to fix the pink screen of your monitor or laptop.

However in some scenarios, it may prove to be a problem with the hardware of your device. If this is the case, then you’ll be better off getting a professional to fix the issue for you, as you could cause damage to the device if you don’t know what you’re doing.