How to Change Refresh Rate in Windows 11: Fix 144Hz Issues

Changing the refresh rate in Windows 11 usually takes one trip through Settings. If you're here, though, you're probably dealing with one of two more annoying problems: a 144Hz option that keeps sliding back to 60Hz on its own, or one that never shows up in the dropdown at all. This guide covers the quick fix first, then a compatibility check that tells you which problem you actually have, followed by separate repair paths for each.

You'll need a monitor rated for 144Hz and access to Windows Settings. Admin rights only come into play later, for driver reinstalls or the advanced registry checks near the end.

Set your refresh rate in Windows 11 right now

Open Settings, then go to System > Display > Advanced display, and pick the highest number listed in the refresh rate dropdown. To set a 144Hz refresh rate in Windows 11 specifically, that's the entry you're looking for. For most setups, that's the entire adjustment, according to How-To Geek's hands-on testing published six weeks ago (How-To Geek), though as the next two sections show, Windows can quietly undo it later.

If you're on an older build or prefer the classic control panel, the same adjustment is also reachable through a legacy path, following AMD's own instructions as a guide:

1. Right-click the desktop and choose Display Settings.
2. Click Advanced Display Settings.
3. Scroll down and click Display Adapter Properties.
4. Open the Monitor tab.
5. Select a rate from the Screen Refresh Rate dropdown and click Apply.

Refresh rate is simply how many times per second the screen redraws, measured in Hz. Higher numbers can reduce visible flicker, which is why AMD's support documentation treats manually raising it as routine advice rather than a bug workaround, since some displays don't ship with their maximum rate active by default (AMD).

Before you touch the dropdown, check which display is selected at the top of the Advanced display page if you run more than one monitor. This single step explains a surprising number of "it didn't work" complaints, because Windows will happily let you change settings for the wrong screen.

One thing worth keeping in mind: if the rate holds after a reboot, that confirms the setting took, not that the issue is closed for good. Windows can still knock it back down later, after a driver change, a Safe Mode boot, or a switch between monitors.

Confirm 144Hz is actually possible on your setup

If 144Hz never showed up, or you're not sure your setup can actually hit it, work through this checklist before troubleshooting further. It won't fix anything by itself, but it tells you which section below applies to you.

• Check the monitor's rated mode. Pull up the model's manual or spec page and confirm 144Hz is listed at the resolution and input you're using now. A panel's advertised refresh rate depends partly on whether the display's extension blocks (the portion of its data that describes high-refresh and HDR modes) reach Windows intact, and separately, higher combinations like 4K at 144Hz simply need more video bandwidth than 1080p or 1440p at the same rate (KTC explained earlier this year).
• Confirm the cable and port. Check which DisplayPort or HDMI version your port and cable actually support. Low-quality or passive cables can strip the extension blocks that carry high-refresh data even when both the monitor and GPU are capable of 144Hz (KTC, earlier this year).
• Bypass docks, KVMs, and adapters. USB-C docks running DisplayPort Alt Mode, along with some KVM switches, can limit bandwidth or drop metadata before it reaches Windows, hiding a mode the monitor actually supports (KTC, earlier this year).

Once you know the hardware can do 144Hz, here's where to go next:

• 144Hz is listed but you haven't selected it: pick it, reboot, and confirm it's still selected afterward.
• 144Hz worked before and now doesn't: the next section covers reverting rates.
• 144Hz has never shown up at all: skip ahead to the missing-option section.

Windows 11 stuck at 60Hz after a restart

Start by figuring out whether this is a one-time drop or a recurring one. If the rate fell once, right after a specific event, reselecting it in Advanced display is usually the entire fix. If it drops every time you reboot or change power states, treat it as recurring and keep reading.

Windows can default new or freshly reinstalled systems to 60Hz regardless of what the monitor supports, which is part of why manually raising the rate became standard advice in the first place (How-To Geek reported six weeks ago). Beyond initial setup, that same testing found several specific triggers that can quietly reset the rate: deleting and reinstalling GPU drivers, a clean driver install, unplugging and reconnecting the display, switching between monitors, using a KVM switch, and booting into Safe Mode, which defaults to 60Hz. Changing resolution in Settings can trigger it too. Reselect the rate after any of these and check whether it sticks.

One trigger that's easy to miss: some older games with an exclusive full-screen mode can leave the desktop itself set to whatever refresh rate was active in-game, including 60Hz, once you quit. If that matches your situation, reselecting the rate in Settings clears it.

If you're on AMD hardware and haven't manually installed drivers yourself, check whether Windows Update quietly pushed an older or mismatched driver. The same report ties this specifically to AMD systems, where an incorrect Windows Update driver can hurt gaming performance and drop the refresh rate at the same time (How-To Geek). Reinstalling the correct driver straight from AMD is the fix in that case.

