Figure out what’s causing the problem and fix it

Sep 14, 2018 11:26 GMT  ·  By

Screen flickering is actually one common problem in Windows 10, but it most often happens on older computers with graphics cards that are no longer supported.

Of course, the same issue can also be encountered on newer configurations, those, in this case, figuring out what’s causing it is much easier, as drivers are typically the culprit.

Basically, there are two reasons that could cause screen flickering on a Windows 10 system: either a bad driver, in which you case you need to reinstall it, or applications, which requires either an update or complete removal to resolve it.

Microsoft recommends users to try out a simple Task Manager trick to determine who is to blame for the screen flicker.

What you need to do is to simply launch Task Manager and see if it flickers as well. To launch the Task Manager you can either right-click the taskbar > Task Manager or just press CTRL + Shift + Esc on the keyboard.

If Task Manager itself experiences the same problem, drivers are most likely the source of your glitches, and if it does not, then it’s an app that’s incompatible with Windows 10.

Finding driver version information in Device Manager

How to see if you’re running old graphics drivers

If the drivers are the ones causing you trouble, you’re in luck, because most often, simply installing the latest version corrects all problems.

To determine which version of the drivers are installed on your system and to compare them to the official information from your vendor, here’s what you need to do.

First, you can right-click the Windows 10 Start menu and go to Device Manager. Expand the Display adapters section and double-click your graphics card. Go to the Driver tab and you’ll find the driver version.

As an alternative, you can use the DirectX Diagnostic Tool bundled into Windows 10, and which you launch by simply typing dxdiag in the Start menu. Graphics driver information is displayed in the Display tab.

Once you know your driver version, you can easily check for new releases on your vendor’s website. A good source of driver updates is Softpedia, which hosts the largest driver collection available online.

Device driver information in dxdiag

How to deal with incompatible drivers

If apps are the ones causing screen flickering, more work is involved. Simply because this time, it takes longer to determine which app is responsible for the display issues, and the only way to do this is to remove each item manually and see if the screen flickering goes way.

To make your life a bit easier, you can first begin with applications that haven’t been updated in a long time. Old software is more prone to compatibility issues, so remove those first.

Also, you can try to kill each third-party process to see if it makes any difference. In some cases, apps leave running processes in the background, and closing them could not end the screen flickering.

Needless to say, a fully up-to-date system, including here the latest Windows updates, drivers, and applications being installed, should never experience such problems.

If they do show up, the easiest way to find a fix is to actually contact the manufacturer or the developer of the device or software you believe is responsible for the flickering. App incompatibilities can be fixed easily with quick updates, especially on new Windows 10 versions where bugs like these can occur without prior testing.

If nothing works and the screen flickering is still there, you could also try a system refresh, which technically returns your system to the default configuration without removing any app or files. Obviously, this is a solution that takes more time than all the others, but at least you can be sure that neither drivers nor apps are the culprits of your problems.

Photo Gallery (3 Images)

Fixing screen flickering in Windows 10 shouldn't be hard
Finding driver version information in Device ManagerDevice driver information in dxdiag
Open gallery