Why Does My Screen Have a Dark Spot or Patch?

A dark spot isn't always a dead pixel. Identifying the type points you to the fix — and tells you quickly whether there's any point trying one.

Possible causes

• Pressure mark, or "LCD bruise": a darker blotch with soft, indistinct edges, caused by physical pressure — a thumb on the lid, an object left on the keyboard before closing it, a bag packed too tight. On LCD it may slowly fade over days; if the liquid crystal layer or a polarizer is damaged, it's permanent.
• Trapped dust: a small dark fleck under the glass that doesn't change with color. Confirm with a White Screen, where debris is far more visible than on black.
• Dead pixel cluster: several failed pixels close together — fixed dark on every color (Dead Pixel Test). Sharp-edged and tiny, unlike a bruise.
• Backlight or diffuser damage: a shadowed region from a damaged backlight layer (LCD). Usually large, soft, and unchanged by what's on screen.
• A failed local-dimming zone: on a Mini-LED or full-array display, a rectangular patch that stays dark. The giveaway is its shape — dimming zones are rectangles, damage isn't.
• Liquid crystal leak: on a cracked panel, an inky black blob that spreads over days or weeks, often with fine lines radiating from it. This one gets worse, and only replacement fixes it.
• A dark spot only on one input or app: not the panel at all. Move the window, change source, and see if the spot moves with it.

How to diagnose

1. Cycle solid colors with the Color Test. A spot dark on every color means pixels or physical damage. A spot that changes with the image is a signal or software problem.
2. Move a window under it. If the spot travels with the content, your panel is fine and something upstream is wrong.
3. Check on a second source — a different cable, laptop or console. A dark patch that follows the source is a GPU, cable or app fault.
4. Look at the shape. Sharp and pixel-sized points to failed pixels. Soft and blotchy points to pressure. Rectangular points to a dimming zone. Spreading and inky points to a crack.
5. Check for surface damage first, in daylight with the screen off. Reflected light shows scratches and coating damage that a dark screen hides entirely.
6. Note whether it moves or fades over days — pressure marks sometimes do, nothing else does.
7. Photograph it with the date, especially if the device is new. You will want that record if the return window closes while you're testing.

Where it appears matters

• Corners and edges: more often pressure from a bezel, a case, or a lid that flexes. On a laptop, the classic cause is the trackpad or a keyboard key pressing into the panel when the lid shuts.
• Center: more often a genuine panel fault or an impact.
• A band or long strip: think diffuser or backlight, or a partially failed edge-lit LED, not pixels.

What you can try

• For fresh pressure marks: leave it, avoid more pressure — some recover over a week or two. Nothing you apply speeds that up.
• Never press hard, rub, or heat the panel to "fix" it. That's how one small bruise becomes a permanent streak.
• Check it isn't on the surface: clean gently with a dry microfiber cloth first, following How to Clean Your Monitor or Laptop Screen Safely. Dried spatter looks a lot like a dark spot until it comes off.
• On a laptop, power fully down, open the lid, and check nothing was sitting on the keyboard. Then check whether the same spot lines up with a key or the trackpad.
• Reseat the video cable and try another one. It won't fix a bruise, but it costs nothing and rules out a whole class of signal faults.
• Physical damage to the panel, the backlight, or the diffuser generally requires a screen replacement. There is no software fix.

When to stop and claim

If the device is new, stop testing and start the return. Retailer return windows are usually shorter than the warranty and far easier to use, and a dark patch is a much stronger claim than a couple of dead pixels — pixel policies have thresholds, but a visible blotch, trapped dust, or a shadowed region normally doesn't.

If it's out of the return window but in warranty, get the fault on record with photos and a support ticket now, while it's small. Cracked-panel damage and pressure marks are usually treated as accidental damage rather than a defect, so the wording of your first message matters: describe what you see, not what you think caused it.

If it's a dead pixel cluster rather than a patch, check the count against the maker's policy in Dead Pixel Warranty Policies, Explained before you call, so you know whether you have a claim or an argument.

Looking for the joke version?

Plenty of people searching for a broken screen want the prank, not the diagnosis. The Fake Broken Screen shows a realistic crack, static, or a blue screen of death, and the Boot Screen Simulator fakes a Windows or macOS startup. Both are full-screen effects that clear the moment you tap, and neither touches your display.