Monitor blinking when USB connected to PC

If your Laptop or PC screen flashes when a USB is connected or plugged into Windows 11/10, this can indicate an underlying issue with your system’s hardware. However, sometimes, it can occur due to a corrupt driver or other software issues. This article lists some fixes for this issue.

Monitor blinking when USB connected to PC

If your Windows 11/10 screen flashes when a USB device is connected or plugged in, use the following fixes.

Try another USB device or USB port
Hard reset your PC
Reinstall the USB Controller driver
Update or reinstall the display driver
Update BIOS
Uninstall the Windows Update (if applicable) or restore your system
Check if the issue occurs in the BIOS

Before proceeding, check for and install the available Windows Updates. Also, check your monitor connections. and make sure that all connections are tight.

1] Try another USB device or USB port

The problem may be with the USB device or a particular USB port. Connect the USB device to another USB port of your computer. If the problem persists, the issue may be with the USB device. To confirm this, connect another USB device to the same USB port and see what happens.

2] Hard reset your PC

A hard reset helps fix some common issues on a computer. Follow the steps provided below:

Turn off your computer.
Disconnect the power cord or charger (in the case of a laptop).
Remove the battery if it is a laptop with a removable battery.
Wait for a few minutes.
Connect the power cord and turn on your PC.

3] Reinstall the USB Controller driver

You can try reinstalling the USB controller driver and see if it works. Before proceeding, create a system restore point so you can reverse changes if a problem occurs.

Follow the steps provided below:

Open the Device Manager.
Expand the Universal Serial Bus Controllers branch.
Right-click on the USB Host Controller driver and select Uninstall device.
Close the Device Manager and restart your computer.

Now, check if the issue persists.

4] Update or reinstall the graphics card driver

One possible cause of this problem is a corrupt graphics card driver. Updating or reinstalling the graphics card driver can help.

Visit the official website of your computer manufacturer and download the latest version for your PC model. Run the installer file to update the driver.

If updating the GPU driver does not help, reinstalling it can work. Download and install the Display Driver Utility (DDU). Run the DDU tool to completely remove your graphics car driver from your system. Now, run the installer file to reinstall the graphics card driver.

5] Update BIOS

An outdated BIOS can also sometimes cause hardware issues. Check for the BIOS update on the official website of your computer manufacturer. If an updated version is available, download and install it.

You can see the currently installed version of BIOS in the System Information tool.

Make sure that the power supply is not interrupted during the BIOS update process. If you are a laptop user, connect your charger and turn on the supply, even if your laptop is fully charged. If the power supply is interrupted during the BIOS update, your motherboard will malfunction.

6] Uninstall the Windows Update (if applicable) or restore your system

If this issue has started occurring after a Windows Update, uninstall that update. If you cannot uninstall a Windows Update, restore your system. Use the System Restore tool to restore your system to the previous working state. While performing this action, select the restore point created on a date before which the problem did not exist.

7] Check if the issue occurs in the BIOS

If the issue persists, enter your system’s BIOS and check if your screen flashes when connecting a USB device. Use the right BIOS key to enter your BIOS. If the problem also occurs in BIOS, there is a hardware issue. The problem might be with the USB ports. Take your computer to a professional computer repair technician to get the issue resolved.

That’s it. I hope this helps.

Why does my screen keep blinking?

A corrupt graphics card driver causes display issues, such as screen flashing or blinking. This problem can also occur due to faulty cables. To fix this problem, update or reinstall your graphics card driver. If you have an external monitor, update its firmware.

What are the symptoms of USB failure?

The common symptom of a USB port or device failure is that the device is not recognized by your Windows computer. You can check this by connecting the same device to other USB ports and connecting other USB devices to the same USB port. Sometimes, this occurs due to a corrupt USB Host Controller driver.