Fix: Sea of Thieves Screen Flickering or Tearing Issue on PC

Sea of Thieves is a popular action-adventure online multiplayer video game that has been developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Studios. If you’re a pirate lover, you can live the pirate life and its journey throughout the game. It basically offers ship sailing, fighting, exploring new places & ships, looting, etc.  As the game was recently released, some players are experiencing multiple issues with Sea of Thieves, and the Screen Flickering or Tearing Issue on PC is one of them.

Now, if you’re also one of the victims of such an issue, don’t worry because here, we’ve shared the troubleshooting guide for you that should help you out. For years, screen flickering, tearing, or even freezing has been quite common among PC games. Whatever game you’re playing, you might encounter such issues on multiple occasions. But there are some ways to easily fix this issue that you can check out.

Fix: Sea of Thieves Screen Flickering or Tearing Issue on PC

If you’re facing the screen flickering or tearing issue while playing the multiplayer game modes or during any specific sessions, or even during any particular checkpoints, you should check out whether your internet connection is working properly. Sometimes in-game graphics settings may also trigger these issues whatsoever. Some reports are also coming out that during the cutscenes, screen shimmering occurs.

Whereas it’s also worth recommending cross-checking the V-Sync option for the Sea of Thieves game because that can trouble you a lot for some titles on the PC. So, until the problem gets fixed for you, make sure to follow all the methods one by one. Now, without wasting any more time, let’s jump into it.

1. Enable V-Sync in Nvidia Control Panel

It’s recommended to turn on the Vertical Sync feature on your Nvidia Control Panel app for the Sea of Thieves game to avoid graphical glitches up to some extent. Remember that this method is only applicable if you use an Nvidia graphics card.

• Launch the Nvidia Control Panel from the Start menu. If it’s not installed, go to Microsoft Store and install it.
• In the Nvidia Control Panel interface, go to ‘3D Settings’ > Select ‘Manage 3D settings’.
• Select ‘Program Settings’ > Click on ‘Add’ and select ‘Sea of Thieves’ from the list of programs on your PC.
  • If the game application isn’t listed, then click on ‘Browse’ and head over to the installed Sea of Thieves directory on the drive. Simply locate the Sea of Thieves folder and add the Sea of Thieves.exe application > Then make sure to select the game in the list and add it.
• Now, scroll down to ‘Vertical sync’ > Click on it and select ‘On’ to enable it. This will force the Sea of Thieves game to use V-Sync every time.
• Restart your computer to apply changes and play the game to check for the issue again.

2. Try Lowering In-Game Graphics Settings

First of all, you should try lowering the in-game graphics settings on your PC or console to check if that helps you to fix the frame drops or stuttering issues. Try turning off some of the display settings for the Sea of Thieves game, such as texture details, shadow effect, v-sync, anti-aliasing, etc. This should improve the FPS count and performance/smoothness in gameplay.

3. Update GPU Drivers

If in case, you haven’t updated your graphics driver on the Windows computer, then make sure to install the latest patch version. To do so, you’ll need to check for available updates by following the steps below:

• Press Windows + X keys to open the Quick Link Menu.
• Now, click on Device Manager from the list > Double-click on Display adapters.
• Right-click on the dedicated graphics card that you’re using.

• Next, select Update driver > Choose to Search automatically for drivers.
• If an update is available, the system will automatically download & install it.
• Once done, restart the computer to apply changes immediately.

4. Close Unnecessary Background Tasks

Another thing you can do is simply close unnecessary background tasks on your PC to ensure there is no additional consumption of system resources happening in the background whatsoever. Make sure to keep Sea of Thieves, Steam, and other system-related tasks running. To clear out background tasks:

• Press the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to open Task Manager.
• Click on the Processes tab > Select the task you want to close.

• Once selected, click on End Task. Make sure to do the steps for each task individually.
• Finally, just restart your computer to change effects immediately, and check for Sea of Thieves screen flickering or tearing issue.

5. Check Your Internet Connection

You should also try checking for the internet connection on your PC and whether it’s running well. A slower internet speed or unstable connectivity can cause issues with the game launching or fetching data from the server. You can also try switching the internet connection from wired (ethernet) to wireless (Wi-Fi) to cross-check the network connectivity problem.

If your IP address has some issues or your DNS address is troubling you a lot, then make sure to use the Google DNS address on the PC to avoid rubberbanding connection or stuttering, or even lagging issues which can happen due to slow internet.

6. Update Sea of Thieves

Sometimes an outdated game version can also bring multiple bugs or issues. It’s better to update your Sea of Thieves game by following the steps below. If an update is available, then simply install the latest patch. To do this:

• Open the Steam client > Go to Library > Click on Sea of Thieves from the left pane.
• It’ll automatically search for the available update. If there is an update available, make sure to click on Update.
• It may take some time to install the update > Once done, close the Steam client.
• Finally, reboot your PC to apply changes and launch the game again.

7. Verify Integrity of Game Files

If, in case, there is an issue with the game files and somehow it gets corrupted or missing, then make sure to perform this method to easily check for the issue.

Verify Game Files on Steam:

• Launch Steam > Click on Library.
• Right-click on Sea of Thieves from the list of installed games.
• Now, click on Properties > Go to Local Files.

• Click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
• You’ll have to wait for the process until it gets completed.
• Once done, just restart your computer.

8. Set High Performance in Power Options

If in case, your Windows system is running on the Balanced mode in Power Options, just set the High-Performance mode for better results. Although this option will take higher power usage or battery usage. To do this:

• Click on the Start Menu > Type Control Panel and click on it from the search result.
• Now, go to Hardware and Sound > Select Power Options.
• Click on High Performance to select it.
• Make sure to close the window and fully shut down your computer. To do this, click on the Start Menu > Go to Power > Shut Down.
• Once your computer is fully turned off, you can power it on again.

9. Set High Priority in Task Manager

Make your game priority in the higher segment via the Task Manager to tell your Windows system to run the game properly. To do this:

• Right-click on the Start Menu > Select Task Manager.
• Click on the Processes tab > Right-click on the Sea of Thieves game task.
• Select Set Priority to High > Close Task Manager.
• Finally, run the Sea of Thieves game to check if it crashing on PC or not.

10. Update Windows

Updating Windows OS build is always essential for PC users and PC gamers to reduce system glitches, compatibility issues, and crashes. Meanwhile, the latest version mostly includes additional features, improvements, security patches, etc. To do that:

• Press Windows + I keys to open up the Windows Settings menu.
• Next, click on Update & Security > Select Check for updates under the Windows Update section.
• If there is a feature update available, select Download and install.
• It may take a while to complete the update.
• Once done, restart your computer to install the update.

That’s it, guys. We assume this guide was helpful to you. For further queries, you can comment below.