The Flickering Screen
Modern premium laptops and desktop monitors often feature high refresh rate displays (120Hz or higher) to ensure buttery-smooth scrolling and gaming. To balance this performance with battery life, Windows 11 introduced a feature called Dynamic Refresh Rate (DRR). When DRR is active, Windows automatically drops the refresh rate down to a sluggish 60Hz when you are looking at static images or typing, and ramps it back up to 120Hz when you scroll or play a video. While excellent for extending battery life, this constant, automatic switching can sometimes cause a noticeable, split-second screen flicker or momentary stutter, which is highly distracting for sensitive users.
Locking the Refresh Rate
To ensure a consistently smooth visual experience and stop Windows 11 from automatically adjusting your display refresh rate on the fly, you must lock the monitor to a static, high frequency.
Press the Windows Key, type Settings, and hit Enter. In the left-hand navigation sidebar, click on System. In the main right-hand panel, click on the very top option: Display. Scroll down the Display page until you find the “Related settings” section and click on Advanced display. Here you will see information about your monitor. Look for the dropdown menu explicitly labelled Choose a refresh rate. If the current selection says “Dynamic (60 Hz or 120 Hz),” click the dropdown menu and select the highest fixed number available (e.g., 120 Hz). Your screen will briefly turn black to apply the setting. Your display is now permanently locked to that smooth refresh rate, regardless of the content on screen.