How To Change Your Display

Over the years, the refresh rates of computer displays have steadily increased, especially for gaming monitors. In 2022, Asus introduced a monitor with an incredible 500Hz refresh rate, which is faster than most people could ever comprehend. But therein lies the problem: sometimes you don’t actually need crazy high refresh rates; in fact, you may not even want them because they use a lot more power than necessary. Thankfully, Windows 11 makes it easy to change the refresh rate on your monitor or built-in display.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty details, let’s take a minute to clarify what we mean by a monitor’s refresh rate. Refresh rate, usually measured in hertz (Hz), determines how often a monitor updates the images it displays. Even with still pictures, monitors are constantly updating their visual output. One hertz means the display is updated, or at least refreshed, once per second, so a 500Hz monitor updates its display 500 times per second. A higher refresh rate lets motions and animations look more natural and smooth, whereas low refresh rates can make images stutter. Most displays, particularly non-gaming ones, have a 60Hz refresh rate, but in order to keep visuals as smooth as possible, gaming monitors generally stick between 144 and 240Hz.

However, higher refresh rates are a double-edged sword, since the more a monitor updates its image, the more power it requires. That may not make a huge difference for monitors plugged into wall sockets, but laptops that constantly run high refresh rates will eat through their batteries. Some laptops can switch refresh rates automatically when they’re unplugged, but if yours can’t, here’s how you can change the refresh rate of your display on Windows 11.

How to change your refresh rate on Windows 11

Changing the refresh rate of your monitor on Windows 11 is actually a straightforward process, and you can usually do it in the Settings menu. Here’s how it works:

1. Open the Start menu, then click on Settings.
2. Click on the System section (unless it opens by default), then choose Display.
3. Click Advanced display to see information about your connected monitors.

   

4. If you have more than one display, choose which display you want to configure.

   

5. Below your display’s information, click the dropdown menu next to Choose a refresh rate. In this example, the monitor supports a range between 50Hz and 144Hz, but your available options might differ.

   

6. Choose the option you want to use, and it’ll be applied automatically.
7. Windows will ask you to confirm your choice. Click Keep changes within 15 seconds to confirm the new refresh rate. Otherwise, the monitor will automatically revert to its previous settings.

Once you are done picking your refresh rate, your monitor will use your selection for all applications.

Dynamic Refresh

However, why settle for one refresh rate when you can have multiple? Windows 11 introduced Dynamic Refresh Rate (DRR), a feature that automatically changes your monitor’s refresh rate depending on what you’re doing. If you want to take advantage of DRR, use the following steps:

1. Open the Start menu, and then click on Settings.
2. In the System section (which will likely open by default), choose Display.
3. Click Advanced display to see information about your connected monitors.
4. If you have more than one display, choose which one you want to configure.
5. Next to the Choose a refresh rate option, pick Dynamic if available. If this selection doesn’t appear, your monitor can’t support the feature, and you will have to pick a specific refresh rate instead.

Once DRR is active, you won’t have to worry about changing refresh rates ever again. Depending on your PC’s manufacturer, you might be able to change refresh rates within your display driver settings or via an app, but it’s usually just easier to utilize Windows 11’s built-in systems.

Use your graphics card to control the refresh rate

If you have a gaming laptop or a PC with a gaming monitor, you can also use AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync to activate adaptive refresh rate while gaming. Setting these features up is easy, at least once you know where to look. If you do have an AMD GPU, use the following steps to activate AMD FreeSync:

1. Right-click on an empty space on your desktop, and click on Radeon Settings.
2. Select Display.
3. Click on AMD FreeSync to turn it on if it isn’t already.

If you own an NVIDIA card, you can turn on Nvidia G-Sync using these steps:

1. Right-click on an empty space on your desktop, and click on NVIDIA Control Panel.
2. Select Set up G-SYNC.
3. Click on Enable G-SYNC, G-SYNC Compatible.

Generally, monitors that support adaptive refresh rates work best with FreeSync and G-Sync.

That’s all you need to do to change the refresh rate of your display on Windows 11. If you want to change it back, you could always repeat these steps. If you have multiple monitors, you might also need to fix their individual refresh rates to ensure that they will all provide same visual experience.