How to Fix Twitch Black Screen with Sound – (Desktop & Mobile)

The problem is widespread, with many users reporting the issue of a twitch black screen with sound both on desktop and on apps.
Users see a black screen while live streaming on twitch and even viewers have the same trouble.

You might be thinking that why can I hear only audio on twitch and see the video screen black.

In this article, I will cover the major causes behind twitch black screen and how to fix it both on PC and Mobile.

 

What Causes Twitch Black Screen with Sound

You should go through with the main reasons that cause twitch desktop and app not working and showing a black screen.

This would help you to better understand why these problems occur and will also help you to fix the problem in the future without any help.

As I said this problem occurs with both the streamers and viewers.

Streamer – Why is my screen black when I stream on twitch as today I found it was a black screen on video but the sound was properly working.

Viewer – Is, twitch app not working today as it shows a black screen on every stream I visit on Twitch. 

 

Reasons 1 – Network DNS & IP address

We all know the Internet is the biggest source required to experience good streaming and ping. 

DNS (Domain Name System) can improve your network and can ruin it as well. Previously saved DNS Caches and other settings can also lead to a black screen in the twitch stream. 

These network issues can also lead to twitch stream buffering issues on all devices.

Another networking issue can be with the IP address assigned to your device. If the problem is with the IP address, the connection will go worse and can cause such issues.

 

Reason 2 – Browser Issues

Browser cache, cookies, and extensions can cause such problems with playing videos and can give a black screen with audio working fine.

Mostly twitch black screen with no sound issues comes on Google Chrome.

There can be multiple more reasons like browser hardware acceleration that we will see when you will fix it.

 

Reason 3 – Issues with Streaming Software

Being a streamer, if you have trouble and get a black screen while doing live streaming then you also need to check your twitch streaming software.  

Softwares like OBS can give black screen while displaying capture and so there can be many other problems with your streaming software.

Though these are some major causes and let’s move to the fixes.

 

How to Fix Twitch Black Screen with Sound (Desktop)

I am going to share 9 fixes as I am not sure which will work for you, so you better apply all of them one by one.

But I am very confident that you will get the solution with these below fixes.

 

FIX 1 – Restart Router/Modem and Device

Restarting is one of the best and simplest ways to fix any problem before moving to any core troubleshooting methods.

So restart your modem and router first. If you are connected with a LAN cable then shut down your MODEM and then remove the cable. Wait for 60 seconds, plug in the cable, and then restart the Modem and Router.

Once done you should restart your PC or mobile where you are having the problem.

Check if this fixes the problem and if not move to the next fix.

 

FIX 2 – Reset Network 

If there has been a change with a network adapter like installing a new adaptor or change in network settings then this can cause trouble.

So simply reset the windows network by following the steps below.

• On Windows PC, search and open Settings.
• On Windows 11 settings, click on Network & Internet and then on Advanced Network settings.

  

   

• Now scroll down a bit and click on Network Reset which will bring the next screen. Click on the “Reset Now” button. For Windows 10, click on Network & internet and at the very bottom, you will find Network Reset.

  

Make sure you have saved all your work on the PC as this will go with a system restart. Once restarted, connect to your network again.

 

FIX 3 – Reset IP Address & Flush DNS

Similarly, if the TCP/IP stack gets corrupted or misconfigured there can be a problem with the network and may lead to a black screen while streaming videos.

Here we will release the IP address and renew with the new IP address first. We will then flush the DNS as well.

• Type CMD in the windows search box and choose Run as Administrator.
• Once the black window of the Command prompt comes up, type ipconfig /release and then press the enter key. This will release the currently assigned IP address.

  

   

• Now let’s get a new IP, type ipconfig /renew and hit the enter key. 

  

   

• So we can now clear the DNS cache as well, type ipconfig /flushdns, and hit the enter key. 

  

Now check again by making a twitch test stream to assure this fixed the problem. Hopefully, it will work, and if not then move to the next step.

 

FIX 4 – Change DNS Address to fix Twitch Black Screen with Sound

According to many users, changing their Internet DNS address to Google or Cloudflare fixed Twitch black screen with sound issues.

