How to fix windows 10 stuttering? (Follow This)
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Usually, window shutters are the result of out-of-date drivers. Your device drivers may be defective or corrupted, which would cause the stuttering problem. Is the audio and visuals on your Windows 10 computer stuttering every few seconds? It’s not just you. Many users have complained that there is a brief lag every few seconds when they use their PCs to play games or complete daily duties.
The issue is that the error often strikes without warning, and when it does, your mouse may freeze, or your keyboard may become unresponsive. If the issue happens while you are playing a game, the sluggish or delayed visuals can significantly impair your experience and ruin the whole point of playing PC games.

Why Does Windows shutter Every Few Seconds?
Your computer may unexpectedly freeze every few seconds for various reasons, each specific to the Windows operating system. Whether you’re utilizing an SSD (solid-state drive) or HDD (hard disk drive) is irrelevant, and neither is the speed of your processor.
Any machine may experience a stuttering problem, which can be highly annoying. What causes a Windows 10 computer to stutter at random? The following are the most typical explanations:
- Older-style drivers. Usually, slow computers are the result of out-of-date drivers. Your device drivers may be defective or corrupted, which would cause the stuttering problem.
- Windows updates do not usually resolve updates to Windows Bugs and system errors. Updates can occasionally cause PC problems, resulting in frequent system freezes.
- Hardware failure could be the cause of this problem. A problematic hard drive or memory stick may be what’s causing the system to freeze.
- Background programs. The PC’s performance may suffer if several apps are operating in the background at once because your system may not be able to handle all of those operations.
- Programs or files that are harmful. Unknowingly downloading a harmful app or file could be the root of your random freezes and crashes.
Whatever the cause or causes of this strange PC behaviour, these fixes ought to assist you in fixing it.
How to Fix Stuttering on Windows 10?

Solution 1: Update Your Graphics Card Driver
As we previously stated, one of the most frequent reasons why a Windows 10 computer performs slowly or freezes is outdated device drivers. If your PC stutters every two seconds with audio and video problems or your game starts to slow, the display drivers are especially to blame. Installing the most recent PC graphics card drivers is the only option to solve the problem. Either manually or automatically can be done.
The first step in manually updating your device drivers is to identify the model and version of the already installed drivers. The following step is to go to the hardware manufacturer’s website and download the right drivers for your operating system. The stuttering problem ought to be fixed after the drivers are installed. The graphics card driver can also be updated using the Device Manager. Here’s how to go about it:
- From the Quick Access menu, choose “Device Manager” by pressing the Windows logo key plus X.
- Locate “Display adapters,” open it, then right-click on your display adapter and select “Update driver.”
- You’ll be given a choice between two options. “Let me pick from the list of available drivers on my computer” should be selected after selecting “Browse my computer for drivers.”
- Choose “Microsoft Basic Display Adapter” in step four.
- Select “Next” and adhere to the instructions.
- If the previous step is unsuccessful, return to the “Display adapters” section, right-click your device, and choose “Update driver.”
- This time, choose the first option to allow Windows to try to locate the most recent driver version online and install it automatically on your computer.
Usually, Windows will inform you that the most recent driver has already been set up. Using a third-party driver upgrading application like Auslogics Driver Updater might be a more dependable approach.
This user-friendly tool checks your computer for driver-related problems, like out-of-date or damaged device drivers, and resolves them. After Driver Updater has identified any defective drivers, one button click is all it takes to install the most recent driver versions.
You are no longer required to spend time looking up the driver versions and models on your PC. Furthermore, since only the appropriate drivers for your system are installed, you don’t have to worry about incompatibility problems.
The program also allows you to schedule automatic scans to ensure that driver updates are installed as soon as they are made available. Additionally, you can quickly return to earlier drivers if the new ones cause problems. Restart your computer after installing all the updates to see whether the stuttering problem still exists.
