You look at your screen and every photo, icon, and website is grey. The colours have vanished as if you were watching an old film. The monitor works, and the PC runs normally. When the Windows 10 screen turned black and white, the cause is almost always a built-in feature called colour filters.
Colour filters help people with colour blindness or light sensitivity. They can show the screen in grayscale, inverted colours, or tints designed for different types of colour vision. Windows includes a keyboard shortcut, Windows + Ctrl + C, that switches the filter on and off instantly.
Because the shortcut is close to everyday keys like Ctrl + C for copy, it is easy to press by accident.
Turning off the filter, or the shortcut itself, restores colour straight away.
The change can also appear after installing a new graphics slot88 driver or connecting a different monitor, so it is worth noting what you did just before the colours vanished.
Why This Happens
The display turns grayscale for these reasons:
- Windows + Ctrl + C turned on the grayscale colour filter.
- Colour filters were enabled in Ease of Access settings.
- A graphics driver setting reduced saturation to zero.
- The monitor’s own menu is set to a monochrome or reading mode.
If the screen is black and white even in the BIOS screen during start-up, the monitor or its cable is the cause rather than Windows.
Start With These Basic Checks
Turn colour filters off.
- Press Windows + Ctrl + C once.
- Open Settings > Ease of Access > Color filters.
- Turn off “Turn on color filters.”
- Clear “Allow the shortcut key to toggle filter on or off” to prevent it happening again.
- Check the screen with a colourful photo or web page.
If the filter turns off but the colours look faded rather than fully normal, open Settings > System > Display and check whether Night light is active, since its warm tint can make the screen look dull.
Going a Step Further
Check the graphics and monitor settings.
- On NVIDIA, open NVIDIA Control Panel > Adjust desktop colour settings and make sure Digital vibrance is not at 0 percent.
- On AMD, open AMD Software > Display and check Saturation.
- On Intel, open Intel Graphics Command Center > Display > Color and reset saturation.
- Use the monitor’s physical buttons to check picture modes such as “Reader,” “Low blue light,” or “Monochrome.”
- Try another cable or monitor to rule out hardware.
A Word of Caution
Colour filter and display settings do not affect files. If someone at home relies on a filter, turn it off only on your account, and leave it available for theirs.
Final Thoughts
A black and white screen is usually the grayscale colour filter. Press Windows + Ctrl + C, turn off colour filters in Settings, and disable the shortcut to stop it returning.
