How to unlock dell monitor

Your Dell monitor is locked !!

Yep we know and you probably don’t know how it happened.

Well don’t worry we can help on how to unlock your Dell monitor.

A couple of our users have been asking us that question, so we decided to investigate what the problem was.

Well it seems that a lot of people unknowingly use a feature of the dell monitors meant to prevent you from accidentally changing the contrast or brightness of the monitor and end up locking the monitor.

Now they can’t figure out how to unlock it.

Unlock Dell monitor

Its easy

  • Turn on the monitor
  • Then Press and hold the menu button for 15 seconds
  • You should see the unlock icon displayed on the monitor see the images below

If you intend to lock the monitor you just basically do the same steps. Press and hold for 15 seconds it should be locked. Basically its an off and on switch for locking and unlocking your monitor.

Dell monitor with menu locked. The method above was tested on the following monitors Dell E228WFP, P2210 and 1701FP. It probably works on more.
Dell monitor showing icon for unlocked menu

Now after you have unlocked the monitor, you can change the brightness and contrast then you can lock it so the settings don’t get changed accidentally.

Unlock Newer Dell laptop

On some of the newer Dell monitors seems the above solution does not work. Don’t lose hope though there are still a couple of key combinations you can try.

First, press and hold the lower button for 15 seconds (not the power button).

Some monitors lock via the onscreen menu. So you press the menu button navigate OSD Lock and select yes to lock and do the same to unlock by selecting no or off.

Dell monitor onscreen menu to adjust settings

Hardware Issue

Make you you also check your hardware the connection, if none of the buttons are stuck in and so on.

Make sure you keep your monitor on a flat surface preventing accidental presses on the button. Clean it once in a while.

Check the cables, disconnect reconnect

Hit the comments with more questions or if you have suggestions, they are all welcome.

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