Office Performance Issues

Fix PowerPoint Screen Flashes After Applying Text Animations

John Wilson Oct 7, 2026 870 views

Question details

The screen flashes or flickers in Microsoft PowerPoint after applying text animations.

How to Fix PowerPoint Screen Flashes After Applying Text Animations

Product: Microsoft PowerPoint
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Adding or previewing text animations during slide editing or slideshow mode.
Observed behavior: The application screen flashes or flickers unexpectedly after text animations are triggered.

Before you start

Before proceeding, save your current presentation and test if the screen flashing occurs on a brand-new presentation or just the current file.

Solution 1Recommended

Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration

Turning off hardware graphics acceleration forces PowerPoint to use software rendering, which often resolves screen flickering issues caused by GPU conflicts.

Hardware graphics acceleration is designed to improve performance by offloading rendering tasks to the GPU. However, outdated drivers or incompatible graphics cards can cause the screen to flash during animations.

Open PowerPoint Options

Launch Microsoft PowerPoint, click on 'File' in the top-left corner, and select 'Options' from the bottom of the left-hand menu.

Navigate to Advanced Settings

In the PowerPoint Options dialog box, click on 'Advanced' in the left pane.

Disable Graphics Acceleration

Scroll down to the 'Display' section. Check the box for 'Disable hardware graphics acceleration' (if this option is available in your version) and click 'OK'.

Restart Required: Be sure to restart PowerPoint for the changes to take effect before testing the text animations again.

Solution 2

Start PowerPoint in Safe Mode and Disable Add-ins

Running PowerPoint in Safe Mode helps identify if a third-party add-in is causing the screen to flash.

Solution 3

Repair the Microsoft Office Installation

If the issue stems from corrupted Office program files, running a Quick Repair or Online Repair can fix the underlying problem.

Free Microsoft Office alternative

Experience Smooth Presentation Animations with WPS Office

If PowerPoint continues to suffer from screen flashing and graphics glitches, switch to WPS Office. WPS Presentation is a lightweight and powerful alternative that handles rich text animations smoothly without heavily taxing your computer's resources.

1. Download and Install WPS Office: Visit the official WPS website and download the free WPS Office suite for your operating system.
2. Open Your Presentation: Launch WPS Presentation and open your existing .pptx file. Your formats and animations will be preserved.
3. Apply Text Animations Smoothly: Navigate to the 'Animation' tab to add, preview, and customize text animations without performance stutters.

Seamlessly open, edit, and save Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx) presentations.Enjoy rich, fluid slide animations and transitions without screen flickering.Extremely lightweight, ensuring high performance even on older devices.Free to use with a familiar, user-friendly interface.

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my screen flicker only when applying animations?

Animations require your computer's GPU to render dynamic visual changes. If your graphics driver is outdated or malfunctioning, the system struggles to render the text animation smoothly, resulting in a screen flash.

Will updating my graphics driver fix the PowerPoint flashing?

Yes, in many cases. Outdated display drivers are a primary cause of visual glitches in Office apps. You can update your drivers through the Windows Device Manager or your graphics card manufacturer's website.

Why can't I find the 'Disable hardware graphics acceleration' option in PowerPoint?

Microsoft has removed this setting from newer versions of Microsoft 365 and Office. If you don't see it under 'File > Options > Advanced', your application automatically manages graphics performance. You may need to rely on updating drivers or repairing Office instead.

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