If you purchase a high-end 144Hz or 240Hz gaming monitor and plug it into your Windows 11 PC, you might be horrified to discover that your games look terrible. When panning the camera, the image might look like it is physically tearing in half horizontally. This “screen tearing” happens because Windows 11 often defaults to a conservative 60Hz refresh rate for maximum compatibility, severely bottlenecking your expensive monitor.
Sometimes, the monitor’s driver will not properly communicate its maximum capabilities to Windows, causing the Settings app to hide the higher refresh rate options entirely. To fix this, you must bypass the basic Windows settings and manually force the display adapter to override the monitor’s refresh rate.
How to Manually Force a Windows 11 Monitor Refresh Rate Override
You must use the Advanced Display Properties dialog box to access the hardware adapter settings.
- Right-click anywhere on the empty Windows 11 desktop and select Display settings.
- Scroll down the main window and click on Advanced display.
- In the new window, look at the top right corner and ensure your high-end gaming monitor is selected in the “Select a display to view or change its settings” drop-down menu.
- Look for the setting labeled Choose a refresh rate. If your desired 144Hz or 240Hz option is listed here, select it. If it is missing, proceed to the next step.
- Click the blue text link labeled Display adapter properties for Display 1 (or Display 2).
- A small, legacy Windows dialog box will appear. Click the Monitor tab at the top.
- Under the “Monitor Settings” section, look for the “Screen refresh rate” drop-down menu. This menu queries the hardware directly, bypassing the modern Windows 11 UI.
- Select your desired maximum refresh rate (e.g., 144 Hertz).
- Crucial Step: Directly below that drop-down menu is a checkbox labeled Hide modes that this monitor cannot display. If you are absolutely certain your monitor supports a higher rate, but it isn’t showing up, uncheck this box. The drop-down menu will now reveal forced override options.
- Select your high refresh rate and click Apply.
Your screen will instantly go black for about two seconds as the graphics card re-syncs the video signal. When the image returns, Windows will ask if you want to keep these display settings. Click Keep changes. Your monitor is now running at its true physical capacity, permanently eliminating screen tearing.