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Monitor won't wake from sleep on DisplayPort after an NVIDIA driver update

Last verified September 2026Tested against NVIDIA Release 615 branch drivers released before 617.14 (versions 615.xx and 616.xx, up to and including 616.92), Fixed in GeForce Game Ready Driver 617.14 WHQL (22 September 2026), Windows 10, Windows 11Well documented

If the screen stays black when you wake the PC and the monitor is connected over DisplayPort, check your NVIDIA driver version first. NVIDIA acknowledged that its Release 615 drivers could stop certain monitors waking from sleep over DisplayPort — bug 6757568 — and listed it as fixed in Game Ready 617.14, released 22 September 2026. Updating is the fix. To get the picture back right now without a hard reset, press Windows + Ctrl + Shift + B, which Microsoft documents as a graphics driver reset.

Start here

  1. Get the picture back now with Windows + Ctrl + Shift + B
  2. Update to Game Ready 617.14 or later

This is a specific, vendor-acknowledged regression, not the generic "monitor won't wake" problem that most guides cover. NVIDIA's Release 615 driver branch — versions 615.xx through 619.xx — shipped with a fault where certain monitors would not wake from sleep over DisplayPort. NVIDIA fixed it in 617.14 and named the bug in its own release notes, which is the detail that tells you whether the black screen you are looking at is this one or something else entirely.

Symptoms

  • You wake the PC from sleep and the monitor stays black, or shows "No signal" and then drops into standby
  • The PC is clearly running — fans spin up, storage activity lights blink, and it shuts down cleanly if you tap the power button
  • Unplugging and replugging the DisplayPort cable, or switching the monitor off and on at the mains, brings the picture back
  • The same monitor is fine on its HDMI input, or on another machine
  • It started after an NVIDIA driver update, on a driver version beginning 615. or 616.

Why this happens

A regression in NVIDIA's Release 615 driver branch

NVIDIA's release notes for version 617.14, dated 22 September 2026, list under Fixed Issues: "Certain monitors may not wake from sleep when connected via DisplayPort after updating to R615 drivers [6757568]." The Release 615 family covers driver versions 615.xx to 619.xx, and 617.14 is documented as the successor to 616.92 — so any R615 driver you installed before 617.14 can carry this fault. NVIDIA says "certain monitors", not all of them, which is why two machines on the same driver can behave differently.

Check which NVIDIA driver you are on · Update to Game Ready 617.14 or later

The graphics driver is stalled rather than mis-negotiating the link

A blank screen can also mean the Windows graphics stack has stalled and stopped driving any output. Microsoft documents a reset for exactly this: the Windows logo key + Ctrl + Shift + B shortcut restarts the graphics driver, and a beep or a screen flicker tells you it took effect. If that restores the picture, the display was never disconnected — the driver had simply stopped presenting to it.

Get the picture back now with Windows + Ctrl + Shift + B

Fixes

Get the picture back now with Windows + Ctrl + Shift + B

about 1 min

Microsoft documents this shortcut as a graphics driver reset, and it recovers a stalled display without forcing a hard power-off.

Applies to: Windows 10, Windows 11

  1. With the screen still black, press the Windows logo key, Ctrl, Shift and B together.
    Win + Ctrl + Shift + B
  2. Listen for a beep and watch for the screen to flicker. Microsoft says either one means the reset took effect.
  3. If the picture comes back, the display was still connected and the graphics driver had stalled. Carry on to the driver check below so it does not happen again.
  4. If nothing happens, confirm the obvious before blaming the driver: Microsoft's own guidance is to check that the monitor is connected, plugged in and powered on.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: Microsoft

Check which NVIDIA driver you are on

about 2 min

This is what separates the vendor's acknowledged bug from every other cause of a black screen after sleep, and it decides whether the rest of this page applies to you.

Applies to: Windows 10, Windows 11, GeForce GPUs

  1. Open the NVIDIA app and go to Drivers, or open NVIDIA Control Panel and choose Help, then System Information.
  2. Read the driver version — a number such as 616.92 or 617.14.
  3. If it begins 615. or 616., you are on a Release 615 driver older than the one that carries the fix, and this is very likely your problem. NVIDIA documents the Release 615 family as versions 615.xx to 619.xx, and 617.14 as the release that follows 616.92.
  4. If you are already on 617.14 or later, or the number begins with something else entirely, stop here — see "When this is not your problem" below.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: NVIDIA

Update to Game Ready 617.14 or later

about 15 min

NVIDIA lists this exact bug, by its own bug number, under the fixed issues for 617.14.

