One of the most common questions that I get in my courses if not the most common questions is “I imported virtual box image, started the machine and got a blank black screen”, this is basically just a black screen with a cursor on the top left (something similar to the screenshot below), if you’re getting this as well don’t worry, this post will help you fix it.

There are a number of reasons that might cause this issue:

First make sure you downloaded the right version for your computer, so when downloading Kali

• Make sure you download it from here (https://zsecurity.org/download-custom-kali/),
• Make sure you click on the virtual box tab to download the virtual box image.
• Download the 32 bit version if your computer is 32 bits, otherwise use the 64 but version.
• The downloaded file should have a .ova extension, if it doesn’t then you did NOT download the right file.

If you’re already using the right version then make sure that hardware virtualisation or VT is enabled from your bios, this is different depending on your computer, the usual procedure is.

1. reboot your computer.
2. Look for instructions (on the bottom of the screen) on how to enter bios settings .
3. In the settings look for VT or hardware virtualisation, enable it, save and quit.

If you need more help then google How to enable virtualisation on <computer model>, replace <computer model> with your computer model.

If  none of the above fixed the issue for you then right click the virtual machine name from virtual box, go to settings > General and make sure that the type is set to ​Linux ​and version is set to ​Debian 64 ​or ​Debian 32 depending on the Kali version you downloaded.

If you tried everything above and Kali is still not starting, then try increasing the video memory, this is a solution suggested by a user here “Asadmammadov” , to do that right click the virtual machine name from virtual box, go to settings > System and try increasing the video memory at least over the minimum level.