How to Fix Screen Tearing problem in Windows 10

Quite a common issue, Screen Tearing is a kind  of distortion that may occur on your PC’s monitor. It is also addressed as an issue when users see multiple frames in a single frame on their PC’s screen. Screen tearing usually occurs on PCs that have display hardware installed, such as a graphics card.

What causes Screen Tearing? When the video being fed to the PC is not in synchronisation with the refresh rate of the monitor, the Screen tearing issue may occur. The issue has been reported to occur mostly with NVIDIA graphics card users.

Although it is not a serious issue, there are several factors that may cause screen tearing on your PC’s display. There is not any way to find out what may be causing the issue, thus we recommend you to follow the solutions provided below in an orderly fashion.

Let us find out How to fix Screen Tearing issue in Windows 10.

Solution 1: Restart your PC

It is highly recommended for you to close down the game/application you are running, then restart your PC. At times, restarting PC can solve quite a lot of issues. In this case, restarting might put back the video feed and the display output back in sync. After the restart, re-run the game or the application your were running and see if the issue remains. If yes, try the next solution.

Solution 2: Change Game FPS

If you are playing a game and face screen tearing issue on your PC, one of the things you must try is changing the game’s FPS (frames per second). It might be possible that you are playing the game on a higher FPS setting than your graphics card can support.

In order to fix this issue, go to the Settings menu in your game and look under video / graphics settings. There, you will find the option to change the FPS / Frame Rate. Try to make adjustments with the FPS value by lowering down a bit and check if this solves the issue. If this doesn’t work out, give the next solution a try.

Solution 3: Change Resolution and Refresh Rate

The next solution for you to try is to change the Resolution and Refresh Rate on your PC manually.  Here are the steps you should follow:

Step 1: Press the Start button on your PC, then type resolution in the search box. From the search results, click on the change the resolution of the display option.

Start Resolution



 

Step 2: The Display Settings window will open. Here, scroll down and select the Advanced display settings option.

Display Settings

 

Step 3: On the next screen, click on the Display adapter properties for Display 1 option.

Advanced Display Settings

 

Step 4: A new window will open now. Here, in the Adapter tab, you will find a List All Modes button; click on it.

Display Properties

 

Step 5: On the next window that opens, you will find a list of resolution & FPS modes that are valid for your device. Here, try out other resolution according to your graphics card’s and device’s specifications. Check for the screen tearing every time you select a setting from the list.

Resolution List

 

Once done, make sure to restart your PC. If this solution did not work for you, revert back the changes to as it was, then try the next solution.

Solution 4: By Enabling / Disabling NVIDIA VSync

Are you using NVIDIA graphics card? You can use the NVIDIA’s VSync option is designed to handle issues like screen tearing and rate stuttering. When the frame rate rendered by the graphics card is higher than your PC’s system or what your display can handle, the VSync automatically takes care of it.

It might be possible that the VSync option on your PC is disabled. In that case, you will need to enable it. In case, VSync is enabled already, you must try to disable it and check if that fixes the issue. Here’s how to go about enabling or disabling VSync:

Step 1: Make a right click on your PC’s desktop, then select the NVIDIA Control Panel option from the context menu.

Desktop Menu

 

Step 2: The NVIDIA Control Panel window will open up. There, on the left pane, click on the Manage 3D Settings option available under the 3D Settings section. Now, on the right panel, scroll down and locate the Vertical Sync option and disable or enable it according to your current settings (as mentioned above).

Nvidia Control Panel

 

After you have made the changes, exit the control panel and check if the issue was resolved by this.

Solution 5: Enable “Wait for Vertical Refresh” option in AMD

If you are an AMD user, there’s a similar setting in the AMD Control Panel for you to enable. As you opened the NVIDIA Control Panel, similarly open the AMD Control Panel from your desktop.

When there, go to the Global Settings menu, then make sure that the Wait for Vertical Refresh option is set to Always on.

Solution 6: Turn-off Game Mode & Full-screen Optimization

In one of the latest Windows updates, Microsoft introduced the feature-rich Game Mode. Although it is loaded with features that include system optimization, one-touch screenshot, gameplay recording and more, it was reported by many users to cause issues. Apart from crashing games, the mode also lead to issues like screen tearing.

