Screen tearing on Windows: why it happens and how to stop it

Why tearing happens

A monitor redraws the image at a fixed rhythm, its refresh rate. A graphics card finishes frames whenever it can, which is rarely in step with that rhythm. If a new frame arrives while the monitor is part way through drawing the previous one, the top of the screen shows the old frame and the bottom shows the new one. During fast camera movement the mismatch is obvious as a horizontal line where the two do not align.

Tearing can happen whether the frame rate is above or below the refresh rate. It is simply the visible result of frames and refreshes not being coordinated, and every fix works by coordinating them in one of three ways: the display follows the graphics card, the graphics card waits for the display, or the frame rate is held where tearing is least likely.

Check the basics first

A surprising amount of tearing, and plenty of other display trouble, comes from a setup that is not doing what its owner thinks. Under Settings, System, Display, Advanced display, confirm that the refresh rate matches what your monitor supports. A high refresh rate monitor left running at a lower rate, which can happen after a driver update or with the wrong cable, is common and easy to miss.

Use the cable and port that support your monitor's full refresh rate and its variable refresh rate feature, usually DisplayPort, or an HDMI version the monitor and graphics card both support. Plug it into the graphics card rather than the motherboard's video output. Check the monitor's own menu too, because many monitors ship with their adaptive sync feature switched off.

Fix: variable refresh rate

The best fix, when your hardware supports it, is variable refresh rate. Instead of refreshing on a fixed rhythm, the monitor waits for each frame and refreshes when it arrives, so frames and refreshes line up by design. NVIDIA calls its versions G-SYNC and G-SYNC Compatible; AMD calls its version FreeSync; the underlying standard for many monitors is VESA Adaptive-Sync.

To use it, enable adaptive sync in the monitor's menu, then enable it in the graphics driver. In the NVIDIA Control Panel that is under Display, Set up G-SYNC; AMD's is in AMD Software's display settings. Windows also has a variable refresh rate toggle under Settings, System, Display, Graphics that extends support to some DirectX 11 full-screen games that lack it. The variable refresh rate reference covers how these layers interact.

Variable refresh rate only works within the range the monitor supports. If the frame rate climbs above the monitor's maximum refresh rate, tearing can return, which is what the next two fixes address.

Fix: cap the frame rate just below the refresh rate

A frame rate limit set a little below the monitor's maximum refresh rate keeps the game inside the variable refresh range, so the display keeps following it. Use the game's own limiter where it has one, since it usually adds the least delay; otherwise the graphics driver's limiter works, and NVIDIA's Max Frame Rate setting is one example. Pick a single limiter rather than several.

Without variable refresh rate, a cap alone does not eliminate tearing, because frames still arrive out of step with refreshes. It can make tearing less frequent and frame delivery more even, which some players prefer to the delay VSync adds.

Fix: VSync, and its trade-off

Traditional VSync removes tearing by making the graphics card wait until the monitor is ready before showing a new frame. It works on any display. The cost is delay: frames queue waiting for the next refresh, and if the game cannot keep up with the refresh rate, some setups drop to a much lower rate while waiting, which feels like judder.

Graphics drivers offer variations. NVIDIA's Control Panel lists Adaptive, which only syncs when the frame rate exceeds the refresh rate, and Fast, which NVIDIA says improves latency without introducing tearing on supported cards. With G-SYNC, NVIDIA's own guidance combines VSync in the driver with a frame cap below the refresh rate, which keeps variable refresh active at the top of its range. The NVIDIA Control Panel reference describes each option.

Tearing in windowed and borderless games

Games running in a window or borderless window go through the Windows desktop's compositor, which normally prevents tearing but has traditionally added its own presentation delay and limited variable refresh rate support. On Windows 11, optimizations for windowed games, under Settings, System, Display, Graphics, move DirectX 10 and 11 games in those modes to a newer presentation model that supports variable refresh rate and reduces latency. If a game behaves differently between full screen and borderless, test both with that setting on. Game DVR and fullscreen optimizations covers the older full-screen presentation settings.

Multiple monitors and mixed refresh rates

Setups with two or more monitors bring their own tearing and smoothness problems, especially when the monitors run at different refresh rates. A video playing on a slower secondary display, or an animated page open there, can affect how smoothly a game on the main display presents its frames on some systems. If tearing or judder only happens with a second monitor connected or active, test again with that monitor switched off or showing nothing that moves.

Make sure the game is running on the monitor that has variable refresh rate, and that each monitor's refresh rate is set correctly under Settings, System, Display, Advanced display. Where a game lets you pick a display in its own settings, choose it there rather than dragging a borderless window between screens, because moving the window can change which display it is synchronised with.

Why no optimizer fixes tearing

Tearing is solved by the display, the graphics driver and the game's frame limit, none of which a Windows optimizer controls. Any tool claiming to eliminate tearing through registry changes is claiming something outside its reach. The best Windows 11 optimizer covers the Windows-side presentation settings a tool should at least know about, and the stuttering guide covers uneven motion that is not tearing.

JINSHI PC Tweaks is our product and changes Windows settings, not display sync, so we will not pretend it fixes tearing. It lists every change on the complete tweak list and reverses each individually if you use it for other problems; the JINSHI Tweaks homepage explains what PC Tweaks does cover. For deciding what, if anything, to install, see how to choose a PC optimizer for gaming.