How To Fix Screen Tearing On Windows 10 In 2021
By Sofia
Windows is undoubtedly one of the best operating systems that come with plenty of features. As a result, there are lots of users who use Windows as their primary operating system. Currently, Windows 10 is the most used version in the market. It has evolved a lot from the previous versions, but there are some issues that need to get addressed.
One of the common issues that can interrupt the performance is screen tearing. This is one of the issues that can ruin your gameplay experience. So, the common question is how to fix screen tearing to improve the experience. Well, there are some things that you can do to get things under control. We have handpicked some solutions that might help you fix the issue. Read till the end to find out the steps and details.
What Is The Screen Tearing Issue?
Before we get to all the fixes or solutions, you need to know the details about the screen tearing issue. Screen tearing is a common issue that changes the appearance of visuals on the monitor. For example, when navigating through the operating system, you might see choppiness and problems with the frame rate. In most cases, the issue is related to the GPU or software. It causes the screen to get a line in the middle of the screen or the vertical objects. Let’s find out how to fix screen tearing using different ways.
1. Change The Screen Refresh Rate
Most people might not be familiar with the option or know that this option is there. Windows 10 has the option to set the screen refresh rate. You can change it based on your requirement but do not set it too high or low. It can ruin your experience and gameplay as well.
If you are facing the issue and thinking “how to fix window screen tearing,” you can try changing this option. To change the screen refresh rate, you will need to go to the system and enter the display option from the settings app.
Then, find the advanced display options and scroll down to “Refresh Rate.” Click on it to change and choose the best one that fits the monitor perfectly.
2. Change The Resolution
In many cases of screen tearing, you can change the screen resolution to get it fixed. If you are familiar with Windows, then you already know how to change it. However, if you are a beginner, you will need to visit the settings app and click Windows + I.
Then, go to display from the system tab to find the display resolution option. From the options, you can choose the best resolution based on your monitor. If you are not sure which one to choose, then see the recommended resolution and set it. It might help you to get the solution of how to fix screen tearing.
3. Reinstall Or Update The Graphics Card Driver
Another very common fix that helped a lot of users to get rid of the screen tearing is updating or reinstalling the graphics card driver. So, try to update the graphic card drivers to see if it resolved the issue. If you are using a graphics card of NVIDIA, you can take the help of NV updater to update the driver. Here are the steps that you can follow to update the graphics card.
Step 1: You have to open the run window with the help of Win + R. Then, enter devmgmt. MSC in the place of the package and click on “OK” It will help you enter the device manager easily.
Step 2: Now, in the next step, you have to double click on the Display adapters to expand them.
Step 3: The graphics motorist will be revealed under the display adapters. You have to right-click on it and choose to update the driver.
Step 4: Now, you have to provide the information on how to search for an updated driver. Windows will pick the updated one with the help of an online motorist and install it instantly.
When the new graphics driver is installed, you have to reboot the computer to save the changes and apply them. However, it should be able to give you the perfect solution to the “how to fix screen tearing” issue.
Instead of updating the driver, you can also download the updated driver and install it. Choose whichever takes less time to save your time. Apart from that, you can also try reinstalling the graphics card drivers to get the best result. This is one of the best solutions for how to fix screen tearing on a PC.
4. Disable Full-Screen Optimization and Game Mode
Do you know that the issue of screen tearing is most common for people who play games on Windows? This is why many people are asking “how to fix screen tearing in games” Now, gamers do not like to have any interruptions or issues when they are playing their favorite games.
Screen tearing can ruin the experience of gaming and make the visuals look bad. So, gamers can try fixing it by disabling some of the common features. Features like full-screen optimization and game mode are very helpful to make the gaming experience much more smooth and effective.
However, these features can also cause screen tearing issues. So, yes, you might be missing the gameplay recording and screenshot feature by disabling them. But it will help you to get rid of the issue. So, you can disable them to fix it easily. Don’t know how? Here is the step-by-step process to help you disable them.
Step 1: Open Settings with Win + I
Step 2: Go To the “Gaming” tab and disable the Game Mode. You will find the “Game Bar” on the left side of the window.
Step 3: Now, restart the computer to see if the issue is still there or gone.
