How to Fix Google Chrome flickering problem on Windows PC

Is your screen flickering a little bit while you are surfing on Google Chrome? If you are experiencing this problem only on the Google Chrome browser and looking for a solution to this annoying issue, don’t worry. You are just in the correct place. Follow these easy solutions to quickly fix the Google Chrome browser.

Workarounds

1. Before you jump onto the software side of solutions, check the display connecting cables for any visual defects. If you find the connecting cable torn or defective, it is better to replace it with a newer one.

2. If you are using a passive display adapter (one that converts display signal, like a DP to  VGA adapter), check that also.

Fix 1 –  Make the Desktop a solid color

The desktop background can be the reason behind this flickering issue. Even some users have pointed their fingers at the automatic accent color selection by Windows.

1. Close the Google Chrome web browser and go back to your desktop screen.

2. Then, right-tap on your desktop and click on “Personalize” on the context menu.

 

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3. Now, click on the “Background” settings.

4. Next, on your right-hand side, choose the “Solid color” as the background.

5. After that, click “Personalization” to go back to the main page.

 



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6. After that, click on “Colors” to access it.



 

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7. Just scroll down a bit and click on the “Accent color” and select the “Manual” from the drop-down list.

5. Now, feel free to choose any colors you want from the color palette just below.

 

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After that, close the Settings page. Open Google Chrome and test the problem again.

 

Fix 2 – Using the Registry Editor

Desktop Window Manager or DWM.exe can be the reason behind this issue in Google Chrome.

1. Click the Windows icon on the taskbar and start to write”registry” in the search box.

2. In the elevated search results, tap “Registry Editor” to access it.

 

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Warning – You are going to alter a particular value in the Registry Editor. It usually works well and doesn’t go wrong.  But sometimes, it may lead to other issues. So, we suggest you create a registry backup before you make any changes.

a. Once you have opened the Registry Editor screen up, tap on “File” from the menu bar.

b. Later, click “Export” to make a new registry backup.

 

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Just store this backup in a discrete location.

3. On the left-hand pane, head on this address –

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\DWM

 

4. Once you have reached the location, go to the right-hand pane, and right-click on the space, followed by a further tap on “New>” and “DWORD (32-bit) Value“.

 

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5. Name this value as “OverlayTestMode“.

6. Next, just double-tap the value to modify it.

 

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7. Next, set the value to “5” in the ‘Value data:’ box.

8. After that, click “OK” to save the changes.

 

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Close the Registry Editor page. This won’t take effect until you restart your device. Once the device reboots up, test Google Chrome. If the flickering issue is still there, follow the next solution.

 

Fix 3 – Test the webpage

On the Google Chrome browser, check whether this problem is associated with a particular web page.

If you are experiencing this problem with only one webpage, try to open that on another browser (like Edge, Opera, Firefox, etc.). If other browsers also show signs of flickering, there is some problem with the webpage itself.

 

Fix 4 – Enable a flag

Is the flickering issue coming up only while you are scrolling through web pages? There is a flag that may help you resolve the problem.

1. Launch the Google Chrome browser.

2. Now, copy-paste this in the browser and hit Enter to open the flags page.

chrome://flags

 

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3. When the browser page opens up, search for “smooth scrolling” using the search box.

4. You will see a flag named “Smooth Scrolling” in the search results.

5. Then, click on the drop-down and select “Enabled” from the drop-down list.

 

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6. As soon as you have enabled the flag, Chrome throws up a prompt to restart the browser.

7. Tap “Relaunch“.

 

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Once the browser restarts, open any webpage and test whether you are still experiencing any flickering problems.

 

Fix 5 – Disable hardware acceleration

Hardware acceleration is another thing that causes this flickering problem on the browser.

1. Open the browser, if it isn’t already opened yet.

2. Then, click on the three-dot menu and tap “Settings“.

 

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3. On the Settings page, tap on the three-bar icon on the left-hand side.

4. Next, tap “System” to select the system settings.

 

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5. Now, just turn the “Use hardware acceleration when available” feature “Off“.

6. Then, click “Relaunch” to close and relaunch the browser.

 

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When the browser comes back up, open any website and test whether you can notice any flickering or not.

Fix 6 – Update the Chrome

If you are using a very old chrome browser, update it to the latest version.

1. Launch the Chrome browser.

2. Now, click on the three-dots icon on the right-top corner and tap “Help” and click “About Google Chrome“.

 

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3. This shows which version of Google Chrome is installed on your computer.

Additionally, it checks for the latest version of the browser and downloads it.

You have to restart your browser. Test if the flickering issue gets resolved.

 

Fix 7 – Resetting the browser

Sometimes resetting the browser to the default settings can be the only way to fix these issues.

1. At first, open a new tab on the Google Chrome browser.

2. Now, copy-paste this line into the address bar and hit Enter from your keyboard.

chrome://settings/reset

 

3. Once Chrome settings open up, tap the “Restore settings to their original defaults“.

 

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4. On the Reset settings page, click on “Reset settings” to reset the browser.

This clears all the extensions, cookies, etc.

 

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Once the browser resets, open it again. It won’t show flickering effect anymore. Test if this works.

 

Fix 8 – Update the graphics driver

There can be some issues with your currently installed graphics driver which causing the problem.

1. Press the Windows key+X keys together.

2. Next, click “Device Manager“.

 

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2. When the Device Manager screen appears, expand the “Display adapters“.

3. Next, right-tap the driver and tap “Update driver“.

 

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4. Now, click on the “Search automatically for drivers” option.

 

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Windows search for the latest package and install it.



5. If you see the “The best drivers for your device are already installed” message, tap the “Search for updated drivers on Windows Update” option.

 

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6. This directs you to the Settings page. Check if you can find the display driver update in the list of pending updates.

7. If you can’t, click on “Advanced options“.

 

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8. Next, tap “Optional updates“.

 

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9. Finally, expand the Optional updates section to view all the updates.

10. Next, check the update associated to display and tap “Download & install“.

 

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This way, the driver update will be installed on your computer. Restart your computer after this.

NOTE

If you have an NVIDIA, or AMD graphics card, you can directly update it using their dedicated apps.

1. Launch the Geforce Experience app or AMD Adrenalin app.

2. Here, go to the “Drivers” tab. It will automatically detect the optimum graphics card for your driver.

3. Just, download the latest driver and install it on your computer.

 

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Additional Tips

1. If nothing solves your issue, uninstall Google Chrome from your computer and download-reinstall the latest version.

2. There are many alternative browser options available. You can use any of these browsers –

Edge

Firefox

Opera

Brave