How to Fix Screen Tearing in PC Games on Windows

This guide is for any Windows PC gamer who sees a horizontal split or glitch running across the screen during gameplay, especially in fast-moving scenes. If you want to fix screen tearing in PC games, you will walk through the official fixes from NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, and Windows itself, starting with the simplest changes and moving to deeper troubleshooting if the problem sticks around.

Screen tearing happens when a game sends frames to your monitor faster, or out of step with, the monitor’s refresh rate. The result is a frame boundary visible mid-screen, as if two images were stitched together slightly offset. The fixes below come straight from Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, and Microsoft support documentation.

Before you start

• Know which graphics chip you have: Intel, AMD (Radeon), or NVIDIA (GeForce). The fix path differs by manufacturer.
• Update Windows first. Some users on NVIDIA’s forums report tearing that started after the Windows 11 24H2 update (more on that below).
• Check that your monitor supports the refresh rate and sync technology (G-SYNC, FreeSync, or VRR) you plan to enable; not every panel does.
• If you plan to use Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) later, back up your current display drivers first and be ready to boot into Safe Mode.

Step 1: Set your monitor’s refresh rate and keep drivers updated

Before touching any sync settings, confirm Windows is using your monitor’s highest supported refresh rate, and make sure your graphics driver is current. An outdated or generic graphics driver is a common cause of tearing.

1. Select Start > Settings > System > Display.
2. Scroll down and click Advanced display.
3. Under Refresh rate, select the highest rate listed. If Windows asks whether to keep the change, confirm it; otherwise it switches back automatically after about 15 seconds.
4. Separately, keep your PC drivers updated by downloading the latest graphics driver directly from Intel, AMD, or NVIDIA (or from your laptop manufacturer’s support site if you’re on a laptop).

Step 2: Turn on the right sync technology for your GPU

Once your refresh rate and drivers are sorted, the next step is enabling vertical sync or an adaptive sync technology. The exact menu depends on which graphics chip is driving your display.

Intel Graphics (HD, Iris, Iris Xe, Arc)

1. Open the Intel Graphics Command Center from the Windows Start Menu.
2. Find the Vertical Sync setting and set it to Always On.
3. In-game, cap your frame rate at or below your monitor’s refresh rate for extra consistency.

Note that Intel’s VSync setting only affects full-screen games or applications, and enabling it can add a small amount of input latency.

AMD Radeon

1. If you own a FreeSync-certified monitor connected over DisplayPort or HDMI, open AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, go to Global Display, and confirm AMD FreeSync is enabled. It’s on by default for supported applications, and you can fine-tune it per game under Gaming > Games.
2. If you don’t have a FreeSync display, go to Global Graphics and set Wait for Vertical Refresh to Always On.
3. As an alternative to traditional V-Sync, try Radeon Enhanced Sync (also under Global Graphics) on a Polaris-based GPU or newer. AMD says it reduces tearing and latency compared with V-Sync, but it only works with DirectX 9, 10, 11, 12, or Vulkan games, not OpenGL, and it isn’t meant for video playback.

NVIDIA GeForce

1. If your monitor is G-SYNC capable, right-click the desktop, open NVIDIA Control Panel, go to Display > Set up G-SYNC, and enable it for your display.
2. Otherwise, go to Manage 3D Settings, find Vertical Sync, and set it to On. You can also apply this per game under Program Settings instead of globally.
3. Under Manage 3D Settings, you can also set Monitor Technology to G-SYNC, ULMB, or a fixed refresh rate depending on what your display supports.
4. To cap your frame rate directly, use Max Frame Rate in the same menu and set it close to, or slightly under, your monitor’s refresh rate (for example, around 140 FPS on a 144Hz monitor).

Step 3: Try Windows-level fixes

If adjusting GPU settings doesn’t fully solve it, Windows itself has a few relevant options, particularly on Windows 11.

1. Go to Settings > System > Display > Graphics, then click Change default graphics settings (Windows 11) and toggle Variable refresh rate on, if your monitor and GPU support it. This requires Windows 10 version 1903 or later, or Windows 11, plus a G-SYNC, FreeSync, or Adaptive-Sync capable display.
2. On Windows 11 laptops with a 120Hz or higher display, go to Settings > System > Display > Advanced display, and under Choose a refresh rate, pick an option with “Dynamic” in the name. This feature, called Dynamic Refresh Rate, is laptop-only and not available on Windows 10.
3. If tearing started after a Windows update, specifically Windows 24H2, go to Settings > System > Display > Graphics and toggle Optimizations for windowed games off. Users on NVIDIA’s forums describe this as a temporary workaround that may need reversing once Windows fixes the issue.
4. If a specific game only tears in fullscreen but not in windowed mode, right-click the game’s .exe file, go to Properties > Compatibility, check “Disable fullscreen optimizations”, then click Apply and OK.

If it still doesn’t work

When the steps above don’t resolve tearing, the official documentation points to a few deeper causes:

• Do a clean driver reinstall. Download Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) from guru3d.com, boot into Safe Mode, run DDU to fully remove your current graphics driver, restart, then install the latest driver directly from your GPU manufacturer’s site (choosing the custom or clean install option, without extra bundled software).
• Check for background software interference. Close unnecessary apps that may be competing for GPU resources, or try a clean boot.
• Rule out hardware. Test a different video cable (HDMI, DisplayPort, or DVI), try a different port on your GPU, or connect a different monitor if one is available.
• Check your API compatibility. Some sync technologies, like AMD’s Enhanced Sync, don’t support OpenGL, so confirm which API your game uses before assuming the fix failed.

FAQ

Does V-Sync fix screen tearing completely?

Yes, V-Sync is designed to eliminate tearing by syncing the game’s frame output to your monitor’s refresh rate, but official documentation from Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA all note it can add input latency, which is why competitive players often prefer adaptive sync technologies like G-SYNC, FreeSync, or Enhanced Sync instead.

What’s the difference between V-Sync and G-SYNC or FreeSync?

V-Sync locks the game to fixed intervals matching the monitor’s refresh rate, which can add latency. G-SYNC (NVIDIA) and FreeSync (AMD) instead let the monitor’s refresh rate vary dynamically to match the GPU’s frame output, which NVIDIA and AMD both state reduces tearing with less added latency, but only works if your specific monitor supports that technology.

Why does my game only tear in fullscreen mode?

This usually points to fullscreen optimizations interacting poorly with that specific game. The official fix is to right-click the game’s .exe, open Properties > Compatibility, and check “Disable fullscreen optimizations.”

Can a Windows update cause screen tearing?

Yes. Users on NVIDIA’s forums report that the Windows 11 24H2 update introduced tearing on some setups, with a temporary workaround of disabling Optimizations for windowed games under Settings > System > Display > Graphics until Microsoft issues a permanent fix.

Sources: nvidia.com, amd.com, Microsoft Support, Microsoft Learn, intel.com