Screen flickering continuously

Question

I have a surface book 2 that is connected to a secondary Dell monitor. The moment I drag any tab from laptop screen to extended screen, everything starts to flicker continuously. Tried everything like cleaning, blowing air, changing cables, updating updates, restarting and even tried on other devices the monitor and wires are perfectly fine but I don't know what the issue is that is causing this.

Answer 1

Hi Rahul Jai,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

I understand that you're experiencing screen flickering on your Surface Book 2 when connected to a secondary Dell monitor. This issue could be caused by a number of factors, including outdated graphics drivers, a faulty cable, or a hardware issue with the Surface Book 2 itself. I appreciate the time you have spent in trying to resolve the issue. I am here to help and let us work on this together.

To troubleshoot this issue, I recommend the following steps:

1. Update your graphics drivers: Go to the Device Manager, expand the Display Adapters category, right-click on your graphics card, and select "Update Driver." Follow the on-screen instructions to download and install the latest drivers.
2. Run the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit: This tool can help identify and fix hardware issues with your Surface Book 2. See: Fix common Surface problems using the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit (microsoft.com)
3. Change the refresh rate to 60Hz.
4. Check the video input settings. If you’ve connected your Surface to an external display, make sure your external display is set to the current port. For example, if you’re using a DisplayPort connection to an external display, that display must be set to recognize DisplayPort as the video input signal.
5. Check the port version setting on the external display. Most external displays have an on-screen menu that adjusts the port version used by the display. Adjusting this setting may produce better results.
6. Duplicate or extend your display on the external screen.
7. Clear your display cache. Here's how to clear your cache:
   1. Undock your Surface from the Surface Dock or disconnect the monitor from your Surface.
   2. Download the Surface Dock registry file. Choose to Openthe file. This file will clear your cache, whether you have a dock or not.
   3. Select and run surface dock registry.reg.
   4. Select Yesto allow changes to your Surface, select Yesto confirm, and then select OKto close.
   5. Restart your Surface, reconnect the Dock and/or monitors, and try your external display again.
8. Update the drivers and firmware for you Surface Book (Surface Laptop)
9. Go to Download driver and firmware for Surface, choose Surface Book. (If it's a laptop then choose the Surface Laptop option)
10. Then click the link next to Surface Book 2 then click Download on the next page.
11. Choose the .msi file that matches your current OS Build and click Next.
12. After downloading, run and install the .msi then Restart. 

The troubleshooting steps can be found at Troubleshoot connecting Surface to an external display - Microsoft Support.

If none of these steps resolve the issue, kindly give answers to the following questions so we can further isolate your issue and formulate appropriate troubleshooting steps.

• Will you confirm the Surface device do you have, the Surface Laptop or Surface Book? (You have posted the thread under Surface Laptop)
• Would you mind telling us which exactly the model of your Dell monitor?
• When did this issue started?
• What cable is in use?
• What version of Windows you are currently running?

I hope the provided solution works for you. I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Lavenia

Answer 2

Hi Rahul Jai,

We haven't heard from you, so we assume that your issue has already been addressed. We will not be monitoring this thread moving forward so, if you need further assistance, please create a new thread to discuss these concerns by clicking this link: Create a new question (microsoft.com).

Thank you for understanding. 

Kind regards,

Lavenia