External Monitor Not Detected After Sleep / Not Waking Up: Fix

If your external monitor is not detected after sleep, stick around. We’ll help you fix it.

Many reasons may lead to monitoring connection problems. It can be a driver issue, cable problems, power management, the monitor’s refresh rates, or even your project mode.

Regardless, if you follow the instructions below, you should be able to fix the external monitor not being detected, no matter the cause.

What do I do if my second monitor is not detected after sleep?

1. Disable Link State Power Management

1. Press the Windows start button, start typing control panel, and then click on Control Panel.

   

2. Select Power Options from the menu.

   

3. Under Choose or customize a power plan, click on Change plan settings next to the power plan that you are using.

   

4. Click on Change advanced power settings.

   

5. Scroll down and expand the PCI Express menu option, and then select Off under the Link State Power Management.
6. Click Apply and then OK to save your settings.

   

2. Roll back to a previous display driver

1. Press the Windows + R key combination to start the Run box.
2. Type devmgmt.msc and click OK or simply press Enter.

   

3. Expand the Display adapters option and then right-click on your display driver.
4. Select Properties.

   

5. Click on the Driver tab at the top and then select Roll back driver.

   

6. Follow the on-screen instructions to get the previously installed driver.

If the Roll Back Driver option is grayed out, that means you don’t have an older driver to load and you should skip this solution.

If rolling back doesn’t work, try an automated solution to find a recent version of the needed driver and update it, this might fix the issue. Our top choice in this case is PC Helpsoft Driver Updater – straightforward and reliable.

3. Set the same refresh rates on your monitors

1. Press the Windows + I key combination to launch Windows Settings.
2. Select System from the menu.

   

3. Select Display on the left-hand side and then scroll down and click on Advanced display settings.

   

4. Check the refresh rate for Display 1 at 60 Hz as shown below.

   

5. Click the drop-down menu under Choose display and change to Display 2 to check its refresh rate.

   

6. Change one of the refresh rates to match the other one, click Apply, and then OK to save your changes.

4. Disable deep sleep on your monitor

1. Check to see if your monitor has the Deep Sleep feature – common in Dell monitors and a few others.

   

2. Press the Settings or Menu button on your Dell monitor to display the monitor settings.
3. Scroll down the Settings menu to other monitors.
4. If Monitor Deep Sleep is enabled, make sure to disabled it.

   

5. Turn off your monitor and then turn it back on.

5. Restart the graphics driver

1. Press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Win + B key combination at the same time.
2. Wait for your main screen to flicker off.
3. Both the main monitor and the external monitor will turn on.

Wrapping up

External monitor problems can vary by device. You might find that your Dell laptop’s external monitor isn’t working, or run into display issues with a Surface Pro or Chromebook. If you’re using a hub or dock, the monitor may not be detected through a docking station, which often calls for a different set of fixes.

You may also be interested in reading our guide on what to do if the external monitor turns off randomly.

We hope the steps above helped you fix the monitor not being detected on your Windows PC. If you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to ask in the comments below.