This is my observation of a problem that I encountered with my 2020Ford Escape Titanium Hybrid. However, I don’t think that it is limited only to that vehicle. It could happen to any vehicle with a USB port and an entertainment screen.

I have had a UPS drive inserted in the USB port in the middle of the center console, just below the heating/cooling buttons since I first leased this vehicle, with no problems. But earlier this week, I noticed that my entertainment screen would occasionally remain black after starting the vehicle. Normally the screen would show the GPS map, radio and settings. This happened several times. I would say that it was intermittent, happening two or three times in about 5 days. The last time that it happened, I removed my USB drive below the screen. As soon as I removed it, the screen returned and looked the way it is supposed to look. I have not noticed the problem since. I have since stopped using that USB drive. It may be defective. I suppose the correct thing to do is re-insert the USB drive and see if the problem returns. Odd that it has worked fine for almost 3 years. Also, turning off the vehicle has normally resolved any electrical problems in the past. Turning the vehicle off and then back on did nothing to help this issue. Letting it sit overnight DID help, however.

 

This is my update of the original issue of the entertainment screen going black.

The local Ford service shop thought the issue was isolated to having the wrong audio files on my USB stick. That USB stick was removed permanently. With no USB stick connected, I had a similar issue happen again where the entertainment screen is black. Turning the car off and back on immediately did nothing to resolve the issue. I left the car off for about an hour and when I started it again it is now working properly.
I stopped to consider what we did at the time of the black screen. This is what I recall: my wife used her FOB to enter the car. She had the FOB in her purse and when she got in, she put her purse on the back seat. I was getting a coffee and when I returned to the car, I started it to prepare to go home. This is when I noticed the screen black. I had to go in reverse to get out of my parking space and the rear camera screen did not appear. Again, turning the car off and then back on again did not fix this issue. Only by leaving it off for at least an hour helped to restore it to working properly. In the day since I had this issue it has been working correctly. I normally let my wife in, when it is locked, with use of my key FOB. I guess the thing to do is repeat the use of the two key FOB's and see what happens.
I will add my comments when I have learned more.

 

ONGOSH my warranty just ended 2 months ago - and you post solved my issue. THANK YOU!!!

This is my observation of a problem that I encountered with my 2020Ford Escape Titanium Hybrid. However, I don’t think that it is limited only to that vehicle. It could happen to any vehicle with a USB port and an entertainment screen.

I have had a UPS drive inserted in the USB port in the middle of the center console, just below the heating/cooling buttons since I first leased this vehicle, with no problems. But earlier this week, I noticed that my entertainment screen would occasionally remain black after starting the vehicle. Normally the screen would show the GPS map, radio and settings. This happened several times. I would say that it was intermittent, happening two or three times in about 5 days. The last time that it happened, I removed my USB drive below the screen. As soon as I removed it, the screen returned and looked the way it is supposed to look. I have not noticed the problem since. I have since stopped using that USB drive. It may be defective. I suppose the correct thing to do is re-insert the USB drive and see if the problem returns. Odd that it has worked fine for almost 3 years. Also, turning off the vehicle has normally resolved any electrical problems in the past. Turning the vehicle off and then back on did nothing to help this issue. Letting it sit overnight DID help, however.[/QUOTE]

 

I have a 2017 Escape Titanium. My entertainment screen has been doing this randomly the past couple months. I have had the car about 4 years and it never had this problem before. I will remove my cell phone charger and see if that helps. And then try getting new batteries for our key fobs if that doesnt work. I had not tried eithor of those things. Would love to know if there are many other people having this issue and if there is a definitive fix!