The League of Legends (LOL) black screen error may be fixed by disabling display scaling, disabling the conflicting antivirus program, or running the game as the administrator. In other cases, you may need to replace the project folder of the game or update the game client. 

The league client black screen problem may occur at different stages of the game. In most cases, users can launch and log into the game successfully, but get a black screen just as the client starts. It may be caused by incompatibility issues with a third-party antivirus program. 

You may also get this error when you try to access another program using the Alt + Tabb keyboard shortcut while loving into LOL. Throughout this guide, you will learn what causes the black screen error in LOL as well as how to fix it. 

What Causes the League Of Legends Black Screen In-Game?

League of Legends is one of the popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games today. Although the game is designed to run on both macOS and Windows, only windows users have reported getting the league of legends black screen launcher error. 

This problem is particularly prevalent in Windows 10 and may be caused by several things, including: 

Windows allows you to conveniently switch between the programs that are currently running on your computer using the Alt + Tab keyboard shortcut. If you try to use this shortcut while logging into the League of Legends game, you are likely to encounter the black screen error. 

Antivirus Conflict 

Some third-party antivirus programs installed on your computer may conflict with the game launcher. When this happens, the antivirus will prevent the League of Legends client from running. This may also result in the league of legends black screen launcher with cursor error. 

If this happens to be the problem, you should consider disabling the antivirus temporarily before launching the LOL game. Alternatively, you could just whitelist the LOL launcher in the antivirus program. 

How to Fix the League of Legends Black Screen in Windows 10

Before trying out the more advanced solutions for this error, it is advisable to first restart the computer. This will automatically refresh the system and get rid of the temporary game data that may be corrupted. A considerable number of users have been able to fix the black screen error in LOL by just restarting their computers. 

If this does not clear the error, you should try the following methods to fix the league of legends black screen launcher error: 

Method 1: Disable Display Scaling Settings 

The display scaling feature on Windows 10 computers is used to adjust the size of icons, navigation, and even text elements. Such settings are meant to facilitate your interaction with the computer, by making it easy for you to see and navigate through the PC with ease. 

When enabled, this feature may interfere with the way the LOL game launches and runs. As a matter of fact, it is one of the leading causes of the black screen error in the League of Legends game. The following steps will help you disable the display scaling settings on your Windows 10 PC: 

Step 1: Open LOL Launcher Compatibility Settings 

Right-click on the League of Legends game launcher, and select Properties. Next, click on the Compatibility option to open it. 

Step 2:Disable High DPI Settings 

Navigate to the Settings section and then expand the high DPI settings menu. Now check whether the box adjacent to the ‘Disable display scaling’ option is checked. If not, click on the box once to check it. You also need to ensure that the ‘Run this program as an administrator’ box is checked as well. 

Once done, click on the OK button at the bottom of the window to save the changes and close it. Launch the LOL game once again to see whether the error has been fixed. 

Method 2: Clean Boot the Computer

Clean booting your Windows 10 PC will force it to only use the minimum set of drivers and programs required. By so doing, the system will redirect other resources to running the League of Legends game. To clean boot your computer, click on the Windows button to open the Start menu. 

Type msconfig into the search bar and press the Enter button on the keyboard. Now click on the System Configuration entry on the search results to open it. On the System Configuration window, open the Services tab.

Select the ‘Hide all Microsoft services’ option, and then click on the ‘Disable all’ button. Next, open the Startup tab on the System Configuration window and then open the Task Manager. Select each of the Startup items displayed and select Disable. Close the Task Manager and reboot the computer. 

Method 3: Update the Graphics Drivers

You could also encounter the LOL black screen error simply because the graphics drivers on your computer are outdated. If so, you need to update the GPU, and reload the game to fix the problem. The procedure for doing this will depend on the type of graphics drivers you are using, as illustrated below: 

How to Update AMD Graphics Drivers 

Right-click on the desktop and select ‘AMD Radeon Settings’ from the context menu that pops up. On the lower-right corner of the window, click on the Updates button. Next, select the ‘Check For Updates’ and the computer will automatically search for available updates. 

If an update is available, it will be displayed as an option on the next screen. Now click on this option and select Update. When prompted, click on the Upgrade option. The system will automatically prepare the package. 

On the next screen, check all the boxes, and then click the Install button. This will automatically download and install the relevant driver updates. Once completed, restart the computer and try launching the LOL game once again. 

How to Update NVIDIA Graphics Drivers 

Click on the search bar towards the left-hand side of the taskbar on your desktop. Type ‘Geforce Experience’ into the search bar and press the Enter button on the keyboard. Click on the first icon n the search results to open the application. 

