Your monitor keeps blinking on and off. That’s annoying. But don’t worry. To fix the problem, you can try the below methods:
Method 1: Reinstall the graphics card driver
Method 2: Try a higher monitor refresh rate
Method 3: Disable Chrome Hardware Acceleration
Method 4: Uninstall the incompatible app
Method 5: Check hardware issues
Method 1: Reinstall the graphics card driver
Faulty graphics card drivers can cause the flicker on the monitor. To fix the problem, you can try to reinstall the graphics card driver. Here’s how:
1) Press Win+R keys to open the Run box.
2) Type “devmgmt.msc” into the Run box and press the Enter key. After that, the Device Manager window will pop up.
3) At Device Manager, expand the category “Display adapters”, right-click on the graphics card and then select Uninstall device.
4) Select the checkbox next to Delete the driver software for this device and then click Uninstall.
5) Once the driver is uninstalled, restart your computer then Windows will install a new graphics card driver automatically.
Check to see if the monitor flicker problem goes away. If the problem persists, you can try updating the graphics card driver. Go to your PC manufacturer’s website or the graphics card manufacturer’s website, then download the latest version of the graphics card driver there.
Method 2: Try a higher monitor refresh rate
Your monitor is being updated constantly. The rate at which monitor updates is called refresh rate. A fast refresh rate makes things move smoothly on the screen. Oppositely, a low refresh rate can make the monitor blink on and off. So check your monitor refresh rate and try a higher monitor refresh rate if you can.
A monitor refresh rate is measured in Hertz. The most common refresh rate is 60 Hertz. It means the monitor is updated 100 times per second.
To check and set a higher monitor refresh rate, you can follow these steps:
1) Right-click on the Start menu button and select Settings.
2) Select System.
3) Select Display and then click on the Advanced display settings link.
4) Click the Display adapter properties link.
5) At the Monitor tab, and under the Monitor Settings section, select a higher refresh rate.
Tip: If you see there’s only one refresh rate listed and you’re not able to select a higher one, it’s possible the monitor driver is outdated or Windows is using the generic monitor driver. In that case, you can try updating the monitor driver and see if it helps.
6) Click Apply –> OK to save the changes.
7) Restart your computer and check to see if the problem remains.
If you see multiple higher refresh rates from the drop-down menu, try them one by one until you find one that helps fix your monitor blinking on and off issues.
Method 3: Disable Chrome Hardware Acceleration
As reported by some users, the problem can occur while using Google Chrome. If that’s your case, don’t worry. Disabling the Hardware Acceleration feature in Chrome can help fix the problem.
Here’s how to disable Chrome Hardware Acceleration:
1) Open Google Chrome.
2) Click the three vertical dots icon at the upper right corner of the toolbar and select Settings.
3) Search “hardware acceleration” in the search box, and then click the toggle next to Use hardware acceleration when available to turn this feature off.
4) Check to see if the monitor still keeps blinking on and off.
Method 4: Uninstall the incompatible app
Some apps can cause conflicts and make the monitor keep blinking on and off. If the problem occurs after you install an app, uninstall that app and the problem should resolve. If you have no clues what app is the culprit, you can perform a clean boot to verify the app causing the problem.
A clean boot is performed to start Windows in a minimal set of drivers and startup programs.
To perform a clean boot, you can follow these steps:
1) Press Win+R keys to open the Run box.
2) Type “msconfig” into the Run box and click OK. Then the System Configuration window will open.
3) At the Services tab of System Configuration, select Hide all Microsoft services and then click Disable all. Select Apply.
4) Go to the Startup tab, click on Open Task Manager.
5) In Task Manager, for each enabled startup item (you can tell from the Status column), select the item and then select Disable (keep track of which items have been Disabled, you’ll need to know this later).
6) Go back to the System Configuration window.
7) Click Apply -> OK to save the changes.
8) Restart your computer. Then your computer will be in a clean boot environment without any third-party apps running.
9) Check to see if the problem occurs in the clean boot environment.
If the problem still occurs while your computer is in the clean boot environment, it’s is caused by incompatible apps. Then move ahead and try the next method.
If the problem doesn’t occur while your computer is in the clean boot environment, it’s caused by incompatible apps. Then you can follow these steps to determine which app is causing the problem.
1) Open the System Configuration window again.
2) On the Services tab, tick Hide all Microsoft services.
3) Enable several non-Microsoft services at a time (for example, five services as a group).
4) Check to see if the problem occurs. If the problem occurs, that group contains the service that’s causing the problem.
5) Repeat Step 3) and Step 4) until you determine a group of services causing the problem. Then check the service one by one until you determine the service that is causing the problem.
Perform the same steps for the Startup items and determine which startup program is causing the problem.
Once you determine the app causing the problem, you can uninstall it. Here’s how to uninstall an app:
1) Open the Apps & Features window.
Right-click the Start menu button and select Apps and Features. After that, the Apps and Features window will open.
2) Locate and click on the app that you wish to uninstall.
3) Click Uninstall > Uninstall.
Method 5: Check hardware issues
If none of the above methods works, the problem is probably related to faulty hardware. Here is a list of hardware you should check:
Video cable
The flicker on the screen can be caused by a loose or faulty video cable. Unplug the video cable from both the monitor end and the computer end, then re-plug the video cable to both ends. Make sure the connections are tight and secure.
If the problem persists, you can try a different video cable to determine if the current video cable is faulty.
Input port
Try a different input port if possible. For example, if you connect the monitor through HDMI, you can try to connect it through DisplayPort, DVI or VGA instead and check to see if another input port helps resolve the problem.
Monitor
If possible, try a different monitor or test your current monitor on another computer. This will help determine if the monitor is faulty. If the monitor is faulty, you may want to replace it with a new one or contact a tech person to have a further check.
Video card
If your video card doesn’t have enough power, the monitor can keep blinking on or off. Open the computer case, disconnect the video card from the power supply at both ends and then reconnect it. Ensure the connectors are in all the way.
After that, check to see if your monitor still keeps blinking on and off. If the problem still persists, it’s recommended you contact a tech person to check if the video card is faulty.
Thank you for reading. If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment below, I’ll get back to you ASAP.