The short version
- 01Open Task Manager and watch whether it flickers with the rest of the screen.
- 02Reset the graphics driver with Windows key + Ctrl + Shift + B before anything else.
- 03Roll the display driver back if the flicker started after an update.
- 04Remove suspect apps one at a time, testing in between rather than in a batch.
- 05Set the refresh rate back to the panel’s rated figure, not the highest offered.
- 06Turn off G-Sync or FreeSync if the flicker only appears in games.
Start here
Open Task Manager and watch whether it flickers too
Microsoft’s test settles the software half of this in about five seconds. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete to open Task Manager, then look at it while the screen flickers. If Task Manager flickers along with everything else, a display driver is probably causing the problem. If Task Manager stays steady while the rest of the screen flickers, an incompatible app is probably causing it. Those two answers lead to completely different fixes, and guessing between them wastes an afternoon.
Applies to: Desktop monitors and laptop displays running Windows 10 or Windows 11. The refresh rate and adaptive sync sections apply to any monitor; the examples come from Dell and Alienware documentation, which covers the specific panels named.
What is flickering, and when?
Screen flicker splits into a software cause and a hardware cause, and the two are almost never confused once you know the tests. Windows gives you one that separates driver from app. The monitor gives you another that separates itself from the computer feeding it. Between them you can place almost any flicker without buying a cable or reinstalling anything, which is the opposite of how this problem is usually approached.
The whole screen flickers, Task Manager included
Did it start after a driver update?
Roll back the driverEverything flickers except Task Manager
Did it start after installing something?
Find the appOnly in games, or at high frame rates
Is adaptive sync on?
Check G-SyncStarted after changing the refresh rate
Is it above the panel’s rating?
Lower itFlickers even with no computer attached
Does the self test flicker?
Run the BIST1. The Task Manager test, and why it works
Microsoft’s guidance for screen flickering opens with a diagnostic rather than a fix, which is unusual and makes it the best place to start. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete to open Task Manager — or Ctrl + Shift + Esc if the first combination does not get you there — and then watch Task Manager itself while the screen misbehaves.
The logic is that Task Manager is drawn differently from ordinary application windows. If the flicker reaches it, the fault is below the application layer, in the display driver. If everything else on screen flickers and Task Manager sits there perfectly stable, the driver is drawing correctly and something in the application layer is causing the disturbance.
Microsoft states both outcomes plainly: if Task Manager flickers, a display driver is probably causing the problem; if it does not, an incompatible app is probably causing it. Neither is a certainty, but as a first branch it is far better than the usual advice to reseat the cable and hope.
Run this before anything else. Every remaining section in this guide belongs to one branch or the other, and doing them in the wrong order means changing hardware to fix a software fault or vice versa.
Task Manager flickers
Display driver. Reset it, then roll back, update or uninstall in that order.
Task Manager is steady
An app. Work out what was installed or updated when the flicker started.
If Ctrl + Alt + Delete does nothing, Ctrl + Shift + Esc opens Task Manager directly. Microsoft names both because the first can be intercepted.
2. When Task Manager flickers: the display driver
Start with the cheapest possible action. Windows can restart the graphics stack without restarting anything else: press Windows key + Ctrl + Shift + B. The screen blanks for a moment and comes back. If the flicker stops, the driver had got into a bad state rather than being the wrong driver, and there is nothing further to do. If it does not, restart the machine before moving on.
Then work out whether the driver changed recently, because that decides which direction to go. If the flicker began after an update, roll back rather than forward. Open Device Manager, expand Display adapters, right-click your adapter and open Properties, go to the Driver tab, and choose Roll Back Driver. The option is greyed out when no previous driver is stored, which is itself informative — it means this driver is the only one the machine has had.
If the flicker was there before any update, or rolling back is unavailable, update instead: Device Manager, Display adapters, right-click the adapter, Update driver. Microsoft notes you may need to go to the manufacturer for the latest driver, which is usually true — the version Windows offers is often behind what NVIDIA, AMD or Intel publish.
Uninstalling is the last resort of the three. From the same Properties and Driver tab, choose Uninstall Device and tick the option to remove the driver software. Windows reinstalls a basic display driver on restart. Microsoft adds a detail worth knowing: if the removal checkbox does not appear, start the PC in safe mode and try again there.
3. When Task Manager is steady: finding the app
A stable Task Manager against a flickering desktop points at an application, and the fix is to update it, uninstall it, or reinstall it. The difficulty is not the fix but the identification, and Microsoft’s advice here is deliberately methodical: uninstall, then test, then uninstall the next one. Removing three things at once and finding the flicker gone tells you nothing.
Narrow the field by timing before you start removing anything. Whatever was installed or updated immediately before the flicker started is the first candidate, and the category matters more than the name. Applications that draw over other windows are the usual offenders — screen recorders, overlay and chat tools that appear on top of games, colour and brightness adjusters, remote desktop clients, and anything that claims to manage or filter the display.
Try an update before an uninstall. Check the Microsoft Store, or the manufacturer’s own site if the app came from there, since the incompatibility may already be fixed in a newer version. Uninstalling is through Settings, then Apps, then the app, then Uninstall. Reinstalling from the Microsoft Store Library is worth trying for a Store app that you would rather keep.
One shortcut is worth knowing. If the flicker disappears in safe mode, that supports the app theory strongly, because safe mode loads almost nothing beyond Windows itself.
