Project Zomboid Black Screen on Startup

Note whether you hear menu music, see a cursor, or reach “Click to Start.”
Use Steam’s Alternate Launch once and preserve the console output.
Close overlay and tuning tools, disconnect extra displays for the test, and restore the GPU control panel’s Project Zomboid settings to defaults.
In Zomboid/options.ini, change fullscreen=true to fullscreen=false, then try again.
Verify game files and update both discrete and integrated graphics drivers from the hardware vendor.
Reproduce the black screen and keep logs.zip if it remains.

Use the symptom to narrow it

Audio and invisible clickable controls suggest a rendered interface that is not being displayed correctly.
An immediate process exit belongs to the not-launching or crashing path.
A black screen only after selecting a save calls for the save and mod log, not a display reset alone.
A black screen only while joining a server calls for server status, Build, and mod synchronization checks.

The Indie Stone support: black screen on startup — Official display and windowed-mode troubleshooting.
Build 42 black-screen support case — Build 42 report with developer support guidance.
Steam support: black-screen troubleshooting — Support discussion.