Many Windows 10 Pro users report encountering a persistent black screen with only a mouse cursor visible after disconnecting from Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) sessions. This occurs specifically when:

• The system returns from sleep/lock state
• After successful authentication at the lock screen
• No explorer.exe process visible in Task Manager (when accessed via keyboard shortcuts)

After analyzing multiple system logs and registry dumps, the primary culprits appear to be:

// Common registry keys involved:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

The issues typically stem from:

1. GPU driver conflicts during RDP session handoff
2. Explorer.exe process termination without proper restart
3. Incorrect session display driver loading

When the black screen appears, try these keyboard sequences:

Windows Key + Ctrl + Shift + B  // Reset graphics stack
Windows Key + P (then Enter)    // Reset display projection
Ctrl + Alt + End (RDP menu)     // For remote scenarios

Create a PowerShell remediation script (save as Fix-RDPBlackScreen.ps1):

# Restart Windows Explorer
Stop-Process -Name explorer -Force
Start-Process explorer.exe

# Reset display drivers
pnputil /restart-device "Display"

# Re-register RDP components
regsvr32 /s /n /i:U shell32.dll
Get-AppXPackage | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

For persistent cases, modify these registry values:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server]
"fEnableWinStation"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp]
"SecurityLayer"=dword:00000001
"UserAuthentication"=dword:00000001

• Update GPU drivers with clean installation
• Disable "Fast Startup" in Power Options
• Set HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
  "EnableFirstLogonAnimation"=dword:00000001

Many Windows 10 Pro users report encountering a black screen with only a mouse cursor visible after disconnecting from Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) sessions. This occurs specifically when:

• RDP originates from mobile devices or secondary PCs
• System returns from sleep/lock state
• Authentication completes but Explorer fails to load

Through debugging multiple cases, we've identified these primary technical triggers:

// Common thread in Windows Event Viewer logs
Event ID 1000: Explorer.EXE application hang
Faulting module: dwmcore.dll

The issue stems from graphics subsystem handshake failures between:

1. Remote Desktop Services (termsrv.dll)
2. Desktop Window Manager (dwm.exe)
3. Windows Explorer process tree

Method 1: Forced Process Restart

Create this PowerShell script to reset critical components:

# Save as Reset-RdpSession.ps1
Stop-Process -Name "explorer" -Force
Start-Sleep -Seconds 2
Stop-Process -Name "dwm" -Force
Start-Sleep -Seconds 1
Start-Process "explorer.exe"

Trigger via keyboard shortcut (Win+R):

powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\path\to\Reset-RdpSession.ps1"

Method 2: Registry Modification

Adjust the RDP graphics pipeline behavior:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations]
"fEnableVirtualizedGraphics"=dword:00000001
"RemoteDisplayDriverDWMRefreshRate"=dword:0000003c

For enterprise environments, deploy this Group Policy preference:

<GroupPolicy xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <Computer>
    <Registry>
      <Key path="SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services">
        <Value name="fEnableVirtualizedGraphics" type="REG_DWORD">1</Value>
        <Value name="DWMRefreshRate" type="REG_DWORD">60</Value>
      </Key>
    </Registry>
  </Computer>
</GroupPolicy>

When standard fixes fail, collect diagnostic data with:

# Capture RDP session states
query session /server:$env:COMPUTERNAME
# Generate DXDIAG report
dxdiag /t %TEMP%\rdp_dxdiag.txt
# Check display driver states
pnputil /enum-devices /class Display