Windows Black Screen with Cursor Task Manager Not Opening

hi KevinAnand​  The black screen with just a cursor (sometimes called “black screen of death”) can happen for several reasons — graphics driver issues, Windows Explorer not starting, profile corruption, or even a recent update glitch. If Task Manager won’t open with Ctrl+Shift+Esc or Ctrl+Alt+Del, here are a few things you can try:

Quick Checks

Safe Mode Boot
Restart your PC → press F8 / Shift+F8 / Shift+Restart (depending on system) → boot into Safe Mode. If it works, the issue is likely driver or startup-related.

Restart Explorer Manually
In Safe Mode, press Win+R, type:

explorer.exe

and hit Enter. If the desktop loads, Explorer just wasn’t starting properly.

Repair / Recovery Steps

Uninstall Recent Updates
In Safe Mode, go to Settings > Update & Security > View Update History > Uninstall updates. Roll back the last cumulative or driver update that may have caused this.

System Restore
If you had Restore Points enabled, try rolling back to a working state.

Check Display Drivers
Outdated or corrupted GPU drivers can cause black screen issues. In Safe Mode, uninstall the display driver (via Device Manager), then reboot and reinstall the latest version from the manufacturer’s site.

If Nothing Works

Repair with Boot Media
Create a bootable USB with the latest Windows ISO → boot into Repair your computer > Troubleshoot > Startup Repair.

New User Profile
Sometimes Windows profiles get corrupted. From Safe Mode, create a new local user account and see if the issue persists.