Windows 11 makes my screen flicker until I manually restart my PC. I only have one graphic driver. How do I fix this

Hi JG,

Thank you for reaching out. I understand how concerning it can be when your computer restarts automatically after selecting Shut down, especially when this behavior began after moving to Windows 11.

In some cases, Windows 11 uses an enhanced shutdown method called Fast Startup, which combines shutdown and hibernation to help the system start up more quickly. If a driver or firmware does not transition cleanly from this hybrid power state, the device may restart instead of completing a full power-off.

Additionally, pending system updates or power configuration settings can also cause the system to restart automatically in order to finalize important background processes.

In addition to Q&A Assist's answer, here are some possible checking steps that you can try in this situation:

1, Turn off Fast Startup

• Press Windows + R, type control then press Enter
• Go to Hardware and Sound > Power Options
• Select Choose what the power buttons do
• Click Change settings that are currently unavailable
• Uncheck Turn on fast startup
• Click Save changes

2, Disable Automatic Restart

• Press Windows + R, type sysdm.cpl then press Enter
• Go to Advanced tab
• Under Startup and Recovery, click Settings
• Uncheck Automatically restart
• Click OK

3, Check for Pending Updates

• Go to Settings > Windows Update
• Click Check for updates
• Install any available updates

Until this is fully resolved, you can force a real shutdown with this temporary workaround:

• Right‑click Desktop > New > Shortcut
• Paste: C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe /s /t 0
• Name it: Full Shutdown

I hope these steps help restore normal shutdown behavior on your device.

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Even if you only have one graphics device, if you uninstall the driver, Windows will use the default Microsoft Basic Display driver until you restart your PC.

The best option is to go to the support page for your PC or graphics card to download the installer for the graphics, then run that to reinstall the graphics drivers on top of the existing drivers.

If that does not resolve the problem, open the Settings App.
Go to System - Recovery.

Click the 'Reinstall Now' button in the 'Fix problems with Windows Udpates' section, then wait for that process to complete.

This process should fix any corruption in the Windows system files and will not affect your files, settings or installed apps.

Screen flickering after upgrading to Windows 11 is typically caused by either the display driver or an incompatible app.

Try these steps in order:

1. Reset the graphics driver
   • Press Windows logo key + Ctrl + Shift + B.
   • The screen should briefly flicker and you may hear a beep. If the issue persists, continue below.
2. Check whether Task Manager flickers
   • Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete, then select Task Manager (or press Ctrl + Shift + Esc).
   • Observe the screen:
     • If Task Manager flickers along with the rest of the screen, the display driver is likely the cause. Go to step 3.
     • If Task Manager does not flicker while the rest of the screen does, an incompatible app is likely the cause. Go to step 4.
3. Fix the display driver (even if there is only one) Having only one display adapter does not prevent changing its driver. Use Device Manager to roll back, update, or reinstall it: a) Roll back the display driver (if Windows Update recently updated it)
   1. In the taskbar search box, type device manager and open it.
   2. Expand Display adapters.
   3. Right‑click the display adapter and select Properties.
   4. Go to the Driver tab and select Roll Back Driver > Yes.
   5. Restart the PC.
   • If Roll Back Driver is unavailable, there is no previous driver stored and this option cannot be used.
   b) Update the display driver
   1. Open Device Manager.
   2. Expand Display adapters.
   3. Right‑click the display adapter and select Update driver.
   4. Follow the prompts. If needed, download the latest driver from the PC or display adapter manufacturer and install it.
   c) Uninstall and reinstall the display driver
   1. Open Device Manager.
   2. Expand Display adapters.
   3. Right‑click the display adapter and select Properties.
   4. On the Driver tab, select Uninstall Device.
   5. Check Delete the driver software for this device (or Attempt to remove the driver for this device), then select OK.
   6. Restart the PC; Windows will attempt to reinstall the driver automatically.
   • If the delete/remove checkbox is missing, start Windows in Safe Mode first, then repeat the uninstall steps.
4. If Task Manager does not flicker: update or remove incompatible apps
   • Identify any apps that are running when the flicker starts (for example, third‑party display utilities, screen recorders, or OEM control panels).
   • Update those apps to their latest versions from their publishers.
   • If updating does not help, uninstall the suspected app and restart.

If the screen flicker makes it hard to work through these steps, start Windows in Safe Mode and perform the driver rollback/update/uninstall from there.

References:

• Troubleshoot screen flickering in Windows
• Troubleshooting blank screens in Windows