Applies to: Windows 10, Windows 11, GeForce GPUs on Release 615 drivers

  1. Download the 617.14 Game Ready driver from NVIDIA's driver page, or use the NVIDIA app's Drivers tab to check for updates.
  2. Install it and restart the PC when prompted.
  3. Test it properly: let the machine sleep, wait long enough for the monitor to drop into standby, then wake it. A quick sleep-and-wake does not always reproduce the fault.
  4. If the monitor now wakes normally, you are done — nothing else on this page applies to you.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: NVIDIA, The FPS Review

Known issues

  • Certain monitors may not wake from sleep when connected via DisplayPort after updating to R615 drivers (NVIDIA bug 6757568)

    Affects NVIDIA Release 615 drivers released before 617.14 · Status: fixed

  • No picture on Samsung Odyssey G95NC monitor when connected via HDMI after updating to R615 drivers (NVIDIA bug 6771206)

    Affects NVIDIA Release 615 drivers released before 617.14 · Status: fixed

If none of this worked

This page is about one vendor-acknowledged bug, and it is easy to land here with a different problem that looks identical. It is probably not this bug if: you are already on 617.14 or later and updating changed nothing; your GPU is AMD or Intel; the monitor also fails to wake on a different machine or a different cable; or the black screens predate NVIDIA's Release 615 drivers. In those cases the usual suspects are the monitor's own power-saving or deep-sleep option, a marginal DisplayPort cable, or Windows fast startup — none of which NVIDIA or Microsoft documents as a cause of this specific regression, so treat them as things to test rather than as a known fix. If instead your screen flashes dark while you are using it, that is a separate NVIDIA bug with its own page.

Common questions

Which NVIDIA driver versions are affected?
NVIDIA describes the fault as happening "after updating to R615 drivers". The Release 615 family covers versions 615.xx to 619.xx, and the fix landed in 617.14, which the release notes document as the release following 616.92. In practice that means the R615 drivers released before 617.14 — the 615.xx and 616.xx versions — are the ones to worry about. NVIDIA says "certain monitors", so not every display on an affected driver will show it.
Should I roll back to an older driver instead of updating?
Updating is what NVIDIA documents. The fix is named in the 617.14 release notes; a rollback is not offered anywhere as the remedy, and going backwards inside the Release 615 branch would leave you on a driver that still has the bug. Rolling back further than that costs you the other fixes and game support in the newer releases, so update unless you have a separate reason not to.
My monitor is on HDMI, not DisplayPort — is this the same bug?
No, but 617.14 fixed an HDMI one too. NVIDIA lists "No picture on Samsung Odyssey G95NC monitor when connected via HDMI after updating to R615 drivers" (bug 6771206) among the same release's fixed issues. If you have that monitor on HDMI and no picture, 617.14 is the answer for you as well.
Is this the same as the screen flickering after the 616.56 driver?
No. That is a different bug with a different NVIDIA bug number — it shows up as dark flashes while you are actively using the machine, not as a black screen after waking from sleep. It has its own page on this site.

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Related problems

Sources

  • Release Notes: NVIDIA Release 615 Driver for Windows, Version 617.14 (RN-08399-617.14_v01)Official

    NVIDIA · Release notes · checked Sep 23, 2026

    • Under Fixed Issues in Version 617.14 WHQL, NVIDIA lists 'Certain monitors may not wake from sleep when connected via DisplayPort after updating to R615 drivers [6757568]'
    • Under Fixed Issues in Version 617.14 WHQL, NVIDIA lists 'No picture on Samsung Odyssey G95NC monitor when connected via HDMI after updating to R615 drivers [6771206]'
    • The release notes are dated September 22, 2026 and describe version 617.14 WHQL
    • The Release 615 driver family covers driver versions 615.xx to 619.xx
    • 617.14 lists changes made to the driver since driver version 616.92
    • Under Fixed Issues in Version 617.14 WHQL, NVIDIA lists 'Judgement/Lost Judgement/ Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. may fail to launch after updating to driver 616.56 [6681537]'
    • The only entry under Open Issues in Version 617.14 WHQL is 'Assassin's Creed Shadows may crash to desktop after extended gameplay after updating to driver 616.56 [6685219]'
  • Troubleshooting blank screens in WindowsOfficial

    Microsoft · Support page · checked Sep 23, 2026

    • Microsoft documents that pressing the Windows logo key + Ctrl + Shift + B will reset the graphics driver, and that you should hear a beep or see a screen flicker if it worked
    • Microsoft advises that when an external monitor shows a blank screen you should make sure the monitor is connected, plugged in, and powered on
  • NVIDIA's GeForce 617.14 Driver Gets Control Resonant and The Witcher 3 Remastered Ready, and Fixes a Monitor Sleep BugReputable

    The FPS Review · News · checked Sep 23, 2026

    • 617.14 is the first WHQL release to fold in the recent R615-branch display fixes, covering both the DisplayPort wake failure and the Samsung Odyssey G95NC HDMI blank screen
    • Independent coverage confirms the DisplayPort wake fix shipped in 617.14 on 22 September 2026