Now, coming to the second option, full-screen optimization. As the name suggests, it helps optimize the games when you are playing them in full-screen mode. Unfortunately, this is another feature that can cause screen tearing issues on your Windows computer. So, learn how to fix screen tearing by disabling this option.
Step 1: You have to right-click on the game icon and select the option properties.
Step 2; after entering the properties, you will get different tabs available. Go to the compatibility tab,
Step 3. Here, you will be able to find the option to disable the full-screen optimization option. Then, click to save changes to keep all the changes.
5. V-Sync
If any of the above-mentioned methods are not working for you, you can try this effectively. Enabling the V-Sync worked for a lot of people. Vertical Sync is one of the common features in games that improves the gaming experience and gets rid of the screen tearing issue.
If you are facing excessive screen tearing and looking for the answer to how to fix screen tearing, then it is the perfect solution. On the other hand, if your monitor and GPU can handle high frames, you can disable this option. There is no point in experimenting with this feature as it is not meant for an experiment. Enable this feature only when necessary.
It will push the limit of your monitor to reach the highest refresh rate, which the game will not be able to exceed. It will help to fix the screen tearing issue. If you don’t want to use this option, then read the other methods to find out how to fix screen tearing without V-sync.
6. Disable Frame Limit
If you are facing screen tearing, you will be surprised to find out how many reasons are behind it. That being said, there are plenty of fixes available as well. Chances are very high that one of them will work for you very well. Among all the other ones, disabling the frame limit is one of the best ways to fix the screen tearing.
However, only turning off the frame limit will not help you to get any good outcome. Instead, it will make the games reach as high frame rates as possible, creating more issues. This is where the last method how to fix screen tearing with V-Sync comes in handy. You have to turn on the V-Sync if you are disabling the frame limit to keep the balance. It can help you get rid of the screen tearing issue and provide a better experience while playing games.
7. Turn Off Smooth Scrolling Feature
While most people think screen tearing happens due to a high frame rate or virtual sync, the truth is it can happen for many other reasons. One of which is the smooth scrolling feature of games. You might have heard about this feature if you are familiar with the options of a game. In many games, this issue is also called mouse acceleration. Although this is a rare cause of screen tearing, you can’t ignore any slight possibilities that cause this issue. If you cannot find out how to fix screen tearing on YouTube or from these above-mentioned methods, you can check this one. To turn this off, you have to visit the game settings and visit the keyboard/mouse section. Then, all you need to do is find the option and turn it off. Once the option is turned off, restart the game or your computer and see if the issue is still there or gone.
8. Enable “Wait For Vertical Refresh” In AMD
Last but not least, this is known to be very effective for people who have tried all the different methods and failed to fix screen tearing. Similar to NVIDIA, AMD also comes with lots of host settings. These settings often override the game settings. If you are facing a screen tearing issue and want to know how to fix screen tearing AMD, then enable the “wait for vertical refresh” However, this method might not work for everyone. Think of it as a last resort to fix this issue. Make sure to restart your computer after the changes to make it work.
These are some of the most popular methods that you can use to get rid of screen tearing issues.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. How do I stop screen tearing on Windows 10?
There are different ways available that you can use to stop the screen tearing. However, it is hard to say which one will work for you. Some of the common ways include restarting the computer, changing the refresh rate and resolution, changing game FPS, reinstalling or upgrading the graphics driver, and others.
Q2. How do I permanently get rid of screen tearing?
If you want to get a permanent fix, you can try another browser, disabling the smooth scrolling feature, check the graphics drivers, enable/disable NVIDIA VSync.
Q3. How do I stop window screen tearing?
To stop window screen tearing, you will need to press the win + I button to open the settings. From there, disable the game mode. Now, restart the system to check if there is any screen tearing during gameplay. You can also disable the full-screen optimization when playing games.
Q4. Can a bad GPU cause screen tearing?
The screen tearing issue mostly occurs when the rendered frames by GPU are not synced up with the monitor’s refresh rate. How severe it is depends on the refresh rate of the monitor, mismatch, fps, speed of things moving on the screen.
Conclusion
Screen tearing is a common issue that can happen to gamers and other Windows users. It ruins the gaming and user experience creating a line between the screen. However, we have provided you with plenty of methods to fix this. One of these 45 will work successfully. Make sure to go through every detail of these methods.
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