Fixing Artifacting Issues in Chrome: A Guide for NVIDIA Users

Experiencing strange visual glitches, or "artifacting," while browsing with Google Chrome can be frustrating. If you're an NVIDIA user, you might be relieved to know you're not alone. This article dives into a specific issue causing artifacting in Chrome and other Chromium-based applications, offering solutions to get your browser back on track.

The NVIDIA Driver and Chrome Connection

Many users have reported artifacting specifically within Chrome, Steam, Discord, and other applications built on the Chromium framework. The culprit? A potential conflict between NVIDIA drivers and Chrome's rendering engine. This can manifest as visual distortions, flickering, or other graphical anomalies that impact your browsing experience.

The OpenGL Solution: Changing Chrome's Rendering Engine

One effective workaround involves changing Chrome's graphics backend. Here's how to do it:

1. Access Chrome Flags: In your Chrome address bar, type chrome://flags and press Enter. This will open Chrome's experimental features page.
2. Search for ANGLE: In the search bar at the top of the page, type "ANGLE graphics backend."
3. Modify the Setting: You'll see an option labeled "Choose ANGLE graphics backend." Change the setting from "Default" to "OpenGL."
4. Restart Chrome: Chrome will prompt you to restart the browser for the changes to take effect. Click the "Relaunch" button at the bottom of the page.

This tweak forces Chrome to utilize OpenGL for rendering, bypassing the potential conflict with the NVIDIA drivers. If OpenGL doesn't solve the problem, experiment with the other available options in the ANGLE graphics backend menu, such as D3D9 or D3D11.

Driver Rollback: Another Potential Fix

If changing the rendering engine doesn't do the trick, consider rolling back your NVIDIA drivers to a previous version.

• Visit the NVIDIA Driver Download Page: Head to the official NVIDIA driver download page (external link to NVIDIA's website).
• Find Older Drivers: Search for and download drivers that are a few months older than your current version.
• Install the Older Drivers: Follow the on-screen instructions to install the older drivers. You may need to perform a clean installation, which removes the current drivers before installing the older ones.

Rolling back to older drivers can sometimes resolve compatibility issues that arise with newer releases.

Additional Troubleshooting Steps

If neither of these solutions works, consider the following:

• Check for Chrome Updates: Ensure you're running the latest version of Chrome. Outdated browser versions can sometimes cause unexpected issues.
• Disable Hardware Acceleration: In Chrome's settings, search for "hardware acceleration" and disable it. Restart Chrome to see if this resolves the artifacting.
• Graphics Card Issues: While the issue often lies with the drivers, it's essential to rule out any potential issues with your graphics card itself. Run a graphics card stress test (external link) to check if it's performing as expected.
• Consider Other Extensions: Disable all extensions to test if one of them is causing the issue.

By systematically trying these solutions, you should be able to resolve the artifacting issues in Chrome and get back to a smooth browsing experience. Remember to test each solution individually to pinpoint the exact cause of the problem.

Internal Links:

• [Troubleshooting Common Chrome Errors](Internal link to a related article on troubleshooting Chrome)
• [Optimizing Chrome Performance](Internal link to a related article on Chrome optimization)