How to Change Refresh Rate in Windows 11

If you have a keen interest in gaming or are even a bit tech-savvy, chances are you already know the impact of change of refresh rate of your screen. However, even in the case you are not doing extensive gaming, changing the refresh rate of your computer can give you a whole new experience.

That being said, not everybody is able to notice that much of a difference and not everybody is a fan of using a higher refresh rate. Hence, before we dive into change the refresh rate, let’s first understand it.

What is Monitor Refresh Rate and Why Does it Matter?

Refresh rate basically translates to how many times your screen refreshes in a duration of a second. For example, if your screen refresh rate is 60Hz (Hertz) it means your screen updates 60 times in a second. The optimal refresh rate for a screen is considered to be 60Hz.

Though the majority of commodity screens still top out at 60Hz, there are screens having higher refresh rates like 120Hz, 240Hz, going up all the way to 360Hz.

The higher refresh rate does provide you a much smoother experience not only in gaming but also in your everyday general usage of your machine. However, if you are on a laptop, do keep a note that a higher refresh rate also draws more battery from your device.

Change Monitor Refresh Rate From Windows Settings

Windows natively provide you an option to change the refresh rate of your screen. Though it might be tricky to find, once you know it is a pretty straightforward process.

To do so, launch the ‘Settings’ app from the Start Menu present on the taskbar of your Windows 11 PC. Alternatively, you can also press the Windows+I shortcut on your keyboard to access it.

Then, click on the ‘System’ tab present on the left sidebar of the ‘Settings’ window.

Next, click on the ‘Display’ tile present on the right section of the window.

Now, scroll down to locate the ‘Advanced display’ tile and click on it to access the advanced settings for your display.

Then, on the ‘Advanced display’ screen locate the ‘Choose a refresh rate’ option and click on the drop-down menu present on the far right edge of the tile.

You will then be able to see lists of refresh rates supported by your screen. Next, click on your preferred option from the menu, your screen will immediately flicker to apply the changes.

Note: Please note you might have more or fewer options on your system depending solely on the type of screen you have.

Next, you will receive an alert on your screen, click on the ‘Revert back’ to go back to your previously set refresh rate, or click on the ‘Keep changes’ option to continue with the new refresh rate.

Note: If you do not provide any input, Windows will revert back to your previously set refresh rate.