Welcome back, in today’s video we’ll be looking at a number of different ways to try and fix
screen flickering problems on a Windows 11 PC or laptop. Before we get into the first
potential fix, it’s important to mention the likely causes of this problem. It could be one
of three things and the solutions you will be able to try will differ depending on the cause.
The first reason your screen is flickering could be due to the monitor being faulty,
the second reason is faulty cables and connections and the third reason is software or hardware
problems on your PC. Unfortunately, if the cause is something physical like the monitor,
cables, connections or hardware then it’s unlikely that any of the fixes will help,
however at least we might be able to focus in on the exact problem. Depending on your situation,
you may not be able to carry out all of the fixes, so just try the ones that you are able to do.
Remember to leave a like and feel free to subscribe if the video helps,
let’s get into the methods. We may need to be starting in safe
mode quite often to check some of the possible solutions if the flickering is preventing you from
being able to use your PC correctly and I have a video which will show you how to do that. Click
the card onscreen now for my video showing you how to start in safe mode in Windows. You’ll need to
skip to 1 minute 58 in that video for the correct method if you are unable to use your monitor at
all. Hopefully though, you will be able to follow most of the methods without needing to do this.
If the screen doesn’t flicker in safe mode, then we can probably guess that it is a software issue.
If the flickering screen appeared whilst you were working on a document, you can press Control and
the S key at the same time to save your work if you are unable to navigate to the save button.
Now we can try refreshing the screen. You can do this by pressing four buttons on your keyboard
at the same time. These buttons are the windows key, the control key, the shift key and the letter
B key. When you press these together, you’ll probably hear a beep and the screen will refresh.
If you’re using Windows 11 on a tablet PC, you can do this by pressing the volume up and down
buttons together 3 times within 2 seconds. If this doesn’t work, we’ll continue with some more fixes.
We’ll now focus on the monitor. There aren’t many ways to check this is the problem,
but if the flickering appears no matter what is connected to it,
then that is definitely at fault. If you can, try connecting something else to it using a different
port and if the flickering persists its either the port on the monitor or the monitor itself.
You could also try changing some of the monitor’s settings, using the buttons on the monitor.
Next, we’ll look at the cables and connections. Again, if you can, try replacing or changing the
ports and cables used, either in the monitor or on the PC. Try all combinations and narrow down
on what works and what doesn’t work. You could try a different monitor as well if you can.
The only real solution for these is to replace the faulty cables, use a different port or try
cleaning the port and the cable connectors safely. If you’re using a laptop, it might be worth taking
it to a repair shop to check for any internal connection faults if none of the tips help.
If the problem persists when using different ports, cables and monitors,
then its much more likely that the cause of the problem is on your PC. So, we will now move onto
to some of the potential fixes within Windows 11. Firstly, we can test whether the problem is caused
by a certain app or if it is linked to our device drivers. To test this, press Control, Shift and
Escape to open the task manager. When the task manager opens, if that is not flickering like
the rest of the screen, then the problem is due to the software or an app you are running. If the
task manager does flicker, then the issue could be caused by either hardware or your display drivers.
We’re now going to try uninstalling any software that may have caused the problem. You’ll need to
think about any recent software changes that may have caused the screen to start flickering. This
is unlikely, and it would probably be software that affects your graphics card. To uninstall
software, go to the main settings by searching for it. In the settings, go to apps and then apps
and features. Find the programs from the list and click on the three dots icon next to it and
then choose uninstall. You only need to do this if you are certain this program caused the problem.
Restart your PC to check if these solutions have worked at any time if you are within
safe mode. It may be worth waiting though for a few more solutions, but feel free to try it now
if you think software could be the cause. If you use any third-party anti-virus software,
that could be causing the flickering screen so you could try disabling that to see if it helps.
We’ll now focus on our display drivers. This is the most likely cause, if hardware is not the
problem. We’re going to check if we can roll back our drivers first, and to do this you’ll want to
go to the device manager. You can search for it in the search bar. In the device manager, find
the option named display adapters and double click on it. Then right click on your graphics card and
select properties and then go to the driver tab. Now look for where it says rollback driver and
click on it if you can. If it’s greyed out, we can also try updating our graphics card drivers.
You can do that from within here too by clicking on update driver and then
choosing the automatic option. Alternatively and what is probably more likely to help,
you can search for a driver update and download and install it from the manufacturer’s website.
Use the info of your graphics card in the device manager to download the correct driver for your
device. For more help installing the latest graphics card drivers, click the card onscreen
now to watch my detailed tutorial on that. We’ll now try changing the refresh rate of
the display within Windows 11. To do this, go to the main settings page by searching for it
and then choose system from the options on the left, although you should be in here by default.
Now click on display from the list. In the display settings, look for and click on the option called
advanced display settings. Make sure your monitor is selected in here at the top and then look
for the section that allows you to change the refresh rate. Change this to a different value
and see if that fixes it. It might be worth changing it to all of the available values.
If a value doesn’t work or makes the problem worse, it will revert if you don’t press anything.
Next, think about any additional hardware that you have connected to your PC.
Try unplugging every device from your computer, to see if anything makes a difference.
This is very unlikely to be the cause, but at least we can rule it out.
It might also be worth updating Windows 11 to the latest version if you can. To update your PC,
first go to the main settings page. Again, you can get here by searching for it. In the settings,
click on Windows update from the options on the left side. In here, simply click on check
for updates and install any that appear. Remember to save any work before updating.
If you still have a flickering screen at this stage, you might need to completely reset your PC.
Only do this though if you can rule out that the issue is not related to the ports, cables,
connections or your monitor. Try replacing each of these before resetting to confirm
it is software related. You can reset your PC by going to settings, then in the system settings,
choose recovery and then reset PC and finally follow the options it gives you. Remember that
some of these options will delete your personal files so bear that in mind.
Unfortunately, those are all of the methods I have. As always, I will keep the description
updated with any new solutions I find and if any of you find a fix in the future then it would be
great if you could return to the video and post it in the comments to help others. Click the card on
screen now to watch a video of mine showing you ten easy ways you can speed up your Windows PC.
Those methods should work on nearly all versions of Windows. Help support the
channel by visiting the store – the link is in the description and at the end of the video.
If you have any questions, then let me know in the comments below and if you did find today’s
video helpful remember to leave a like and feel free to subscribe for more tips in the
future. Be sure to stick around to see some of my other videos that you might be interested in.
Thanks so much for watching and I will see you in another video!