Pen display having no signal for video? Here are fixes and troubleshooting steps

Just connected your pen display to your computer and you see the "no signal" label appear?

Below are some troubleshooting steps to find out what's the problem. I've written the guide based on my experience of having reviewed numerous pen displays over the years.

The troubleshooting steps below are not brand specific. They apply to Wacom, Huion, XP-Pen, Parblo, Gaomon, Veikk, Artisul, Ugee and others.

If you manage to solve your problem, share with others what worked for you in the comments section.

Check the cable connection

Cable connection could be loose or not secure. Unplug and connect the cable again to your computer.

If you're using a 3-to-1 cable, make sure all the ends are connected. The HDMI is for video signal, black USB is for data & power, and red USB is for additional power. If there's no power, "no signal" label may not even show up, so connect your pen display to power. If the pen display is flickering, or making static sound, it's usually due to lack of power.

Not all video cables can transmit video, so make sure you use a USB-C video cable. The USB-C to USB-C cable included by the computer usually supports video. If you have to buy your own cable, make sure the product description has some sort of (any) video specifications.

A pen display with two USB-C ports may not have interchangeable ports. Make sure you connect the correct cable to the correct port.

Make sure your computer's USB-C port can actually output video signal.

Check if the USB-C cable is faulty. If possible, test your USB-C video cable with other devices.

Switch between the 3-to-1 and USB-C cable. If either one cable works, it could mean the pen display is working but the port or the other cable isn't.

If your graphics card has two HDMI ports, try both as one could be HDMI IN and the other HDMI OUT. And make sure it's the graphics card's HDMI port, not the motherboard's HDMI port.

Maybe the cable is faulty

After you tried all the troubleshooting steps above, it may mean the cable is faulty so ask the company for a new cable.

Check if the display is detected by the OS

If Windows or MacOS display settings can detect the pen display, but the pen display is not showing anything, it could be a power issue. Make sure you provide enough power to the pen display.

Are you using an adapter?

Are you using HDMI to DisplayPort, or HDMI to USB-C adapter? Adapters should work but maybe that's faulty?

If you use a HDMI adapter, the pen display has to connect to power outlet, and USB to your computer.

Update all your drivers

Update your graphics cards via Device Manager, OS and tablet driver.

Before you update or install the pen display driver, make sure to uninstall other pen tablet or pen display drivers.

Are you using integrated graphics?

Such as Intel Iris Xe, or Intel Graphics HD?

Go into your BIOS (check the steps on the computer company website), look for a setting that allows the integrated graphics to display even when you're not using a non-integrated graphics card. It could be called "IGPU Multi Monitor". Enable that, restart and power your pen display.

Check the FAQ page of the company

And if you can't find the solution there, contact the chat or email support on the company page. They may tech support that can troubleshoot for you.

And lastly, if you have this problem and managed to fix it yourself, share with others your solution in the comments section below. Your help is greatly appreciated as this is quite a common problem that affects many.