How to Fix Screen Tearing on Your Computer

Published 2026-10-16 · LuxuriousComputers Repair

Screen tearing is a visual artifact where horizontal lines appear across your monitor, making it look like the image is split or misaligned. The top half of the screen shows a slightly different frame than the bottom half, creating a visible seam that moves around during motion. Screen tearing is most noticeable during gaming, video playback, and fast scrolling, and it happens when your graphics card sends frames to the monitor at a rate that does not match the monitor refresh rate. This guide covers every fix from simple settings changes to hardware solutions.

What causes screen tearing

Your graphics card renders frames and sends them to the monitor. The monitor redraws the screen at a fixed rate (its refresh rate — typically 60, 144, or 165 times per second). Screen tearing happens when the GPU finishes a new frame and pushes it to the monitor in the middle of a screen refresh. The monitor ends up displaying part of the old frame and part of the new frame simultaneously, creating the visible tear line:

  • If your GPU is rendering faster than the monitor refresh rate (for example, 120 fps on a 60 Hz monitor), tearing is frequent because the GPU is constantly overwriting the frame buffer mid-refresh
  • If your GPU is rendering slower than the monitor but at an inconsistent rate, tearing still occurs when frame delivery and monitor refresh happen to overlap
  • Tearing is a synchronization problem, not a performance problem. A more powerful GPU can actually cause more tearing if it pushes frames faster than the monitor can display them

Enable VSync

VSync (Vertical Synchronization) is the simplest fix. It forces the GPU to wait for the monitor to finish its current refresh before sending a new frame, eliminating tearing completely:

  • In-game settings: Most games have a VSync option in their graphics or display settings menu. Enable it. This is the fastest fix for tearing in a specific game
  • NVIDIA Control Panel: Right-click the desktop, select NVIDIA Control Panel. Go to Manage 3D Settings, find Vertical Sync in the list, and set it to On (or Adaptive for a compromise — see below). This applies VSync to all applications
  • AMD Radeon Software: Open AMD Software, go to Gaming, Graphics. Find Wait for Vertical Refresh and set it to Always On
  • Intel Graphics: Open Intel Graphics Command Center, go to Display settings, and enable VSync
  • VSync trade-off: VSync eliminates tearing but can introduce input lag (a slight delay between your mouse/keyboard input and the on-screen response) because the GPU waits for the monitor sync signal. In competitive games where reaction time matters, some players prefer a small amount of tearing over the added input lag. For everything else — casual gaming, video, desktop use — VSync is the right answer

Use Adaptive VSync or Enhanced Sync

Adaptive sync options give you the benefits of VSync without the worst of the input lag penalty:

  • NVIDIA Adaptive VSync: In NVIDIA Control Panel, set Vertical Sync to Adaptive instead of On. Adaptive VSync enables VSync when the frame rate is at or above the monitor refresh rate (preventing tearing) but disables it when the frame rate drops below the refresh rate (preventing the stuttering that regular VSync causes at low frame rates)
  • NVIDIA Fast Sync: Available on GTX 900 series and newer. Set Vertical Sync to Fast. Fast Sync reduces tearing and input lag simultaneously by using a more sophisticated frame buffering method. It works best when your frame rate is significantly higher than your refresh rate (for example, 200+ fps on a 60 Hz monitor)
  • AMD Enhanced Sync: In AMD Software, set Wait for Vertical Refresh to Enhanced Sync. Similar to NVIDIA Adaptive — it enables sync above the refresh rate and disables it below, reducing both tearing and stuttering

Enable FreeSync or G-Sync

If your monitor supports variable refresh rate (VRR), this is the best solution because it eliminates tearing without adding input lag:

  • What VRR does: Instead of the monitor refreshing at a fixed rate and the GPU trying to match, the monitor dynamically adjusts its refresh rate to match the GPU frame rate. When the GPU renders at 87 fps, the monitor refreshes at 87 Hz. When it drops to 54 fps, the monitor drops to 54 Hz. Since the monitor and GPU are always in sync, tearing cannot occur
  • AMD FreeSync: If you have an AMD GPU and a FreeSync monitor, open AMD Software, go to Display, and enable AMD FreeSync. Also enable it in your monitor on-screen display menu (some monitors default to FreeSync off). FreeSync monitors range from budget to premium and many are also compatible with NVIDIA GPUs
  • NVIDIA G-Sync Compatible: If you have an NVIDIA GPU (GTX 10 series or newer) and a FreeSync or G-Sync Compatible monitor, open NVIDIA Control Panel, go to Display, Set up G-SYNC, check Enable G-SYNC, G-SYNC Compatible. Select your monitor. NVIDIA validates certain FreeSync monitors as G-Sync Compatible, but you can enable it on any FreeSync monitor (some may have minor issues)
  • NVIDIA G-Sync (dedicated module): Monitors with a hardware G-Sync module work automatically with NVIDIA GPUs. These are typically higher-end monitors. Enable G-Sync in NVIDIA Control Panel the same way
  • Check if your monitor supports VRR: Look up your monitor model specifications. The product page or manual will list FreeSync, G-Sync Compatible, or G-Sync support. If your monitor does not support any form of VRR, VSync or frame rate limiting are your options

