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iAgain's avatar
iAgain
Copper Contributor
Nov 02, 2026

Broken display driver after update

I have just updated my Microsoft laptop (7th gen), and now my display is constantly blinking (brightness keeps increasing and decreasing while night light turns on and off). The issue gets worse when I move my mouse around the screen. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the new display driver (Qualcomm(R) Adreno(TM) X1-85 GPU), but the problem persists. I have also tried to roll back the driver, but the roll back button is greyed out, so that has not fixed the issue either. I have also looked into manually reinstalling an older driver by clicking "let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer", but I am very confused about which driver to choose, as it comes up with a warning stating that choosing a different browser (other than the latest one and the basic one, which only allows full brightness and no night light) can cause my laptop to stop working or become unstable.

What can I do to resolve this issue? Do I need to just wait for a new update to come out repairing this issue, or is there a faster way I can get this fixed?

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1 Reply

  • Jamony's avatar
    Jamony
    MCT
    Nov 04, 2026

    The Adreno X1-85 identifies the Snapdragon version of Surface Laptop 7, so use its Surface driver package rather than selecting an incompatible adapter from Device Manager’s list. Reinstalling the same display driver does not test the rest of the Surface display stack.

     

    First, test Microsoft’s documented brightness setting: Settings > System > Display > Brightness > Change brightness based on content > Off. Note whether the blinking and Night light changes continue. Next, confirm the exact model and Windows build, then install the matching Surface Laptop 7 Snapdragon drivers-and-firmware MSI from Microsoft and restart, if that package has not already been applied.

     

    If it persists, check whether flickering also occurs in Surface UEFI without changing settings. Flickering there suggests hardware rather than a Windows driver. Otherwise, give Surface Support the update date and driver versions for targeted recovery guidance; an announced fix cannot be assumed.