Basically changing the DNS address to Google or Cloudflare increases privacy and increases internet speed.

You can also try this, following the below steps carefully.

• On your Windows PC, type Network Connections in the search box, and from the suggestions choose “View Network connections”.
  
• You will see all your network adapters here, right-click on the network adaptor through which you have connected your internet and choose “Properties”. 

  

   

• Lan/WiFi properties box will now be up, double click on “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TVP/IPv4)”.
• This will bring up the TCP/IPv4 properties box, here at the bottom of the box you will find “Use the following DNS server addresses” click on it and fill the following IP. 

  

You can use any of the below DNS servers

1. Google DNS

Preferred DNS Server – 8.8.8.8

Alternate DNS Server – 8.8.4.4

2. Cloudflare DNS

Preferred DNS server – 1.1.1.1

Alternate DNS server – 1.0.0.1

Once done click on OK and restart your PC so that changes can take effect. After restart. check back your PC again to assure this fixed the problem.

 

FIX 5 – Clear Browser Cache and Reset Browser

Now if you are still reading this it means you have tried all the above troubleshooting related to the network to fix the twitch black screen while watching the live stream.

Probably the problem is with the browser where and let’s start fixing the issues.

So here we are taking Google Chrome browser, if you are using any other browser you need to clear cache, browsing data, and reset the browser as well.

Clear Browsing Data

• • Open Google Chrome browser, click on the 3 dots located at the very right-hand top and choose Settings from the suggestions drop-down.
  • From the left-hand menu options, click on “Privacy & Security” and then click on “Clear browsing data”. 

    

     

  • Click on the Advanced tab and set the time range to All time. Check all the boxes and uncheck the Password and Autofill form data box. 

    

• Once done click on Clear data, wait until the process is completed, and close the Chrome browser. 

 

Reset Browser

• Open Google Chrome browser again, click on the 3 dots at the very right-hand top and choose settings.
• At the bottom click on Advanced drop-down to explore more options.
• Now scroll down to the bottom and click on Reset and Clean up and then click on “Restore settings to their original defaults”. 

  

• The reset settings box will now be up, click on Reset settings again to confirm and wait till the process is completed.

Restart the browser and check if this fixed twitch black screen with sound issues or not.

 

FIX 6 – Disable Browser Extensions

Browser extensions are of great use that enhances the features but sometimes it can really give you pain.

On many devices, the twitch black screen was just because of a few extensions like Adblock and BTTV.

Here we need to disable all the extensions first to check if the problem is with extensions or not.

• Open Google Chrome browser, click on the 3 dots at the very right-hand top, hove up to more tools and choose Extensions. 

  

   

• The extensions page will now be up with all the list of extensions installed on your browser.
• Here you better remove the extensions that you don’t use or don’t identify. Rest you need to disable one by one.

 

Once all extensions are disabled restart your browser and check again watching twitch stream to see if this fixed the problem.

If this fix then the problem is with the extensions.  So in order to verify which extension is exactly creating the problem, enable them one by one and keep checking to find out which extension is creating the problem.

But if the problem still exists, then you can enable all the extensions again and move to the next step.

 

FIX 7 – Turn Off Hardware Acceleration

Hardware acceleration on chrome basically allows the CPU to get rid of some tasks and assign loading tasks to your GPU. This can really create a problem if the device or GPU is not ready to handle this.

It’s better to disable hardware acceleration on chrome to fix the twitch black screen problem.

• Launch Google Chrome, click on the 3 dots at the very right-hand top and choose Settings.
• Click on Advanced to explore more options and then click on System. 

  

   

• In the system section, you will find “Use hardware acceleration when available”. If the toggle icon is blue then click on it to turn off the hardware acceleration. 

Once done restart your browser and check watching twitch stream again to check if the problem is fixed.

 

FIX 8 –  Disable VPN and Proxy to Fix Twitch Black Screen with Sound

VPN (Virtual private network) when used to access some websites from different locations also slows down your internet connection as well.

There are certain things I have noticed that don’t go well when VPN is turned on. Even Proxy connections do the same, so better disable your VPN connection and proxy as well.

Once done, check again to see if this fixes the problem.