4. A refresh rate the panel cannot actually do
If both software branches come up empty, the next candidate is the refresh rate, and Dell states the rule directly: operating the monitor at a refresh rate higher than the panel specification can cause flicker. This is easier to trigger than it sounds, because a monitor that accepts a setting is not the same as a panel that can sustain it.
It is a common outcome of overclocking a display, of a custom resolution created in the graphics driver’s control panel, and of a cable or port that negotiates a mode the panel is not rated for. It is also common after a driver reinstall, which can leave the display at a rate somebody set months earlier and forgot about.
The test is to set the refresh rate back to the panel’s rated figure — the number on its specification sheet, not the highest number Windows offers — and see whether the flicker stops. If it does, you have your answer, and the question becomes whether you want the higher rate enough to live with the flicker.
Dell also names two features that can cause flicker when enabled: Moving Picture Response Time and Ultra Low Motion Blur. Both manipulate how the panel is driven between frames, and both are worth switching off while testing, on any monitor that offers them.
5. Adaptive sync on a monitor that is not certified for it
This is the cause most likely to be missed, because everything involved appears to be working as intended. Dell puts it unambiguously: if you are using an NVIDIA graphics card and G-Sync is turned on but your monitor is not G-Sync Compatible, flicker can occur.
Adaptive sync works by varying the refresh rate continuously to match the frame rate the game is producing. On a panel that has not been validated for that behaviour, the brightness can shift as the rate swings, and the result is a flicker that appears only in games, only when the frame rate is unstable, and never on the desktop. That pattern is a strong hint on its own.
Dell names specific models where this applies — the S2721HGF, S2422HG, S2722DGM, S3222DGM, S3222HG and S3422DWG — noting that all of these except the S2721HGF are VA panels and not G-Sync compatible. The general lesson matters more than the list: being able to turn G-Sync on is not the same as being certified for it, and the driver will let you enable it either way.
The test is to turn adaptive sync off in the graphics driver control panel and play the same game again. If the flicker goes, the monitor is not a good match for the feature, and capping the frame rate is usually a better compromise than leaving it enabled.
Flicker that appears only in games and never on the desktop is adaptive sync until proven otherwise. Check that before you suspect the cable.
6. Cables, interference, and the monitor’s own self test
The hardware checks come last because they are the ones most people do first, and they resolve a smaller share of cases than their reputation suggests. They are still worth doing properly once the software branches are exhausted.
Dell’s decisive test is the monitor’s Built-in Self-Test, which drives the panel from the monitor’s own electronics with no computer involved. If the display flickers during the BIST, the fault is in the monitor and nothing you change on the computer will help. If the BIST is clean, the monitor is fine and the problem is in the signal reaching it — the cable, the port, or the graphics card.
For the cable, Dell’s framing is that a defective cable can cause the signal to break while being transmitted across the wire. Swapping it is the only real test, since a cable that fails intermittently looks identical to one that works. Reseating both ends first costs nothing and occasionally fixes it outright.
Finally, electromagnetic interference is real and easily overlooked. Dell suggests removing other devices sharing the monitor’s power strip. A flicker that keeps time with a fridge compressor, a heater or a laser printer warming up is not a monitor fault at all.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my monitor flicker is a driver or an app?
Open Task Manager with Ctrl + Alt + Delete and watch it. Microsoft’s rule is that if Task Manager flickers along with the rest of the screen, a display driver is probably the cause; if Task Manager stays steady while everything else flickers, an incompatible app is. Run this before any other step.
How do I reset the graphics driver without restarting?
Press Windows key + Ctrl + Shift + B. The screen blanks briefly and the graphics stack restarts. If that stops the flicker, the driver had got into a bad state rather than being wrong. If it does not help, restart the machine before moving on to rolling back or updating.
Why does my monitor only flicker in games?
Usually adaptive sync on a panel not certified for it. Dell notes that with an NVIDIA card, G-Sync enabled and a monitor that is not G-Sync Compatible, flicker can occur. The refresh rate swings with the frame rate and the brightness shifts with it. Turn G-Sync off and retest.
Can too high a refresh rate cause flickering?
Yes. Dell states that running the monitor above the panel specification can cause flicker. A monitor accepting a setting is not the same as the panel sustaining it, which is why overclocked displays and custom resolutions trigger this. Set it back to the rated figure to test.
How do I tell whether the monitor itself is faulty?
Run the monitor’s Built-in Self-Test, which drives the panel from its own electronics with no computer attached. If it flickers during the self test, the monitor is at fault. If the self test is clean, the monitor is fine and the problem is in the cable, the port or the graphics card.
Which apps commonly cause screen flickering?
Anything that draws over other windows: screen recorders, game and chat overlays, colour or brightness adjusters, and remote desktop clients. Update before uninstalling, and remove one at a time and test in between — removing several at once tells you nothing about which was responsible.
Sources and review notes
Checked on . Compiled by Glitchary from Microsoft’s guidance on troubleshooting screen flickering in Windows and Dell’s article on flickering video on Dell and Alienware monitors. The Task Manager test and its two outcomes, the driver reset shortcut, the refresh rate rule, the G-Sync compatibility warning and the Built-in Self-Test are theirs. The ordering of software checks before hardware, the interference and safe mode notes, and the guidance on which apps to suspect are editorial. Monitor features and model lists differ by manufacturer — check the documentation for yours. Glitchary is independent of Microsoft and Dell.