Solution 2: Check If Your System Meets the Minimum Requirements for Running Your Software
Your computer must be able to support the software or game in question if you’re running a resource-demanding application like Photoshop or playing a PC game. If not, the PC will freeze or slow because the software you’re trying to execute is putting too much strain on it. Therefore, check the website of the program’s publisher to see if your system satisfies all the requirements for support. If your system is fully functional, the problem must be elsewhere.
Solution 3: Close Background Applications
When multiple background apps are open at once, your system cannot function at its best. Therefore, you can have some stuttering and performance concerns if you have numerous applications running in the background. Due to all the resources used by the background apps, other programs or the system may also lag. Try to close the background apps to see whether the issue has been resolved. How to do it is as follows:
- To open the Task Manager, press the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
- Find every active background program and active process and click “End task” to stop them one at a time.
Try the next solution if the Windows 10 computer still stutters despite background programs being disabled.
Solution 4: Check Your PC’s Power Management Settings
To manage how much power it uses, your computer system contains a tool that enables you to create your power plan. Your system might not operate at its best if you choose the wrong power plan. It will instead begin to lag. The problem could be fixed by resetting the power plan to its default settings. This is how you do it:
- Press the Windows key and type “Control Panel” into the search bar.
- Click “Power Options” after selecting “Hardware and Sound.”
- Select the power plan you want to change the settings for, then click the “Change advanced power settings” link.
- Select the “Restore plan defaults” button at the bottom of the page in the new window that appears. Choose each customized plan from the drop-down list by clicking on “Restore plan defaults” if you have several customized plans.
- To confirm your selection, click “Yes.”
Once finished, restart your Windows computer to see if the problem has been fixed.

Solution 5: Uninstall the Problematic Software
This workaround is appropriate if you first encountered the error after installing a certain program. It’s possible that the software won’t work with your setup. It could also be glitchy, which would explain why it’s sucking up many system resources and producing the stuttering issue.
Launch Task Manager and see if the suspect program is the one producing a rise in system resources to locate the issue application. If so, go ahead and remove it using the Control Panel’s Programs and Features menu or the “Settings” app.
Solution 6: Scan Your System for Malware
Your Windows 10 PC may experience stuttering due to the corruption of system and application files brought on by a malware attack. A virus scan is worth trying if the error keeps happening. Use Windows Security, a built-in security program, or download Auslogics Anti-Malware, a more sophisticated malware cleanup program.
See, the malware issue is that your standard antivirus tool might not be able to detect all dangers, especially those passed off as legitimate system files or applications. Because of this, you require powerful anti-malware software that can find malware that is hidden on your computer. When a harmful object is discovered, the utility will isolate it so you can safely destroy it. If the scan is negative, the problem may be elsewhere.
Solution 7: Scan Your System Files for Corruption
There would be a good likelihood that some of the system files have been destroyed or corrupted if the malware cleanup application were able to detect malware on your computer. The corrupted files can all be fixed by conducting a System File Checker (SFC) scan in that situation. The steps below should be followed to do an SFC scan:
- Type CMD into the “Run” input field using the Win + R keyboard shortcut, then press the “Enter” key.
- Enter the command SFC /scannow on the Command Prompt with administrator rights. Give the tool time to look for problems and try to solve them.
After finishing, restart Windows and see if the computer is still stuttering.
Solution 8: Disable the CD/DVD Drive
Try turning off and on again the CD/DVD drive on your laptop to see if it helps. This may work for you as it did for some people who reported that their issue was resolved. Follow these steps to do that:
- By hitting Win + X on the Quick Access menu, you can access the Device Manager. To open a “Run” window, press Win+R on your keyboard and type devmgmt.MSc, then hit “Enter” on your keyboard.
- Find and expand “CD/DVD ROM drives.” When you right-click on the drive, choose “Properties.”
- Click the “Disable Device” button under the “Driver” tab.
- To save your changes, select “Yes” and then “OK.” This action turns off the CD/DVD drive.