Limit your frame rate

If VSync introduces too much input lag and your monitor does not support VRR, limiting the frame rate to just below your monitor refresh rate is an effective compromise:

  • NVIDIA Control Panel: Manage 3D Settings, Max Frame Rate. Set it to 2 or 3 frames below your monitor refresh rate (for example, 57 for a 60 Hz monitor, 141 for a 144 Hz monitor). This gives the GPU a small buffer to deliver frames without overrunning the monitor refresh
  • AMD Radeon Software: Gaming, Graphics, Frame Rate Target Control (FRTC). Set the target to a few fps below your refresh rate
  • In-game frame limiter: Many games have a built-in frame rate limit in their settings. Set it to your monitor refresh rate or just below. In-game limiters often have lower latency than driver-level limiters
  • RTSS (RivaTuner Statistics Server): A third-party tool that provides very precise frame rate limiting with minimal input lag. Download it from the Guru3D website. Set the frame rate limit to your monitor refresh rate minus 3. RTSS is widely regarded as having the best frame pacing of any limiter

Check your display cable and connection

  • Cable quality: A damaged or low-bandwidth display cable can cause intermittent tearing or visual artifacts that look like tearing. If you are using a very long HDMI cable, an adapter, or an old cable, try replacing it with a shorter, high-quality cable
  • HDMI vs DisplayPort: For VRR (FreeSync/G-Sync), DisplayPort is more reliable than HDMI on most setups. If your monitor and GPU both have DisplayPort, use it. HDMI 2.1 supports VRR on newer hardware, but older HDMI versions have limited or no VRR support
  • Multi-monitor setups: Running multiple monitors at different refresh rates can cause tearing on the secondary monitor in some configurations. If tearing only appears on one monitor in a multi-monitor setup, try setting both monitors to the same refresh rate, or close applications on the secondary monitor during gaming

Update your graphics driver

  • Outdated graphics drivers can have frame delivery bugs that cause or worsen tearing. Update to the latest driver from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel
  • If tearing started immediately after a driver update, the new driver may have a regression. Roll back to the previous version: Device Manager, Display Adapters, right-click your GPU, Properties, Driver tab, Roll Back Driver
  • Use a clean install when updating graphics drivers (check the Clean Install option in the NVIDIA installer, or use DDU — Display Driver Uninstaller — for a thorough removal before installing the new driver). Leftover settings from old drivers can conflict with sync features

Desktop and video tearing (not games)

If tearing occurs on the desktop, in web browsers, or during video playback (not just in games), the issue is usually compositor-related:

  • Windows desktop compositor: Windows 10 and 11 use a compositor (DWM — Desktop Window Manager) that should prevent desktop tearing. If you see tearing on the desktop, make sure your display driver is up to date and that no application has disabled the compositor. Some older games or applications disable DWM while running and do not re-enable it properly
  • Browser video tearing: In Chrome, type chrome://flags in the address bar and search for Hardware Acceleration. Make sure it is enabled. Also check GPU Rasterization. In Firefox, go to Settings, General, Performance, and make sure Use Recommended Performance Settings is checked
  • Video player tearing: In VLC, go to Tools, Preferences, Video, and change the Output module to Direct3D11 (Windows) or OpenGL (Mac). Older output modules like DirectDraw can cause tearing

When hardware is the issue

If tearing persists despite all software fixes, the GPU may be struggling or the monitor may have a panel issue. On very old or underpowered GPUs, the graphics driver may not properly support VSync or frame buffering for modern applications. If your GPU is several generations old and tearing is widespread across all applications, upgrading the GPU or monitor (to one with VRR) may be the most effective fix. LuxuriousComputers can diagnose display issues, test your GPU output, and recommend whether a driver fix, GPU upgrade, or monitor change is the right solution.

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