If you have a modern laptop or monitor with a high refresh rate (like 120Hz or 144Hz), you know how incredibly smooth scrolling and animations look. However, keeping your screen running at 120Hz constantly drains your laptop battery much faster. Windows 11 solves this with a feature called Dynamic Refresh Rate (DRR).
What is Dynamic Refresh Rate?
Dynamic Refresh Rate automatically adjusts how fast your screen refreshes based on what you are doing.
- When you are doing something static—like reading an article or typing a document—Windows drops the refresh rate down to 60Hz to save battery power.
- The instant you start scrolling, moving the mouse quickly, or using a stylus pen, Windows instantly cranks the refresh rate back up to 120Hz to ensure the motion looks buttery smooth.
How to Enable Dynamic Refresh Rate
Note: Your laptop must have a display that supports at least 120Hz and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) for this option to appear.
- Open the Windows 11 Settings app (press the Windows Key + I).
- In the left sidebar, click System, then click Display on the right.
- Scroll down to the “Related settings” section and click on Advanced display.
- Look for the setting called Choose a refresh rate.
- Click the dropdown menu. If your hardware supports it, you will see an option labeled Dynamic (60 Hz or 120 Hz). Select this option.
Troubleshooting Tips
- Don’t see the Dynamic option? This usually means your physical screen does not support high refresh rates, or you need to update your graphics card drivers to a version that supports the WDDM 3.0 standard.
- Gaming Issues: DRR is fantastic for desktop usage, but it can sometimes cause issues in PC games, causing them to lock at 60Hz instead of allowing maximum frame rates. If you notice stuttering in games, return to this menu and manually set your refresh rate to a fixed 120Hz or higher before playing.