Laptop users should first check whether an OEM power-saving mode is active before looking anywhere else. That reporting points to tools like ASUS Armoury Crate's GPU Power Saver or MSI Center's Display Power Saver, either of which can force 60Hz on every reboot or only while running on battery (How-To Geek). Alienware Command Center owners should check the Performance and Fusion tabs for the same kind of setting. A Microsoft Q&A user also asked about a laptop limited to 60Hz despite a reported 75Hz maximum, which suggests this isn't unique to one brand's software, though it's a single user report, not a confirmed pattern (Microsoft Q&A).

Alongside the OEM utility, check Windows' own power settings. Go to Settings > System > Power & battery, and set Power mode to Best performance for both plugged-in and battery use. Then open Energy Saver in the same menu and turn off "Always use energy saver" if it's set to run all the time.

Turning off laptop power-saving features may restore the full refresh rate around the clock, but it comes at the cost of battery life. If motion clarity matters more to you than runtime, that trade is probably worth making. If it doesn't, consider limiting the higher rate to when you're plugged into AC power.

Advanced options if the rate still won't hold

These rarely come into play, and neither one is a guaranteed fix for a reverting refresh rate specifically, but they're worth ruling out if everything above has failed.

Some Windows builds have dropped the slider that sets the battery threshold for Energy Saver (How-To Geek). If yours has, an elevated PowerShell command can set it manually:

That stops Energy Saver from activating automatically. It changes when Energy Saver kicks in, not the refresh rate directly, so treat it as removing one possible cause rather than a direct fix.

Separately, open services.msc and locate Display Enhancement Service and Display Policy Service. Right-click Properties on each and confirm neither is set to Disabled; by default, Display Enhancement Service should show Manual (Trigger Start) and Display Policy Service should show Automatic (How-To Geek). If one has been switched to Disabled, change it back to its default startup type rather than forcing it to run manually.

Once you've made a change, reboot, switch power states if you're on a laptop, and check Advanced display again to confirm the rate is still selected.

What to do when the 144Hz option is missing in Windows 11

If 144Hz has never shown up in the dropdown, start with the checklist in the compatibility section above, since a stripped cable, a dock, or a KVM switch is often the actual cause. From there, the fix branches by display type.

For an external monitor, connect it directly to the GPU output with a cable you know works, bypassing any dock, adapter, or KVM switch, and see if 144Hz appears. It's also worth updating the GPU driver directly from the manufacturer's site rather than relying on whatever Windows Update installed; a mismatched driver is already a known trigger for refresh-rate problems elsewhere in Windows, so it's cheap to rule out here too.

If Device Manager lists your monitor as "Generic PnP Monitor," treat that as a strong clue rather than a confirmed diagnosis. KTC's explainer on display data describes that label appearing when the handshake between monitor and Windows fails somewhere along the signal path (KTC, earlier this year). If switching to a known-good cable and skipping the dock clears the label, the connection path becomes the leading suspect, not a confirmed cause, but enough to justify replacing that cable or dock for good.

Laptop owners can skip the direct-connection step entirely since it doesn't apply to a built-in panel. Instead:

1. Check the laptop manufacturer's spec page or support documentation for the display's confirmed maximum refresh rate and any settings required to unlock it.
2. Open the laptop's control utility (Armoury Crate, MSI Center, Alienware Command Center, or the equivalent) and look for a display or power mode capping the panel below its rated rate.
3. If the manufacturer recommends its own driver package for the display, install that before falling back to a generic GPU driver.

For readers comfortable digging deeper, tools like Custom Resolution Utility (CRU) and MonitorInfoView can read the monitor's actual display data straight out of the Windows registry, showing exactly what Windows received rather than what you'd assume it received (KTC, earlier this year). Use these tools to confirm what's there, not to edit it. Rewriting that data without understanding the specific timing parameters involved risks black screens or unsupported display modes, which is well outside the scope of a basic troubleshooting pass (KTC, earlier this year).

When to suspect a hardware problem instead

If the monitor's manual confirms 144Hz at your current resolution and input, and a direct connection with a known-good cable and the correct driver still shows only 60Hz, test the monitor and cable on a different computer. That isolates whether the connection path itself is at fault, though it won't confirm a specific defective part on its own. If the second PC shows the same 60Hz ceiling, contact the manufacturer with what you've already ruled out.

From here on, recheck Advanced display any time you update a GPU driver, swap a cable, change a dock, or boot into Safe Mode, before assuming the monitor itself is broken.