How to change the refresh rate on your monitor

How to change the refresh rate on your monitor
(Image credit: Lenovo)

Don’t know how to change the refresh rate on your monitor? Read on to learn how it's done.

Your monitor's refresh rate just tells you how many times a second the image on screen is updated — so for example, a refresh rate of 60Hz means the screen is updated 60 times a second. Having a high refresh rate can be great for gaming and watching videos, as it can make everything move more smoothly so you can keep up with the action.

Equally though, having a lower refresh rate can also be useful, as it consumes less power. By setting a lower refresh rate, it can help your computer stay alive longer without the battery running out.

It follows, then, that you might want to change the refresh rate of your computer depending on what you’re doing — and luckily that's easy enough to do. It only takes a few seconds, so you can switch back and forth whenever you need to. 

Read on to find out how to change the refresh rate on your monitor.

How to change the refresh rate on your monitor

1. Hit the windows menu icon on your desktop and choose Settings.

How to change the refresh rate on your monitor - a screenshot of the Windows home menu with "settings" selected

(Image credit: Future)

2. Choose System, 

How to change the refresh rate on your monitor - a screenshot of the settings menu in Windows 10 with the "System" menu being selected

(Image credit: Future)

3. In the Display tab, scroll down and choose Advanced Display Settings.

How to change the refresh rate on your monitor - a screenshot of the "Display" settings in the Windows 10 menu with "Advanced Display Options" being selected

(Image credit: Future)

4. If you have more than one monitor, select the one you’d like to change the refresh rate for in the drop-down menu, then press “Display adaptor properties for display …” 

How to change the refresh rate on your monitor - a screenshot of "Display adaptor properties for display 1" being selected in the Windows 10 menu

(Image credit: Future)

5. A separate settings window will appear. Click the Monitor tab, then select the refresh rate you want to use from the drop-down menu. Then click OK to change the refresh rate. Another window may appear asking you to confirm your choice — if this happens just hit OK to confirm. 

How to change the refresh rate on your monitor - a screenshot of the advanced display settings in Windows 10 with the refresh rate being adjusted

(Image credit: Future)

If you need more help with your PC, we have tutorials that will help you. Check out how to turn on dark mode in Windows 10 automatically, or how to enable enhanced search mode in Windows 10. We can even show you how to enable God Mode in Windows 10

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Millie Davis-Williams

Millie is a Deals Editor at Tom's Guide specializing in deals content. She also covers the latest tech news and and creates how-to articles about everything from phones, streaming devices, and headphones to apps and video games. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, gaming on her Nintendo Switch and creating digital art.

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