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I have a Lenovo Flex 4 Windows 10 laptop. Additional specifications are listed at the bottom.

I have a very strange problem. My account seems to be stuck in black and white. When I boot the computer, the lock screen is in color. When I log into my account, it is in solely black and white. When I log into another account, color is restored.

I am at a loss. I booted into safe mode and the issue was not resolved. I know it is not a hardware problem, as color would then not appear anywhere.

If anyone has any advice to offer, it would be much appreciated.

EDIT:

I have not found a solution to the problem yet, so the temporary solution I found is to just use another account. Although I don't believe this to be a permanent solution, I am growing increasingly frustrated with using a computer with a black and white screen.

If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Thanks.

Edit 2:

One more thing which I forgot to mention is that the screenshots appear in black and white. I have tried resetting both of the graphic card control panels to factory defaults, and have also tried fully uninstalling and reinstalling both drivers.

Specs:

Lenovo Flex 4

Intel i5 7200 CPU

Radeon R5 M430 & Intel HD integrated graphics

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  • ... that's odd. Greyscale black and white? Sounds almost like some odd per user software...
    – Journeyman Geek ♦
    Sep 14, 2017 at 2:37
  • @Journeyman Geek I thought the same thing, but I looked through the installed program list and haven't really installed anything recently. I'll look into it more.
    – vkumar
    Sep 14, 2017 at 2:39
  • When bounties open up, and if this isn't solved, see if you can give me a ping. This problem seems interesting enough to bounty.
    – Journeyman Geek ♦
    Sep 14, 2017 at 2:40
  • @Journeyman Geek Sure thing! One thing which points to it not being caused by software is that the problem persists in safe mode. That is one of the most perplexing parts to me.
    – vkumar
    Sep 14, 2017 at 2:46
  • But its specific to an account. Also, if its software and not hardware, it should be B&W on a screenshot, and not colour.
    – Journeyman Geek ♦
    Sep 14, 2017 at 2:51

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
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I found this thread via Google, but for me the problem was different:

  • Win + CTRL + C was disabled already
  • The Color Filters were disabled

The solution was f.lux: It has a shortcut to switch between color effects via Alt + Shift + PgUp/PgDwn and one of them is grayscale. I hit that key combination quite often by accident when switching virtual desktops and had to disable it.

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  • thank you - I was pulling my hair out, as all the googles said that this was Color filters or High contrast mode. I go to SU and bang, this post is first. This solved my problem also! I fat fingered somehow the f.lux hotkey for grayscale, but couldn't reverse b/c I didn't even know what keys I pressed. Happy new year!
    – stevemidgley
    Dec 28, 2021 at 19:59
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I just had the same problem and it took me awhile to figure it out. To fix it, turn on the color filter under "color and high contract", or push Windows + Ctrl + C.

enter image description here

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1

Please reinstall and update your graphic card driver to see if it can be fixed.

1.Start your PC in Safe mode.

2.Select the search box on the taskbar, type device manager, and then select Device Manager.

3.Expand Display adapter.

4.Press and hold (or right-click) the display adapter, and then select Uninstall -> OK.

5.Restart your PC.

If it doesn't resolve, since this issue only occur under one spesific user account, please consider to fix user profile.

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  • Thanks for the reply! I have two display adapters: AMD Radeon R5 M430 and Intel HD 620, should they both be uninstalled?
    – vkumar
    Sep 14, 2017 at 2:34
  • Yes, they would be reinstalled during restart.
    – Waka
    Sep 14, 2017 at 3:06
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Since you have an AMD card, you should verify you haven't mistakenly changed your colour settings in the Catalyst Control Center.

It's likely you have something like Saturation turned down to 0, but from memory there are quite a few options to modify the display colours. It could be:

  • Saturation
  • Digital Vibrance

Below is an example from the Intel HD Graphics driver. With Saturation set to -100, the colour is completely drained from my screen. This is a display setting however, and any changes are not reflected in screenshots.

Intel HD Graphics Advanced Settings

Verify the Saturation setting in the Catalyst Control Center is not set to reduce colours. You may need to apply this setting, or even restart before it takes effect.

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  • This might be true for other drivers too
    – Journeyman Geek ♦
    Sep 14, 2017 at 2:59
  • Thanks for your suggestion, but I already have checked the catalyst settings. I compared the settings between the accounts which have the color and the account that doesn't. They are the same.
    – vkumar
    Sep 14, 2017 at 3:00
  • In that case, I would suggest trying to reset the setting to default. Just because they are the same, doesn't mean they are applied correctly.
    – Michael Frank
    Sep 14, 2017 at 3:03
  • @Michael Frank I reset both the AMD and Intel settings to default, and no change occurred. When I take a screen shot and view it on another screen, the screen shot is in black and white.
    – vkumar
    Sep 14, 2017 at 3:36
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Catalyst Software has preferences button on top right. Click this button to select restore factory settings.

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