KiCad Shows Black Screen on Startup or 3D Viewer – How to Fix?

Hi everyone,

Iam experiencing a black screen issue when using KiCad. When I launch the software, the window opens, but the entire screen is black, and I can’t see the interface or any projects. In some cases, KiCad opens fine, but when I try to use the 3D viewer,it only displays a black screen instead of rendering the PCB model.

Here’s what I have tried so far:
Restarted my computer and reinstalled KiCad
Updated my graphics drivers and tested different KiCad versions.
Checked OpenGL settings in KiCad and tried switching between software and hardware rendering. Verified that my GPU and display settings are correctly configured.

Could this be related to OpenGL compatibility, missing dependencies, or a rendering issue with my graphics card? Has anyone else faced this, and what steps helped you resolve it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

You will need to mention your Kicad version and Operating System to get replies.

Go to Help > about Kicad. Top RH corner click “Copy version Info” and Paste into a post in this thread.