It might be possible that the active Game Mode is causing the trouble. Follow the steps below in order to disable Game Mode in Windows 10:

Step 1: On your keyboard, press the Win + I keys together to open the Settings menu. There, click on the Gaming option.

Settings Gaming

 

Step 2: When in Gaming Settings menu, select the Game bar option on the left pane. Then, on the right pane, turn off the Record game clips, screenshots, and broadcast using Game bar toggle switch.

Turn Off Recording

 

Step 3: Now, on the left pane, select the Broadcasting option. On the right pane turn the toggle switch off located right below the Record audio when I broadcast option.

Audio Rec Off

 

Once these settings have been applied, restart your PC and check if the issue was fixed.

If you are still facing screen tearing issue, you can try to disable fullscreen optimization for the game. Here’s how:

Step 1: Make a right click on the icon on the game with which you are facing the screen tearing issue and click on the Properties option.

Game Properties

 

Step 2: In the Properties window that opens, go to the Compatibility tab, then select the Disable fullscreen optimization option. When done, click on the Ok button.

Disable Fullscreen Optimization

 

Now, close down the Properties window and rerun the game and check for the issue.

Solution 7: Set Launch Options in Steam (Only for Steam Users)

If you use Steam to launch games on your PC, here’s another fix that you can try to get rid of screen tearing.

Step 1: From the list of the games in Steam, right-click on the game with issues, and select Properties from the menu.

Game Properties Steam

 

Step 2: Now, a small window will open. There, click on the Set Launch Options button.



Set Launch Options

 

Step 3: In the new box that opens, type -windowed -noborder and click on the Ok button.

Nonorder

 

This might help you get rid of the screen tearing issue.

Solution 8: Update / Reinstall Graphics Driver

The Screen Tearing issue on your PC might be happening because of outdated or faulty Graphics Card Driver. First, you can try to update the driver, and if that does not work, you may have to uninstall and reinstall the driver.

Step 1: Press Win + X keys, then from the menu that opens, select the Device Manager option.

Dev Manager

 

Step 2: In the Device Manager, locate the Display adapters and click on it to expand. After that, right click on the graphics card driver and select the Update driver option.

Update Driver Graphics

 

Step 3: On the new window that will open, select the Search automatically for updated driver software option.

Auto Search Driver

 

Now, the PC will look for updated version of the driver. If available, follow on-screen instructions to proceed with the update.

If the driver is already updated, you might want to reinstall the graphics card driver. In order to do so, follow these steps:

Step 1: In the Device Manager window, right click on the Graphics Card driver and select the Uninstall device option.

Uninstall Graphics Driver

 

Step 2: Now, go to the website of your Graphics Card manufacturer and download the latest driver compatible with your Graphics Card model. After downloading the driver, install it manually by running the downloaded driver file on your PC.



This should take care of the issue.

Solution 9: Disable Frame Limit in game

One of the features many games and applications make use of is the Frame Limit option. If the Frame Limit is set to On, it may be causing the screen tearing issue.

Look for Frame Limit option in the in-game menu under the video or graphics section and turn it off. If the issue isn’t fixed, you can revert back the changes.

Solution 10: Turn off Smooth Scrolling

If you are facing screen tearing issue in Chrome or any browser that you are using, you can turn off the Smooth Scrolling feature in the browser. Here’s how to do it:

Turn-off Smooth Scrolling in Chrome

Open a new tab in Chrome, then in the address bar type: chrome://flags/#smooth-scrolling and press the Enter key. In the Smooth Scrolling option you get, Disable the feature.

Chrome Smooth Scrolling

 

Disable Smooth Scrolling in Firefox

Open a new tab in Firefox, type about:preferences in the address bar and press Enter.

Now, from the menu, unselect the Use smooth scrolling feature.

Disable Smooth Scrolling in Edge

Step 1: Press Win + R to open the Run box. There, type systempropertiesadvanced and press Enter.

Run Sysproperties

 

Step 2: Under the Performance section, click on the Settings button.

Performance Settings

 

Step 3: Now, on the next screen, unselect the smooth-scroll list boxes and hit the Ok button.

Deselect Smooth Scroll

 

Was the screen tearing issue resolved? If not, try the next solution.

Solution 11: Try Another Browser

If you are facing the issue on a particular browser, as a workaround, you can try switching to another browser and see if the issue occurs there as well.