Several people have reported that when they use an external monitor with their Mac, the monitor starts to flicker, and the screen remains black or produces white noise. It becomes impossible for them to use the Mac external monitor.
If you are also facing Mac external monitor flickering issues, read the articles for others because we will share the round-up of solutions that you can use to fix this flickering issue on your external monitor.
Solutions to Fix Mac External Monitor Flickering
Whatever version of Mac you are using, the solutions that we will mention below are compatible with all of them. The flickering issue becomes more frustrating because the dongles, adapters, and all the connectivity cables you use often work correctly, but you still face this problem.
Solution 1: Reconnect Display Cable
The first solution is the easiest one in which you have to disconnect and reconnect the main cable with which you have connected your Mac with the external display. When you reconnect the cable with the external monitor, the display refreshes itself, and you might get rid of the flickering issue.
Another thing that you must check in this solution is if you are using audio and video cable as the connectivity option, then do check if you have connected the video cable to the correct port.
Solution 2: Rebooting
Even though rebooting should be the last resort in every device-related issue, it for sure works the best in fixing these kinds of problems in laptop computers, mobile phones, and more.
Troubleshooting has always been one of her favorite solutions for plenty of issues that happen in electronic items.
You can solve the external monitor flickering issue; however, the rebooting process can be highly frustrating if you do not know it well. So we would advise you to keep the rebooting solution for the and if nothing else works.
Solution 3: Disconnect the Cable From the Adapter
To connect to the Mac with the external monitor, you must have used a dongle or an adapter. To fix the Mac external monitor flickering issue, instead of disconnecting the display cable from the primary port, you can remove the HDMI cable that you have used to connect the two devices.
In some cases, the first solution works; however, several people have reported disconnecting the HDMI cable from the USB C adapter has worked for them. You can also try this solution and see if it fixes your flickering monitor.
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The following solution is the display sleep option that you must disable from Mac. Below we have mentioned the steps that you can follow to disable external display sleeping on your Mac.
In the first step, you have to go to the system preferences in the Mac menu bar.
You have to select the battery option in the system preferences, which must be labeled under different names in various versions. For example, in the M1 Mac mini and iMac, it is labeled as an energy saver.
On the next page, you’ll see the “Power Adapter” option. In this option, all you have to do is to drag the slider of “Turn display off…” to Never.
Solution 5: Change the Connection Cables
Another solution that you can try to fix Mac external monitor flickering issues is changing the connectivity cable you are using. Often the wires get damaged because they do not pass the connection properly, but even if you think that the cable is in perfect condition, try changing them once.
There is a possibility that one cable works for one monitor and does not for another, so there is no harm in trying the solution and getting to know if the faulty cable is the reason why your Mac external monitor was flickering.
Solution 6: Install the New macOS Software
To avoid minor issues that might happen in your Mac or other devices, you must keep your laptops and computer operating system always up-to-date. By installing the new Mac OS software, you might solve the external monitor flickering issue.
To update your Mac operating System go to the Apple menu and then to the system preference, where you will find various sets of options, and a software update will be one of them.
Wrapping it Up
Mac external monitors can flicker due to periods reasons, and we have tried to cover all the possible solutions that you can try in this round-up. It is always better to keep changing the connectivity cables after a few months because even the wires have a certain life period.
If you have tried all the solutions mentioned above and your Mac external monitor is still flickering, we would advise you to take the help of a professional and contact the nearest service center immediately before things get out of hand.