Games Stuttering on Windows: How to Fix It
Start with Game Mode and the power plan before touching anything more technical.
The game freezes for an instant and goes back to normal, over and over — this is called stuttering, and it's different from simply having consistently low FPS. Before touching anything in the game itself, there are two Windows settings that fix a surprising number of cases, with no technical panel to open.
Start here: 2 Windows settings
Game Mode
Settings → Gaming → Game Mode → turn it on if it isn't already. Windows prioritises system resources for the foreground game, reducing interruptions from other background tasks.
Power plan
Especially on laptops: Settings → Power & battery → make sure you're on "Best Performance" or "Balanced" mode, not "Power Saver", while gaming — and if it's a laptop, plug it into the charger. Many laptops limit performance a lot on battery, even if it's almost full.
If these two settings improve things, you've already confirmed the problem was a setting, not your hardware — no need to keep investigating further.
If it's still the same: check temperature
When the processor or graphics card gets too hot, it automatically lowers its speed to protect itself — this is called throttling, and it causes exactly the "goes well for a while then gets worse" pattern that describes stuttering. Install a monitoring program (HWMonitor, for example) and watch the temperatures while you play.
Update the graphics drivers
An outdated or badly installed graphics card driver is one of the most common causes. Download it directly from the manufacturer's website (NVIDIA, AMD or Intel depending on your card), not just from Windows Update.
Settings inside the game itself
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Cap the maximum FPS | A cap somewhat below your real maximum usually feels more stable than irregular spikes |
| VSync | Syncs the game with your monitor — reduces screen tearing, though it sometimes adds a slight feeling of delay |
| Lower resolution or graphics quality | Directly reduces the load on the graphics card |
Tip: change one setting at a time and test the same section of the game before changing the next one — if you change several at once, you won't know which one actually helped.
If the game asks for more than your PC can give
Before continuing to adjust things, confirm your machine at least meets the game's minimum requirements — our guide on how to know if your PC can run a game explains how to check. If it doesn't meet them, no software setting will fully make up that gap.
Note: if the stuttering comes together with your own movements or shots "arriving late" (not just the image freezing, but the game itself reacting with delay), that's usually an internet connection problem in online games, not your computer — a different problem from the one this article covers.
Frequently asked questions
Is stuttering the same as having low FPS?
Not exactly. Consistently low FPS just means the game runs slow overall. Stuttering is running fine most of the time but freezing briefly and repeatedly — it can happen even with a powerful PC.
Do I need a third-party program to fix it?
Not as a first step. Game Mode and the power plan, both included in Windows, fix a significant portion of cases with nothing extra to install.
Why does it only happen to me in some games and not others?
It can be because that specific game demands more of some particular component (VRAM, CPU cores) than others do equally, or because that particular game has less careful optimisation from its developers.