Windows 11 File Explorer triggering screen refreshes


SkyBeam

Member
Local time
8:21 AM
Posts
10
OS
Windows 11
I have noticed a pretty weird issue in Windows 11 (currently 22H2 Build 22621.2500):
When I open Windows File Explorer it will cause some sort of "refresh" in the graphics subsystem. It's easy to reproduce:
  • Open Computer Management (right click windows button, computer management)
  • Press Win+E or launch Explorer any other way
  • See the whole contents of "Computer Management" window refreshing/flickering

The same flickering/re-draw is observed if Windows explorer is moved to another screen (in multi-screen setups). So just moving around Windows Explorer causing flickering in many other windows (also Event viewer - basically at least in all MMC applications) as well as I have seen the whole Notepad contents refreshing on every Explorer launch as well as other applications like PSPad seem to re-draw the menu bar.
I also found that the refreshes even occur when I click the "Home" or "Gallery" in Windows Explorer but not when clicking on Music, Videos, Pictures or any library.
The flickering also occuring if I open the context menu anywhere on the desktop when alternating screens. So when right-clicking on desktop on screen 1 it will flicker, subsequent clicks on desktop 1 will not flicker but right-click on desktop 2 will flicker again; subsequent clicks on the same desktop do not flicker but opening the context menu again on desktop 1 will flicker again.

I could reproduce this on multiple hardware configurations and even on RDP sessions.

I cannot reproduce this issue on Windows 10 though. I have also disabled shell extensions in an attempt to fix this at no avail.

Anyone else being able to reproduce this issue with Windows File Explorer as well?
Somebody having an idea how to debug further what is triggering this? It's certainly annoying and I have at least one application which is misbehaving/crashing when it happens so any handling of File Explorer is causing this application to fail. Not sure though if this is even related to the long-lasting story about Explorer grabbing focus and popping up to foreground every now-and-then.

So everyone having multiple screens just open a bunch of windows and computer management and keep moving explorer from screen-to-screen and watch if it's causing re-draw/flickering in computer management window when just moving Explorer.

Note: I have also posted this in Microsoft Community Forum before.
 
Windows Build/Version
Windows 11 22H2 22621.2500

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
    Motherboard
    ASUS PRIME X670-P
    Memory
    4x G.Sikil F5-6000J3038F16G (64GB total)
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT
    Sound Card
    -
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x AOC Agon AG324UX (on dGPU DP), 1x Epson PJ FHS projector (on dGPU HDMI), 1x Denon AVR (on iGPU HDMI), Reverb G2 (on dGPU DP)
    Screen Resolution
    2x 4k, 2x FHD
    Hard Drives
    1x Samsung 990 Pro 2TB, 3x Samsung 870 QVO 2TB SATA
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime TX 850
    Case
    Lian-Li O11 Deynamic Evo
    Cooling
    Custom Loop, Heatkiller IV, Mo-RA3 420
    Keyboard
    Corsair K70 Rapidfire MKII low profile
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master
    Internet Speed
    500/100
    Browser
    Mozilla Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

Latest Support Threads

Back
Top Bottom