- To re-enable it, follow the same instructions but this time, choose “Enable Device.
- After making your changes, click “OK” to save them. Then, see if the stuttering issue is resolved.
Solution 9: Update Your Windows
Windows updates are necessary to keep your system operating effectively, as was previously mentioned. The upgrades typically improve your OS and add new features and security updates. Windows updates are typically downloaded and installed instantly as they become available. However, you can manually search for and apply updates. Here’s how to go about it:
- To open the “Settings” app, press Win + I on the keyboard.
- Type “Updates” (without the quotations) into the “Find a setting” input area and click “Check for updates.”
- Look for and install any pending updates listed in the following window. Click the “Check for updates” button if there aren’t any and wait for Windows to find and install all available updates.
Updates may occasionally be to blame for PC problems, such as sporadic freezing and crashing. In such a scenario, removing the faulty update should resolve the issue. For instance, a Windows 10 April upgrade made PC games stutter erratically. After removing the cumulative patch that was a part of the update, users reported that the problem had been resolved. Follow these steps to delete a Windows cumulative update:
- In the “Find a setting” text box, enter “Update history” (without quotes) and choose “View update history” by pressing the Windows logo key plus I.
- A list of all recently applied Windows updates is available. To access the “Installed updates” page in Control Panel, click on the “Uninstall updates” link at the top of the page.
- From the list, choose the faulty update, and then click “Uninstall.”
Solution 10: Disable the Notification and Action Center
On their Windows PCs, numerous users reported that the stuttering problem was resolved by turning off the notification area and Action Center. Follow these steps to test this solution:
- Open the “Run” text box by pressing the Win + R keyboard shortcut, then type “gpedit. MSC” and press the “Enter” key.
- Select User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar in the Group Policy Editor box.
- Find the “Remove Notifications and Action Center” policy in the right sidebar and double-click it.
- Select the “Enabled” radio button on the following screen. You won’t be able to review any missed notifications because this disables the Notifications and Action Center.
- Press Apply > OK, then restart your computer to make the changes effective.
Solution 11: Keep Apps and Programs Updated
All your software, including Windows and third-party ones, should always be updated to maintain proper operation. If the PC stutters every two seconds with audio and video issues when using a browser, update the browser to the most recent version. If that doesn’t fix it, try turning off all of your browser’s add-ons, plugins, and extensions to see if it solves the problem. Alternately, try utilizing a different browser to see if the issue is fixed.
Finalizing:
We hope the advice provided here on resolving the How to fix windows 10 stuttering problem is helpful. Please utilize the comments area below if you have any additional knowledge on this subject.
FAQs
Why is my Windows 10 choppy?
Driver problems, particularly with graphics card drivers, maybe the root of your Windows 10 performance troubles. You might try updating the drivers on your computer to see if it helps. Driver Easy can automatically update drivers if you lack the time, patience, or technical know-how to do so.
Can RAM because stuttering?
Your computer will perform poorly overall and stutter during games if it doesn’t have enough RAM to handle information rapidly enough.
Can CPU cause stuttering?
When using a defective CPU, stuttering can occur. You may have fRAMe rate hiccups while gaming or a stopped cursor in the middle of your task. This can be the result of a CPU that is broken or malfunctioning. Additionally, a defective CPU might impair system performance as a whole.
Is Windows 10 slowing down my computer?
Many visual effects, including animations and shadow effects, are present in Windows 10. These have a gorgeous appearance, but they can also consume extra system resources and slow down your computer. In particular, if your machine has limited memory, this is true (RAM).

Tommy is a Creative Content Writer and Editor at InstantLobby, he lives in Florida, USA. He’s been freelancing and SEO copywriting for over a decade. His field of interest is any entertainment of knowledgeable applications of software or AI(Artificial Intelligence) related stuff that helps users in daily work. He has previously worked for a university as an IT manager.