White screen when plugging in a second monitor

This seems to be a problem likely related to your graphics card. What graphics card do you currently have?

You can check what graphics card you currently have by holding the Windows key + R, typing in "dxdiag" inside the box and pressing enter. That will open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, your graphics card will be listed under "Display".

Hello,

My graphics card is an Intel UHD Graphics 620.

Frankly, it's annoying not being able to plug and unplug your monitor as you please.

Lokamoon  I can look at a dxdiag if you like, to check for any obvious issues.  Once you've run the dxdiag, click "save all information" and save the file to your desktop.  From there, you can attach it to a reply using the paper clip (Attachment) icon included with the other formatting buttons.

However, hot-swapping monitors is unreliable in general, even on new, high-end hardware.  It's just one of those things that has never been perfected.  If you can't plug in your monitor before you want to play though, or wait to unplug it, for example if it's a matter of moving around freely, try minimizing the game and having another app in the foreground instead.

Apparently the DirectX 11 mode isn't fully optimized yet, at least not for Intel graphics.  Until then, it's not going to be forced.

Hi !

Thank you for taking the time to review and respond to my problem. I'm attaching the results of my dxdiag.
I think I've already tried the recommended technique : I minimized my game, found myself on my home screen, and unplugged my screen. And when I returned to my game, it was completely white. So this technique doesn't work. I even lowered the game's graphics level, also in the settings, but nothing worked.

Before, I did not have this problem but following the 2024 updates. Because before, even if I put my laptop to sleep then reopened it I had no problem but since May/June 2024, impossible. So white screen also when putting on standby.

I am forced to either unplug the screen beforehand or leave it plugged in but unable to move 😓

Arrff

Anyway, thank you very much to those who respond. I hope I'm not the only one with this problem 😉🙌

Lokamoon  Your dxdiag's Windows Error Reports section (at the very end) is full of crashes of the graphics driver, which normally suggests a problem with the driver itself.  It's possible this is only happening when you plug in or unplug the monitor (and these crashes would explain the white screen in Sims 4), so the driver itself may be okay in general, just not managing the hand-off well.

I'd therefore try playing in DirectX 11 mode if you haven't already.  Open the EA App, click Sims 4 > Manage > View properties, and enter -dx11 in the command line box.  You can remove this at any time to revert to DirectX 9 mode.

If that doesn't help, please try windowed and "windowed fullscreen" (i.e. Borderless) modes in-game, if you haven't already.  And make sure you're only switching with the laptop plugged into power.  You can unplug it after the switch if you're going to move around, but please do that after unplugging the monitor or before plugging it back in.

If that doesn't help either, you can try the newest driver for your graphics chip:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/122589/intel-core-i78550u-processor-8m-cache-up-to-4-00-ghz/downloads.html

Run the installer as an admin: right-click the download and select "Run as administrator."  Restart afterwards and before trying to play.