Getting to Know Dynamic Refresh Rate in Windows 11
If you’ve been tinkering with your Windows 11 display settings, you might have noticed that your screen’s refresh rate can sometimes change on its own, or perhaps you’re trying to set it manually for better performance or troubleshooting. The whole idea behind dynamic refresh rate is actually pretty useful, but it can be a bit confusing if you’re not familiar with it. Basically, it’s a feature that helps extend battery life by adjusting how often your screen updates: fast action, like videos or gaming, gets a higher refresh rate, while static content like documents or web pages drops down to a lower rate. Sounds logical, right?
I got stuck trying to lock in a specific refresh rate — maybe because the automatic setting wasn’t doing what I wanted, or I needed a more stable display. Setting a fixed rate isn’t difficult, but the options aren’t always obvious—especially if your device or monitor doesn’t support certain refresh rates, or if some options are tucked away in settings you don’t usually visit. And, of course, messing with display settings comes with warnings — changing the refresh rate to one your screen doesn’t support can result in poor image quality, visual glitches, or, in rare cases, flickering or a black screen.
Keep in mind that switching refresh rates sometimes requires you to restart or log out. Also, if Windows isn’t recognising your display properly, it might be because your graphics driver is out of date or limited. On my older ASUS machine, I found the refresh rate options buried in Advanced Settings and only appeared after updating or reinstalling graphics drivers. If your monitor only supports 60Hz or 75Hz, setting it to 120Hz or higher won’t have any effect — that’s just not supported hardware-wise.
How to Enable and Use Dynamic Refresh Rate
The first step is to open Settings — easiest way is Windows key + I. From there, go to System, then Display. Once you’re in Display settings, look for Advanced display settings. Sometimes it’s tucked away behind a link or hidden in a menu, depending on your Windows version or recent updates. The important part is finding the dropdown menu called Choose a refresh rate.
If your device and monitor support it, you’ll see options like 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz, etc. And if your PC supports the dynamic refresh rate feature, you might see an option labelled ‘Variable refresh’ or something similar. Selecting that lets Windows automatically adjust the refresh rate based on your activity — perfect for saving battery on laptops or tablets. On my setup, the highest refresh rate was 90Hz, which is common for mid-range devices, and the dynamic switching worked pretty well — it’d drop to 60Hz when browsing and bump up when gaming or watching videos.
How to Manually Set a Refresh Rate
Sometimes, I just want to select a specific refresh rate for a consistent experience or to fix flickering issues. To do this, stay in the same dropdown menu and choose your preferred fixed rate — say, 60Hz or 90Hz. Beware, though: if your display doesn’t support a particular rate, Windows might revert to a default, or there might be a flicker or brief black-out when you change it. Usually, just clicking ‘Apply’ or ‘OK’ will do, and if the display isn’t stable, a restart or re-applying the setting often helps.
This trick is handy if automatic dynamic refresh isn’t working well, or if you want to prevent Windows from dropping down to a lower refresh rate. For instance, some games or video editing tools run better if you lock the refresh rate. Keep in mind that hardware limitations or outdated drivers might restrict your options. Also, sometimes disconnecting and reconnecting your monitor or cable (HDMI or DisplayPort) helps Windows register the change properly.
Other Tips and Things to Check
If options are missing or greyed out, it’s likely your display driver needs updating. You can update drivers via Device Manager: Windows + X > Device Manager, then expand Display adapters, right-click your GPU, and select Update driver. Outdated drivers can hide or lock out refresh rate options because they don’t support newer features. Also, running dxdiag and checking the Display tab can tell you what your hardware is capable of — sometimes, the hardware itself simply isn’t supported, especially on older or budget monitors.
If you still don’t see the options you expect, try swapping cables or updating Windows to the latest version. Enabling or disabling certain BIOS features related to graphics or display can also influence what Windows can detect. For example, some motherboards have options like ‘Intel PTT’ (Platform Trust Technology) or AMD’s fTPM; these are mainly security features but can sometimes impact hardware recognition. Just note that changing TPM or Secure Boot settings can disable certain features or cause issues with encryption — so, proceed with caution if you’re using disk encryption like BitLocker, and make sure you have your recovery keys backed up.
Remember: if your device supports ‘Dynamic’ refresh rates but isn’t behaving as expected, updating your display drivers and checking for BIOS updates from the manufacturer can make a difference. Hardware firmware plays a big role in ensuring everything runs smoothly.
I hope this helps others avoid the same headaches I went through. It took quite a bit of fiddling to get everything working correctly. The main takeaway is that your display’s refresh rate isn’t always a set-it-and-forget-it option; sometimes, you need to poke around, update drivers, or tweak settings to get things just right.