The Windows 11 24H2 update has introduced significant enhancements, but for some users, it has also brought frustrating rendering and freezing issues, particularly with Chromium-based applications such as Discord, Visual Studio Code, and Google Chrome.

These problems often manifest when alt-tabbing out of games, causing partial interface updates, frozen sections, or glitches that temporarily resolve when switching windows. This guide provides a clear, effective solution to these issues, drawing from a detailed Reddit post by user Maliwolf, without resorting to workarounds like disabling hardware acceleration that can slow down performance.

Understanding the Issue

After updating to Windows 11 24H2, many users have reported that Chromium-based apps exhibit rendering issues, such as partial freezing or glitching, especially when switching between a game and these applications. For example, scrolling through a Discord chat might update only a portion of the screen, leaving the rest frozen. In rare cases, the display updates solely around the mouse cursor. These issues, often described as "tearing" or "glitching," have persisted for approximately seven months for early adopters of the update, affecting both AMD and NVIDIA hardware users.

The root cause lies in the interaction between Microsoft’s Desktop Window Manager (DWM) and Multiplane Overlay (MPO). MPO is a feature that reduces latency in borderless windowed gaming, but its dynamic switching between flip presentation models—specifically, “Composed: Flip” and “Hardware Composed: Independent Flip”—can disrupt rendering in low-frame-rate applications like Discord. This back-and-forth behavior causes the observed freezing and rendering inconsistencies. Notably, applications like Firefox, which do not appear in tools like PresentMon, are unaffected, highlighting the issue’s specificity to Chromium-based apps and certain Windows components.

Why Common Workarounds Fail

Several workarounds have been suggested, but they come with significant drawbacks. Disabling hardware acceleration forces software rendering, which is inefficient and can slow down performance, an unacceptable compromise in 2025. Disabling MPO eliminates the latency benefits of borderless windowed mode, impacting gaming performance. Another suggestion, forcing the ANGLE backend to an alternative like OpenGL, is complex and not universally effective. These solutions fail to address the core issue within DWM’s handling of MPO, making a more targeted fix necessary.

The Solution

Fortunately, a straightforward registry adjustment can resolve these rendering and freezing issues without compromising performance. This fix, detailed in the Reddit post, involves setting the OverlayMinFPS registry key to zero, which disables DWM’s minimum frame rate requirement for assigning overlay planes. This ensures that low-frame-rate applications like Discord and Visual Studio Code remain in the “Hardware Composed: Independent Flip” mode, stabilizing their rendering.

Step-by-Step Guide to Apply the Fix

  1. Verify MPO Status (Optional) Before proceeding, confirm that MPO is enabled on your system, as it is typically active by default. To check:

    • Open the Start menu and type dxdiag.
    • In the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, click “Save All Information” and save the file.
    • Open the saved text file and search for MPO MaxPlanes. If the value is greater than 1 (typically 4), MPO is enabled, and you can proceed with the fix.

  2. Open the Registry Editor

    • Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
    • Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Dwm.

  3. Create or Modify the OverlayMinFPS Key

    • Right-click in the right pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it OverlayMinFPS.
    • Double-click the new key, set its value to 0, and click OK.
    • Alternatively, create a text file named dwm_mpo_fix.reg with the following content, then double-click to run it:
     Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Dwm]
 "OverlayMinFPS"=dword:00000000

  4. Restart Desktop Window Manager

    • Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc).
    • Locate “Desktop Window Manager” under the Processes tab, right-click, and select “End Task.”
    • The process will automatically restart, applying the new setting.

  5. Re-enable MPO (If Previously Disabled)

    • If you previously disabled MPO, re-enable it by navigating to the same registry path (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Dwm) and deleting the OverlayTestMode key.
    • Restart your PC to ensure the change takes effect.

Post-Fix Verification

After applying the fix, test Chromium-based apps like Chrome, Discord, or Visual Studio Code while alt-tabbing out of a game. The rendering and freezing issues should be resolved, with applications maintaining consistent performance. Tools like PresentMon can confirm that affected apps now stay in “Hardware Composed: Independent Flip” mode during use.

Potential Considerations

This fix has been widely praised, with Reddit users reporting significant improvements in apps like Discord and Chrome. However, some users noted that while the fix reduces the frequency of issues, occasional freezing may persist, particularly with specific configurations like G-Sync or FreeSync. If issues continue, consider disabling variable refresh rate technologies on a per-app basis via your GPU control panel. Additionally, Microsoft may modify or remove the OverlayMinFPS key in future updates, so monitor for changes after applying Windows updates.

Conclusion

The rendering and freezing issues in Chromium-based apps on Windows 11 24H2 stem from DWM’s interaction with MPO, but a simple registry tweak can eliminate these problems without sacrificing performance. By setting OverlayMinFPS to zero, users can restore smooth functionality to their applications, ensuring a seamless experience when multitasking between games and productivity tools. This guide, inspired by Maliwolf’s insightful Reddit post, empowers users to address this issue efficiently, avoiding the pitfalls of less effective workarounds.