Buzz
In a previous article, Mytour discussed the causes and solutions for a laptop screen with horizontal or vertical lines; in this article, we will present some causes and solutions for a laptop screen that flickers, flashes, or shakes, for readers to consider before deciding on repairs.
Flickering, flashing, or shaking laptop screen
- Incorrect screen refresh rate
Similar to the laptop screen interference issue, mosquitoes can cause a laptop screen to flicker, flash, or shake due to an incorrect screen refresh rate. First, check if the screen refresh rate is correct. Typically, the screen refresh rate is around 50, 60, 70, 75Hz depending on the type of screen.
Changing the screen refresh rate can fix the issue of a laptop screen flickering, flashing, or shaking
- Screen cable issue
Your screen cable may have poor contact, become loose, or worn out due to use... leading to a situation where the laptop screen flickers, flashes, or shakes uncontrollably.
- Faulty graphics card, video card
If the graphics card, video card, or VGA is faulty, weak, or worn out from use, it can lead to a flickering, flashing, or shaking laptop screen.
- Due to a faulty LCD screen
Another cause is that your screen is faulty. If your device has been used for a long time or unfortunately it has been bumped, dropped... then it is very likely that your screen has been seriously affected by those unfortunate events.
In most cases like blurry laptop screen, blurry, fuzzy, interference, mosquitoes, horizontal lines, vertical lines... more than half of the cases are due to the screen showing signs of 'destruction' and needing replacement.
How to fix a laptop screen that flickers, flashes, or shakes...
If your screen has issues related to LCD screen; faulty graphics card, video card; weak or broken screen cable... then you should take them for warranty or replacement repairs.
As for the first cause, 'Incorrect screen refresh rate,' users can check and replace it by following these steps: right-click on 'Desktop => Properties => Setting => Advanced => Monitor' to set them up; as mentioned, the proper refresh rate is around 50, 60, 70, 75Hz depending on the type of screen.
- Note
- The first thing you need to do is check the screen refresh rate and set it to determine the cause, if luckily your device only has the wrong screen refresh rate, you can totally reset it.
Some other ways to fix a flickering, flashing, or shaking laptop screen...
The first step is to identify the real culprit causing the flickering, flashing, or shaking laptop screen.
To quickly find the culprit causing the issue, open Task Manager by right-clicking on any empty space on the Taskbar, select Task Manager, or use the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Esc. Pay attention to whether the screen and Task Manager are flickering, flashing or not.
If only the laptop screen is flickering or flashing while Task Manager is not, it indicates that the culprit causing the issue is some application that you have installed is not compatible with the system. If both Task Manager and the laptop screen are flickering, flashing, or shaking, the culprit may be the graphics card driver.
After identifying the culprit as the cause of the issue, apply one of the methods below to fix the issue of a flickering, flashing, or shaking laptop screen that is very difficult to view.
Method 1: Uninstall incompatible applications
Most applications are not compatible with the operating system installed on the laptop are third-party antivirus and virus removal software designed for previous versions of Windows.
Applications like Norton Antivirus, iCloud, and IDT Audio are known to cause compatibility issues on the system.
To uninstall incompatible applications, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Open Settings.
Step 2: Click on System.
Step 3: Click on Apps & features.
Step 4: Select the applications causing system issues, then click Uninstall.
Step 5: Click Uninstall again to confirm.
Here are the steps to uninstall the application on the App Store that is causing the issue. Additionally, to uninstall applications on the computer causing issues, you can use Control Panel.
Step 1: Open Control Panel.
Step 2: Click on Uninstall a program.
Step 3: Select the application causing the issue.
Step 4: Click on Uninstall and follow the steps to uninstall the application.
After uninstalling the application causing the issue, restart your laptop and check if the issue of a flickering, flashing, or shaking laptop screen that is very difficult to view still persists.
If the issue persists, try updating the graphics card driver and check if the issue still persists.
Method 2: Update the graphics card driver
If both Task Manager and the laptop screen are flickering, flashing, or shaking, the culprit may be the graphics card driver. In this case, you need to uninstall the old graphics card driver in Safe Mode, then install the latest driver version to fix the issue.
To boot your computer into Safe Mode, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Open Settings.
Step 2: Click on Update & security.
Step 3: Click on Recovery.
Step 4: In the Advanced startup section, click on Restart now.
Step 5: Click on Troubleshoot.
Step 6: Select Advanced options.
Step 7: Select Startup Settings.
Step 8: Select Restart.
Step 9: After your computer restarts, select option 4 to boot into Safe Mode, or you can choose option 5 to boot into Safe Mode with Networking.
Uninstall the graphics card driver
To uninstall the graphics card driver, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Press Windows + X to open the Power User Menu, then select Device Manager.
Step 2: In the Device Manager window, click to expand Device adapters.
Step 3: Right-click on the graphics card, then select Uninstall.
Step 4: Check the box for Delete the driver software for this device.
Step 5: Click on OK to confirm.
Step 6: Restart your computer.
Reinstall the graphics card driver
To reinstall the graphics card driver, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Open Settings.
Step 2: Select Update & security.
Step 3: Choose Windows Update.
Step 4: Click on the Check for updates button to download and install the latest graphics card driver.
Windows Update provides drivers that are compatible with your device, but this does not necessarily mean they are the latest drivers. Instead of using Windows Update, you can download the graphics card driver from the manufacturer's website and install it manually.
Below is a list of manufacturers that allow you to download the latest drivers:
- NVIDIA
- GeForce
- Intel
- AMD
If installing the latest driver does not resolve the issue of your laptop screen flickering, flashing, or shaking, the final solution is to download and install older driver versions from the manufacturer's website. Sometimes, older drivers may work better than the latest versions. We hope this article helps you resolve the screen flickering, flashing, or shaking issue to improve your work experience.