 

FIX 9 – Update Windows & Graphic Card

WIndows keeps bringing new updates to fix bugs and increase security. You must keep checking your computer for updates especially if you are using Windows 11.

• Type Update on the windows search box and from the suggestions choose “Check for Updates”.
• You will see the message if updates are available.

Similarly, you also need to make sure that your graphic card is up to date. Outdated graphic cards can also create such issues of “twitch black screen with sound”.

• Type device manager in the Windows search box and from the suggestions choose “device manager”. 
• The device manager box will now be up, look for Display Adapters and double click on it and your graphic card will be displayed.
• Right-click on the graphic card and choose the Update Driver. Choose the option of “check online” and follow the instructions as shown.

Once done restart your device and then check if the problem is fixed.

 

How to Fix Twitch Black Screen with Sound (Mobile)

Most of the viewers enjoy streaming on their android or iPhone and report that they get a twitch black screen while watching the stream on any channel.

The fixes I am sharing here are based on several users’ feedback and tested by me.

 

FIX 1 – Restart Twitch App and your Device

Most of the time according to me and many users twitch black screen issues just get resolved by killing the twitch app from the task manager.

So you basically need to restart the twitch app which can be done on both Android and iPhone.

Once restarted check back again if still the issues come up better restart your phone.

 

FIX 2 –  Change Stream Quality

On many phones, there may be a problem of black screen on twitch if watching streams on very high quality or resolution.

Even playing the stream on Auto can also cause such issues on twitch.

So if you are watching streams on Auto or 1080p60 (source) quality then try changing it to 720p60 or 720p.

• Launch the twitch app on your mobile and then pull up any stream.
• Tap on the cog wheel⚙️icon on the left-hand top of the stream. 

  

   

• This will bring up the settings and here you will see the Quality option, tap on 720p, and click on apply.

Check if this fixes the issue of the black screen and if not also try restarting the twitch app.

 

FIX 3 – Clear Twitch App Cache and Data

If the above two fixes didn’t work for you then you can also try clearing your twitch app cache and data.

Android

• Open Settings on your android phone and then scroll down to Apps or Apps Manager and tap on it to open.
• You will now see the list of all the installed apps, look for twitch by scrolling down or you can also search by typing twitch.
• Once opened, tap on storage and then on “Clear Cache”. I would also recommend clearing the data as well.

iPhone

• Open Settings on your iPhone and then tap in general.
• Tap on iPhone storage, look for the twitch app and then tap on Offload.
• Exit out and open settings again, look for the twitch app and then click on Clear Cache.

 

FIX 4 –  Clear Browsing Data (Twitch Black screen with sound on Chrome)

If you use Google Chrome to watch streams or have problems with, twitch black screen with sound only on Chrome browser then you must clear chrome browsing data and cache.

You can also try opening twitch stream on other browsers like Safari and Opera, if it works fine then probably the problem is with Chrome Cache or data.

• Launch Chrome browser, tap on the 3 dots at the very right-hand top, and then choose Settings.
• Scroll down to Privacy & Security and tap on it.
• Now tap on the first option of Clear browsing data. Tap on Advanced > uncheck Password and Autofill form data box, rest should be checked.
• Once done tap on Clear Data. 

 

FIX 5 – Reinstall Twitch App

If nothing works for you from the above fixes then probably the problem is with the app. This can be with some app files or maybe the twitch app is outdated.

Reinstalling the twitch app will fix any bugs as well as it will be updated too.

• Look for the twitch app on your phone screen, tap, and hold on to it.
• From the options choose Uninstall.
• Once uninstalled, go to the play store or app store and download it again.

Hopefully, the problem will be fixed.

 

CONCLUSION

Twitch black screen with sound can be because of different reasons depending on the device, app, and Internet connectivity.

All the above fixes are based on the above reasons.

Make sure you apply all the above fixes and do not jump to other fixes directly. Additionally, you can also try different phones or PCs to assure the problem is with your device or Twitch. Sometimes the problem may occur because of a twitch outage.

Hopefully, your problem will be fixed, if yes let me know which method worked for you and if you still have the issues let me know in the comment box.

 

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