Screen flickering or brightness controls missing

A flickering screen, or brightness keys that do nothing, are both often down to the display driver or a setting. A few steps will tell you whether it is a software problem.

Quick fixes to try first

• Restart the laptop.
• Plug in the charger. Some laptops dim the screen automatically on battery.
• Unplug any external monitors or docks and see whether the flickering stops.
• Try the brightness keys on the top row. You may need to hold Fn as well.

Step by step: flickering

1. Press Ctrl, Shift and Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Watch it. If Task Manager flickers too, the cause is probably the graphics driver. If it stays steady while other things flicker, a program is likely the cause.
3. Open Settings, then Windows Update, and install all updates. Restart.
4. Open Settings, then System, then Display and check the Refresh rate under advanced display options is set to a higher choice that is marked recommended.

Step by step: brightness

1. Open Settings, then System, then Display.
2. Look for the Brightness slider at the top. Move it.
3. If there is no slider, you may be using a desktop PC where brightness is changed with buttons on the monitor itself. That is normal.
4. On a laptop, install updates from Windows Update, including any optional driver updates under advanced options, and restart.

If that did not work

• Close recently installed programs that may cause flicker, and uninstall any you do not need.
• Try a different monitor if you have one to see whether it is the screen.

Avoid downloading driver tools from random sites.

When to get more help

Stop and email us if the flicker has coloured lines, patches or cracks, it flickers even in the start-up screen before Windows loads, or brightness never works. Those can mean a hardware fault. Tell us the make and model and when it began.