If you see display glitches or the graphics driver having issues, you can restart the graphics driver in Windows. Here’s how.
To display graphics and content on the screen, Windows requires graphics drivers. Generally, once you install appropriate drivers, you never need to worry about them apart from updating as and when needed.
However, the display may show glitches under certain circumstances, or bizarre errors can make the graphics driver unstable. Some of these errors include but are not limited to an occasional black screen, unresponsive inputs, low performance, and more. There are several reasons for this kind of behavior.
The good thing is, when the graphics card is malfunctioning, you can restart the graphics driver with just a few clicks. Often, restarting the graphics driver solves a lot of problems. That way, you don’t have to restart the computer fully or go through extreme scenarios like disabling & enabling, or reinstalling the graphics driver.
If you are wondering, it doesn’t matter what graphics card you are using, i.e., Intel, AMD, or Nvidia. The method shown below works on all graphics cards because it is a built-in Windows feature meant to troubleshoot problems with the graphics driver.
So, let me show you the steps to restart a graphics driver in Windows 11 and 10 operating systems without delay.
Restart graphics driver in Windows
You don’t have to go through deeply buried menus or use special software to restart the graphics driver. All you have to do is press the keyboard shortcut, and you are good to go. For that, do the following as instructed.
- Make sure you are on the desktop.
- Press the “Win + Ctrl + Shift + B” shortcut.
- The screen will flash once brightly.
- The screen will turn black, and the picture resumes in a second or two.
- With that, you are done restarting the graphics driver.
First, make sure you are on the desktop. You can go to the desktop by clicking the “Show desktop” button to the right of the taskbar or using the “Windows key + D” keyboard shortcut. If you are wondering, this step is unnecessary, but it is said to reduce interference from other active apps.
Once you are on the desktop, press the “Win + Ctrl + Shift + B” keyboard shortcut.
As soon as you do that, the screen flashes brightly once. After that, the screen may turn black for a couple of seconds. Once that is done, it should return to normal. i.e., you should see the normal desktop.
With that, you are done with restarting the graphics driver.
I hope this simple and easy Windows how-to guide helped you.
If you are stuck or need some help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible.