Now sign in and click on Drivers towards the top-left corner of the window. While on this tab, click on the ‘Check for Updates’ option, situated on the top-right corner of the window. The application will check for any available updates. 

If an update is available, a Download button will appear. Click on this Download button to download the update. Once the download is complete, you will be prompted to choose either Express or Custom installation. Select the Express option to have the computer install the driver update automatically. 

Method 4: Launch the LOL Game in Safe Boot Mode

Launching the League of Legends game in the safe mode can also help bypass the black screen. To do this press the Windows button to open the Start menu. Type msconfig into the search menu on the Start menu and press Enter on the keyboard. 

Click on the first search result, and then click on the Boot tab. Ensure that the box adjacent to the ‘Safe boot’ option is unchecked. Once done, close the window and restart the computer. Check to see if the League of Legends black screen launcher error has been fixed. 

Method 5: Fix Video Card Anti-aliasing Settings 

If your graphics card drivers are up to date, the problem could be the anti-aliasing settings on your video card. To fix this issue, you need to open the control panel for your video card. To access the video card control center in both AMD, and Nvidia video cards, you should right-click on the desktop. 

Thereafter, the procedure for anti-aliasing the video card differs a bit, as explained below: 

How to Fix Antialiasing Settings in NVIDIA Cards  

From the context menu opened in the above step, select ‘Manage 3D Settings’. You should then navigate to the ‘Global Settings’ tab. Now click on the drop-down menu adjacent to the ‘Antialiasing – Setting’ option to expand it. 

Finally, select Off from this drop-down menu. 

How to Fix Antialiasing Settings on AMD/ATI Cards 

Right-click on the desktop and then click on the Advanced button on the context menu that appears. Next, navigate to the ‘Graphics Settings’ tab and then expand the 3D entry. Select the ‘Anti-aliasing’ option, and check the box next to ‘Use application settings’.

Method 6: Repairing the LOL Game Launcher

Corrupted launcher files for the LOL game can also cause the black screen error. If this happens to be the problem, you should just delete the relevant launcher files. The deleted files with be downloaded automatically the next time you launch the game. 

To do this, open Windows Explorer, and navigate to the following path: C:\Riot Games\League of Legends\RADS\projects. Within the Projects folder, locate and delete the lol_launcher folder. Once done. Closer Windows Explorer and launch the League of Legends game. 

Launching the game with automatically re-download the files you just deleted, hence fix the black screen problem. 

Method 7: Run the LOL Game from the Installation Directory

This method is particularly helpful if the problem is the League of Legends shortcut on the desktop. In other cases, a patch may alter the administrative requirements in the LOL client. Regardless of the case, starting the game from the game folder can bypass the black screen.

Launch Windows Explorer and navigate to the game folder in this location: C:\Riot Games\League of Legends. Locate the LeagueClient.exe (or lol.launcher.admin.exe) within the game folder and right-click on it. 

Select ‘Run as Administrator ’ from the context menu that comes up. This will launch the League of Legends game and possibly fix the black screen issue. 

Method 8: Repair from Top-right Gear Settings Icon

You can also repair the League of Legends black screen launcher error using the gear icon on the login screen. While logging into your LOL account, you will notice a gear icon towards the top-right corner of the launcher window. 

Click on this icon, and then click on the Repair button that appears. This forces the game to repair itself and replace any faulty game files. This operation may take up to several hours depending on the speed of your PC. Allow it enough time to complete.

You should then restart the computer and try launching the League of Legends game once again. 

Method 9: Use an Alternative Launcher

In other cases, the black screen error in LOL may be caused by a corrupted user.cfg file. In this case, the solution would be to launch the game using an alternate launcher. Navigate to the default installation folder for the LOL game on your computer (usually C:\Riot Games\League of Legends).

Next, open the RADS>system folder. Locate the user.cfg.fil file within the system folder. Once you find it, right-click on it, select the ‘Open with’ option, and then choose Notepad from the list of apps. Within the Notepad, you need to change the leagueClientOptIn = yes entry to leagueClientOptIn = no.

Once done, save the changes and try launching the game once again. After the game has opened, navigate back to the League of Legends folder, and delete the LeagueClient.exe file. Having saved the changes, launch the LOL game from its installation directory, as illustrated in method 7 above. 

Final Verdict 

The black screen error in LOL may be caused by a myriad of things, including software conflicts, corrupted files, and trying to access other programs during login. As such, different solutions may be applied to resolve the issue. You can use the seven methods discussed in this guide to troubleshoot and fix the problem. In extreme cases, you may need to reinstall the game entirely to fix the League of Legends black screen launcher error.

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