Fixing That Annoying Screen Flicker on Windows 11
Screen flickering on Windows 11? Super annoying, right? It’s like trying to read while someone’s rapidly flipping the lights on and off. Not fun. Usually, it’s something trivial, like the wrong display settings or out-of-date drivers. Let’s dive in and sort this out so it doesn’t drive anyone insane.
Check Out Task Manager First
Fire up Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc. If you see it flickering, that’s like a neon sign pointing to a possible driver issue. But if Task Manager is all chill while the screen is acting up, it could just be some app doing its own thing. Kind of a detective vibe—helps to eliminate suspects quickly.
Time to Update Your Display Drivers
Next, you’ll want to check if your display drivers need a little refresh. Open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start button. Expand Display adapters, right-click your graphics card, and hit Update driver. The option for Search automatically for drivers lets Windows take over, but sometimes it’s just better to go directly to the manufacturer’s site:
- NVIDIA: nvidia.com
- AMD: amd.com
- Intel: intel.com
If things still aren’t working, using something like Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) to wipe old drivers before a fresh install can sometimes clear up odd flickering because, you know, corrupted drivers happen.
Adjust Those Display Settings
Now, if the flickering persists, it could just be a gritty setting making everything out of sync. Right-click on your desktop and head over to Display settings. Scroll down and click on Advanced display settings. Verify your refresh rate there:
- Click Display adapter properties for Display 1
- Switch to the Monitor tab
- Make sure the Screen refresh rate is set to the right value (60Hz, 120Hz, you get the idea)
If you’ve got multiple monitors, each one needs to play nice too. Also, mismatched resolutions can throw a serious wrench in things.
Could a New App Be the Culprit?
Notice flickering started after installing new apps? That’s your next lead. Jump into Settings > Apps > Installed Apps and see what’s recently popped up. Uninstall those bad boys one at a time to see if the flicker goes away. If you’re feeling adventurous, you could do this through PowerShell too, using:
Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Select-Object Name
And to zap an app:
Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product -Filter "Name='AppName'" | ForEach-Object { $_.Uninstall() }
Just swap out AppName with whatever you’re targeting. This method can save some serious clicking time.
System Restore: The Last Resort
If none of that does the trick, a system restore could be your best bet. This gets you back to a state before things went south. Search for Create a restore point in the Start menu, open up System Properties, and hit System Restore. Remember to activate Show more restore points so you can see all your options.
- Pick a restore point from before the flickering started.
You can even kick this off with:
rstrui.exeThis’ll reset system files and drivers without messing with your personal stuff, which is nice.
After sweating through these options, fingers crossed the screen stops its rebellious flickering. If it doesn’t, reaching out to support or a pro might be in the cards, especially if hardware’s to blame.
Overall, dealing with screen flicker on Windows 11 often boils down to a few common fixes. It’s rarely a huge disaster, just needs a bit of basic troubleshooting. With some patience, the problem usually reveals itself faster than you’d expect.
- Check Task Manager for flicker.
- Update the display drivers through Device Manager.
- Adjust display settings and refresh rates.
- Uninstall any recent problematic apps.
- Consider a system restore if all else fails.
Here’s hoping this saves someone some serious headaches.