A monitor flashing and flickering on and off can be troublesome, especially in the office when working on a project or deadline.
Sometimes it’s difficult to find the root cause of the problem and even more frustrating trying to fix it.
Is your computer monitor flickering on and off?
It’s really annoying and you are not sure what to do.
This article will teach you some quick, easy ways on how to troubleshoot your monitor for flickering that are sure-fire ways on how to fix this problem then get back up running.
Why a Computer Monitor Flickers
The reason why a monitor flicker is because it has a refresh rate.
The refresh rate of a monitor is the number of times that its image can be refreshed per second.
This number corresponds to how many times the screen updates in one second. The higher the refresh rate, the better it will look if you are looking at still images or playing games, but it also needs more processing power and graphics cards to maintain this high rate.
The refresh rate for an LCD monitor ranges from 60 Hz to 120 Hz.
However, the industry standard is set at 60 Hz. In order to use a higher refresh rate, you’ll need a computer, graphics card, and monitor that can process the information at a faster rate.
Perform The Screen Flickering Test on Windows 10
With the screen flickering and flashing, you’ll end up with a headache, blurred vision, and a bad mood. It’s frustrating when your computer is acting up and it can be difficult to get things done.
On Windows 10, you can easily check if your monitor is flickering.
Close all programs and open just your Task Manager on a standard Windows 10 background. You can do it by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc at the same time or right-clicking the taskbar and clicking on the Task Manager option.
Watch your screen to see if Task Manager flickers.
If it flickers, and it flickers with everything else you see on your monitor screen, then the problem can be caused by the display driver or your hardware.
However, if everything on your screen flickers, but the Task Manager looks OK, then the issue can be due to an application.
Check Your Monitor Cable
Monitors are an essential part of any PC. They provide the visual feedback that we need when using our computers.
However, just like other parts of your computer, they can fail.
The most common way for monitors to fail is when the cable connecting the monitor to the graphics card, motherboard, or power source breaks or becomes loose.
It doesn’t matter what type of cable you use to connect your monitor to a computer – VGA, HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort; your monitor won’t work if the cable isn’t securely connected.
Checking the cables on your monitor is the first thing you should do. Check the cable at both monitor and computer ends.
Try to tight them down or reconnect them. If this does not fix the flickering or flashing of your monitor, then try replacing the cable with a new one.
If the new cable does not fix the issue, then you need to try other solutions in this article.
Set the Correct Refresh Rate
The refresh rate of a monitor determines how often the screen refreshes or redraws, itself. The higher the refresh rate, the less likely you are to see flickering or flashing.
Basic monitors can usually only support a 60Hz max refresh rate. Depending on the type of gaming you’re into, advanced monitors can go up to 360Hz, depending on the level of performance.
To adjust the refresh rate on your monitor, follow these instructions:
Step 1: Go to the Start menu and open the Settings app.
Step 2: Click on the System and then select Advanced Display options.
Step 3: Click on the Refresh rate dropdown menu and try to select lower rates until the screen flashing stops. If the flashing continues, use its default refresh rate from the beginning.
Check Display Settings
Are you running the latest driver for your graphics card?
If your monitor is flickering, flashing, or behaving unexpectedly it may be due to an issue with the display driver. Make sure you are running the best version of a display driver for your system.
Step 1: Go to the Start menu and open the Settings app.
Step 2: Go to the System and click on the About option on the left sidebar.
Step 3: Scroll down until you find the Device Manager link and click on it.
Step 4: Select the Display Adapters option.
Step 5: Right-click on your graphics card and select Uninstall the device and check to Delete the driver software for this device and then click OK.
Step 6: Restart your computer. After the restart, Windows will update the graphics card driver to a proper, latest working version.
Check Your Graphics Card
A graphics card is a device that controls the images on a monitor. Any time you turn on your computer, you want to make sure the graphics card works properly.
Symptoms of a broken graphics card include screen flickering, screen flashing, or screen going black and returning to normal after several minutes.
Turn off your computer, and check if your graphics card is properly seated on the motherboard and if the card is properly connected to the power source.
Sometimes, the problem can be a faulty graphics card. Just remove the card and connect the monitor cable to the onboard card on your motherboard or use a second card.
If this does not fix the problem then the issue is not the graphics card, it is something else.
Uninstall Applications That Are Causing Monitor to Flicker
If your monitor is flickering while you’re working, the problem could be with the software application that’s running. The first thing you can do is reboot your computer and see if the issue goes away.
If not, try to figure out what software is causing this problem.
Have you installed any new software recently? Has an update for any apps gone through?
Try to uninstall some latest programs.
Step 1: Press Windows Key + I to open Settings.
Step 2: Click Apps and then click Sort and choose Installation date.
Step 3: Click the latest app and click Uninstall. Sometimes, you need to restart your system for the changes to take full effect.
Conclusion
You should understand that there is no universal fix for this issue. What is working for one person, may not work for other.
But we still hope that some of the methods above have solved your monitor flashing and flickering problem on Windows 10.
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