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Quick Ways to Fix HDMI Laptop to TV Not Working

Fix HDMI Laptop to TV not Working

Last updated on January 23rd, 2024 at 02:30 am

Have you connected your laptop to your TVthrough HDMI and ended up with no picture or no sound on your TV. You may have wanted to watch a streaming movie from your laptop on your non-smart HDTV. Or it could be that you wanted to make a presentation from your laptop screen to your large size TV or simply want to enjoy working on a larger screen on a certain project.

Fret not as here are ways on how to fix HDMI laptop to TV not working.

If your HDMI connection to your laptop isn’t working, you may end up with any of the following issues:

  1. No picture displayed on the TV screen’
  2. Distorted picture on the TV screen
  3. No sound on the TV screen

Here are the steps to fix an HDMI laptop connection TV that doesn’t work.

Incorrect TV HDMI Port Selected

If your TV has a few HDMI ports, make sure you have the correct HDMI port selected. Sometimes, in your hurry to set up the HDMI connection from your laptop, you may have selected the wrong port or AV input.

Use your TV remote control and toggle between the HDMI ports (HDMI 1, HDMI 2, HDMI 3, etc) to see whether a picture appears on the TV screen.

Some TV may have PC as an input. Don’t select PC although you’re connecting your laptop computer to your TV. You must select HDMI.

Loose HDMI Connection

Check whether the HDMI cable is securely fitted on both ends – laptop and TV.

The cable must be firmly in place. Just in case, pull it out of the ports and plug both ends securely again and see whether a picture appears.

Damaged HDMI Cable

Pull out the cable and check to see if you can detect any physical damage on the HDMI cable. Sometimes, it could be internal damage not visible to the eye. Just to make sure, try connecting another device with it to your TV.

If the other device fails to make a connection, then you’ll have to replace the cable with a new one.

If the cable is in working condition, unplug it and reconnect it after waiting for at least 5 minutes. Check to see whether a connection is established.

Non Functional TV HDMI Port

Did you connect your laptop to a functioning TV HDMI port? Check the port to see if there’s any damage to the port.

Try the cable with a different working HDMI port. You would have to disconnect the HDMI cable from your other devices like a Blu-ray player or TV box and connect it to your laptop.

Only then will you know whether it’s the TV HDMI port problem or an issue with your laptop.

Turn Off Laptop and TV and Turn On Again

If your HDMI cable is fine and the connection is secure, turn off both your laptop and TV and turn them on again and choose the correct HDMI input on your TV.

If you don’t have luck with this option. Take a look at the other possible fixes below.

Does Your TV Support the Video Resolution of Your Laptop?

If you’re having an older TV, check to see whether the video resolution selected on the computer is supported by your TV. If your TV doesn’t support your laptop screen resolution, you may get a distorted picture or no picture at all.

Try changing your laptop resolution to one that the TV supports by following the steps below.

Change Screen Resolution Steps

Search for Adjust screen resolution in Windows and click on the best match.

Under the Display resolution dropdown menu, you’ll see screen resolution options. Click on the one that’s close to your TV ‘s supported resolution.

Try the different settings and see if it fixes your HDMI laptop to TV not working problem.

When you select any of these resolutions, you’ll be prompted with this message.

Select Keep changes and try out the resolution settings until you get one that works.

Change Laptop Display Options

Check to see whether you’ve selected the correct display setting on your laptop. To do this press both the Windows and P keys together ( Win +P).

The Project window will open give you 4 options.

Since you’ll be connecting your laptop to your TV, don’t select the PC Screen Only option.

Try toggling between the other three options.

Generally, Duplicate means the picture will be displayed on your laptop and on your TV.

Extend means the picture will be expanded on both your laptop and TV.

Second screen means the picture will be displayed only on your TV.

Try experimenting with any of these three options to see if the issue is resolved.

Run Hardware Troubleshooter

This is to seek assistance from Windows to identify and troubleshoot a hardware issue related to the HDMI connection.

Type cmd into your Windows search box. Then click on Command Prompt (App).

When the command prompt window appears, copy and paste msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic on the screen and hit enter.

When the Troubleshoot window appears, click on the Next button and wait for Windows to troubleshoot a possible HDMI problem.

Update Your Graphics Card Driver

If the above solutions did not work, this suggestion may well fix the issue. Sometimes an outdated graphics card driver may be the cause of your laptop’s HDMI to TV not working.

Press the Windows and X keys together to launch device manager. Or simply type device manager into the search box.

When the device manager window opens, select your display adapter, right click, and choose Update driver.

With your laptop connected to the Internet, choose the Search automatically for drivers option and follow the on-screen directions.

If Windows returns the best driver is already installed, choose the Windows Update search option as shown below.

After your graphics card driver has been updated, restart your computer and see if the issue is resolved.

HDMI Laptop to TV Sound Not Working

If there’s a picture on your TV but the audio isn’t working, then you would have to check whether your TV is set as the default device on your laptop sound settings.

Open sound settings by right-clicking on the speaker icon on your taskbar.

On the next window, select Sound Control Panel on your right.

Check to see whether your TV or HD audio has been enabled and selected as the playback device.

If the above options don’t work to fix your HDMI laptop connection to TV not working, then most probably your laptop USB port is faulty.

You may want to have a computer technician give it a check.

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