Windows 11 24H2/25H2 Display Flicker & Game Crash Bug

[Anmolsarrafbest]

Windows Build Number

10.0.26100.0

Processor Architecture

x86

Memory

16

Storage Type, free / capacity

SSD 512 GB

Relevant apps installed

Intel Graphics Driver
Nvidia GeForce Game Ready Driver
Honkai Star Rail
Minecraft Java Edition
Discord (overlay disabled)
Nvidia Overlay (disabled)
Xbox Game Bar (disabled)

Traces collected via Feedback Hub

Will provide upon request. Issue is fully reproducible.

Isssue description

Summary of Issue (Windows 11 24H2/25H2 Display Flicker & Game Crash Bug)

After updating to Windows 11 version 25H2 (and later downgrading to 24H2), my laptop began experiencing severe screen flickering and game instability.
This issue did not exist before the update.
I have an Intel + Nvidia hybrid GPU laptop (Intel UHD + RTX 3050).

Symptoms

Screen flickers ONLY during mouse left-click in games

Flicker happens in all games (Honkai Star Rail, Minecraft, etc.)

Taskbar flashes for 1 frame when clicking

Repeated fast clicks cause game crashes

Desktop, YouTube, normal apps do NOT flicker

Issue existed on 25H2, and partially remained after downgrading to 24H2

Root Cause

This appears to be a Windows 11 DWM (Desktop Window Manager) and Fullscreen Pipeline bug introduced in 24H2/25H2:

Games that claim “Fullscreen” are actually forced into borderless fullscreen

DWM redraws the taskbar or system UI on every mouse click

This breaks fullscreen compositing on hybrid GPUs

Clicking generates a compositor flip → causes flicker → repeated flips crash the game

MPO (Multiplane Overlay) behavior also became unstable after the update

This behavior has been reported widely by other Windows 24H2/25H2 users with hybrid GPUs.

Troubleshooting Steps Already Performed

I have already done ALL of these:

Fully reset Windows (“Keep my files”)

Reinstalled Intel and Nvidia drivers (clean installation)

Disabled/Enabled iGPU for diagnosis

Disabled problematic Windows features:

Hardware accelerated GPU scheduling

Variable refresh rate

Optimizations for windowed games

Disabled MPO via registry (OverlayTestMode=5)

Disabled pointer input router (EnablePointerInputRouter=0)

Disabled fullscreen optimizations via registry

Forced exclusive fullscreen using

Compatibility flags

GameConfigStore registry keys

Disabled overlays (Xbox Game Bar, Nvidia overlay, Discord overlay)

Verified no background process is stealing focus

Cleaned system of Minecraft/Fabric mods which might have triggered DirectX changes

Performed BIOS check, temperature check, and GPU utilization diagnostics

Despite all fixes, the mouse-click flicker persists, proving it is not hardware or driver related, but a Windows compositor bug.

Conclusion

This is a reproducible Windows 11 24H2/25H2 DWM + borderless fullscreen + hybrid GPU issue, causing:

Screen flicker on mouse click

Momentary taskbar flash

Game crash when clicking repeatedly

Failure of games to enter true exclusive fullscreen

Request

Please forward this to the Windows Graphics/Display team.
This needs a patch to:

Fix fullscreen context switching in hybrid GPU systems

Prevent DWM taskbar redraw on mouse click

Restore stable exclusive fullscreen mode in games

Stabilize MPO behavior in 24H2/25H2

Correct DWM focus interruptions that cause game crashes

This issue severely impacts gaming usability on Windows 11 hybrid-GPU laptops and did not exist before the 24H2/25H2 display pipeline changes.

Steps to reproduce

1. Launch any game that uses borderless fullscreen by default (Honkai Star Rail, Minecraft Java, Valorant, etc.)
2. Ensure Windows version is 24H2 or 25H2.
3. Move to any gameplay area (3D rendering active).
4. Perform repeated or rapid left-click actions (normal gameplay input).
5. Observe:
   • Screen flicker on every mouse click.
   • Taskbar flashing for a single frame.
   • Game losing rendering focus for a frame.
6. Continue clicking rapidly.
7. Observe that the game eventually crashes or freezes due to repeated DWM fullscreen pipeline resets.

Expected Behavior

Games should maintain fullscreen stability, without flicker, taskbar flashing, or compositor interruptions on mouse input.
Mouse clicks should not trigger DWM redraw or cause loss of focus in fullscreen mode.

Actual Behavior

• Screen flickers every time the mouse left button is clicked in any fullscreen game.
• Taskbar appears for 1 frame on click.
• Flicker occurs across all games (Honkai Star Rail, Minecraft, etc.).
• Rapid clicking causes the game to crash or freeze.
• Desktop apps and YouTube do not flicker.
• Issue persists across Windows versions (24H2 and 25H2).
• Issue did not exist before these Windows updates.

Additional Notes:

• The issue is not hardware related (Intel UHD + RTX 3050 both healthy).
• Issue reproduced after full Windows Reset.
• Issue reproduced after clean driver reinstall (Intel + Nvidia).
• MPO disabled, fullscreen optimizations disabled, overlays disabled — issue persists.
• Only games are affected; desktop compositing for normal apps functions normally.
• This appears to be a regression in Windows fullscreen pipeline + DWM interaction for hybrid GPUs.

Please escalate to the Windows Graphics/DWM team.

[Squall-Leonhart]

wouldn't happen to be an Asus notebook would it?

https://github.com/Zephkek/Asus-ROG-Aml-Deep-Dive

Disabled MPO via registry (OverlayTestMode=5)

This doesn't turn off MPO anymore.

[Anmolsarrafbest]

Resetting entire pc fix it. Complete new install if windows