How To Determine Your Monitor Refresh Rate on Windows 11

Figured out the refresh rate thing? Yeah, it’s kinda important if you want snappy visuals and no strange lag. Sometimes, Windows just doesn’t make it obvious where that info is, so here’s a quick-and-dirty way to check it and tweak if needed.

Step 1: Get into Settings

First, open the Settings. Right-click on the Start menu icon or the taskbar, and pick Settings. If that feels like too much, just hit Win + I. Easy.

Step 2: Find the display options

In the Settings window, click on System, then choose Display. On some setups, you might see different names but just look for the display or screen stuff. The goal is to get to the display properties.

Step 3: Dive into Advanced Display Settings

Scroll down a little until you notice a section called Advanced display. On some machines, it’s a link or button—click that. This unlocks more detailed info about your monitor. Why do Windows make this so hidden? Because of course, Windows has to make it harder than necessary.

Step 4: Check the Refresh Rate

Now, in this advanced menu, you should see your monitor’s current Refresh rate. It’s usually next to the resolution setting. Sometimes it’s a drop-down menu with options like 60 Hz, 120 Hz, or 144 Hz. If you don’t see the one you want, your monitor might not support it or Windows isn’t displaying all options.

This is kinda weird, but knowing your refresh rate helps you match your GPU settings or troubleshoot weird screen flicker.

Step 5: Change the refresh rate if needed

Want to change it? Still in the Advanced display window, look for the refresh rate drop-down. Select your preferred rate—just make sure your monitor actually supports it (check the specs, of course). Pick the new rate and click Apply.

Be warned: sometimes, changing to a higher refresh rate can cause flickering or black screens if your hardware isn’t up to snuff. On some setups, it works fine the first time; on others, you might need to reboot or revert the setting.

Extra tips & other stuff to watch out for

If the refresh rate you want isn’t showing up, double-check your monitor specs or update your graphics drivers (big no-no to skip driver updates).
Before switching, it’s a good idea to reboot your PC—sometimes Windows doesn’t apply changes immediately or just acts up.
If things look weird after switching, just go back into Advanced display and revert to your old setting. No biggie.

Just something that worked on multiple machines

Because of course, Windows likes to keep us guessing, sometimes the refresh rate just doesn’t show correctly or defaults to 60 Hz even if your monitor supports more. In some cases, forcing a change via the Display Settings via PowerShell or updating your video card drivers helps fix that. Not sure why it works, but rebooting after the driver update often helps too.

Summary

Access Settings via right-click or Win + I.
Go to System > Display.
Scroll down to Advanced display.
Check or change the refresh rate from there.
Make sure your hardware actually supports the rate you’re choosing.

Hopefully this shaves off a few hours for someone. Just keep in mind, if it looks weird after applying a new rate, try rebooting and double-checking the monitor’s specs. Sometimes Windows is just weird about showing all options, and a fresh restart helps get everything in sync.