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How to Fix a Flashing Black Bar in Excel When Scrolling
Question details
The user is experiencing a display glitch where a flashing black bar appears while scrolling through a worksheet.
- Product
- Excel 2019
- Device & OS
- Windows 11
- Scenario
- Scrolling up and down within a spreadsheet.
- Observed behavior
- A flashing black bar appears across the bottom of the screen during scrolling in Excel, while other Microsoft applications continue to function normally.
Make sure you have saved your current workbook before adjusting any display settings, and verify that your system's graphics drivers are up to date.
Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration
Turning off hardware graphics acceleration forces Excel to use software rendering, which effectively resolves display glitches and flashing bars caused by GPU compatibility issues.
Hardware graphics acceleration is designed to improve performance by offloading rendering tasks to your graphics card. However, driver conflicts can cause visual artifacts like flashing black bars. Disabling this feature generally resolves the issue without causing secondary problems.
Launch Microsoft Excel, click on the File tab in the top-left corner, and select Options at the very bottom of the menu.
In the Excel Options dialog box, click on Advanced in the left-hand navigation pane.
Scroll down to the Display section and check the box next to Disable hardware graphics acceleration.
Click OK to apply the changes, then restart Excel to see if the flashing black bar has disappeared.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the black bar only appear when I scroll in Excel?
This occurs due to a conflict between Excel's hardware graphics acceleration and your system's display driver, which fails to correctly render the rapid screen updates required while scrolling.
Will disabling hardware graphics acceleration slow down my computer?
No, it will not affect your computer's overall speed. It only prompts Excel to rely on your CPU rather than your graphics card for rendering, which rarely impacts standard spreadsheet tasks.
What should I do if the flashing black bar issue persists after applying this fix?
If disabling hardware acceleration does not resolve the issue, try updating your graphics card drivers through the Device Manager, installing the latest Windows Updates, or repairing your Microsoft Office installation via the Control Panel.
