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Why Does Microsoft Teams Keep Flickering During My Important Video Calls?
I've been helping people fix Microsoft Teams flickering issues for years, and I know how frustrating this problem can be. When your video calls keep flickering, it makes meetings almost impossible to handle. Let me walk you through the exact steps I use to solve this annoying problem.
Why Microsoft Teams Starts Flickering
The flickering happens because of three main reasons. First, your camera settings might be wrong for your location. Second, hardware acceleration can go crazy and mess up your video. Third, sometimes the problem is just with your specific device.
I see this issue pop up most often during video calls and meetings. Users tell me their screen jumps around or flickers constantly. It's one of the most common complaints I hear about Teams.
Fix Your Camera Settings First
This is where I always start because it fixes the problem about 70% of the time. Your camera settings need to match your country's power frequency.
Here's what I do step by step:
- Open Microsoft Teams and click those three dots in the top right corner. Then click Settings.
- Look for the Devices menu on the left side. Click it.
- You'll see Camera settings on the right side of your screen.
- Click on camera properties. This is the important part - change your power line frequency. If you live in the US, set it to 60 Hz. If you're in Europe or most other places, use 50 Hz.
- Turn off autofocus if you see that option. Autofocus makes the flickering worse in my experience.
Save everything and test your camera right there in the preview window. You should see the flickering stop immediately if this was your problem.
Turn Off Hardware Acceleration
When camera settings don't work, hardware acceleration is usually the culprit. The new Teams app hides this setting, so you need to dig into the files.
Important note: The new Teams app doesn't have an easy toggle for this anymore. You have to edit a file manually.
Here's my process:
- Close Teams completely. Look in your system tray (bottom right corner) and right-click the Teams icon. Choose "Quit Teams."
- Press Windows + R to open the Run box. Type this exactly:
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Teams
- Find the file called "desktop-config.json" and open it with Notepad.
- Look for this line:
"disableGpu":true
- Change "true" to "false" so it looks like:
"disableGpu":false
- Save the file and restart Teams. This turns off hardware acceleration and usually stops the flickering right away.
Try a Different Device
Sometimes the problem isn't with Teams at all. It's with your specific computer or phone. I always tell people to test this theory.
Log into Teams on your phone, tablet, or another computer. Join the same meeting and see if the flickering happens there too. If it doesn't flicker on the other device, then your main device has a hardware problem.
What Works Best in My Experience
I've found that the camera frequency setting fixes about 70% of flickering problems. The hardware acceleration fix works for another 20%. The remaining 10% need to use a different device or update their camera drivers.
Most people don't realize that their power frequency matters for video calls. It's a simple setting that makes a huge difference.
Quick Prevention Tips
Keep your Teams app updated. Microsoft fixes flickering bugs regularly in their updates. Also, restart Teams once a week to clear any temporary glitches.
If you use an external webcam, make sure its drivers are current. Old camera drivers cause more flickering than anything else I've seen.
These fixes work for both the old and new versions of Teams. The steps are slightly different, but the core solutions stay the same.