I was recently testing out the new NVIDIA Super Resolution and HDR features that came to Windows 11 only to find out that Windows has a bug that doesn't turn off HDR even once the setting shows that it is off. Basically regardless of whatever option you choose, either ON or OFF your monitor will be stuck with HDR on. After quite a lot of troubleshooting I did manage to figure out a solution so follow along as I guide you through it.
Takeaways:
- How to fix HDR (High Dynamic Range) stuck on in Windows 11.
- Turning HDR off on Windows 11 doesn't do anything.
- HDR won't disable on Windows 11. The toggle is off but HDR is still on.
How to Fix HDR Stuck on in Windows 11.
Of all the random issues I've come across on Windows 11, this is one of the most stupid and one of the most annoying. When enabling HDR in Windows Settings, Windows updates your preferences and turns on HDR. However, if you try to disable the option and flip the toggle to Off. Windows goes through the motions and disables the toggle but HDR remains enabled. It's a super annoying problem and one that requires quite a bit of work to solve so work your way through the steps shown below to fix the problem.
Clean Install Your GPU Drivers with Display Driver Uninstaller. (NVIDIA | AMD)
Whenever you have any kind of graphical issue, especially after a driver update, a clean GPU driver installation is generally the best fix. So grab start the process below.
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Then go and download the latest GPU driver for your hardware either AMD or NVIDIA.
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Once you have the driver downloaded and on your device. Disable your Internet connection. This will prevent Windows from installing a generic diver as soon as your system restarts.
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Now run DDU and choose to remove everything (you'll need to tick the boxes).
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After the process completes accept the restart request and let your computer restart.
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When your computer starts again install the driver that you downloaded in the earlier step and HDR should be disabled. If it isn't, go into settings and disable using the standard toggle method.
On the odd chance this doesn't work?!
If clean installing your GPU drivers didn't solve this problem, you can try using the System Restore tool to go back to a time before you enabled HDR on your computer. While this is supposed to work in theory I tried it several times and didn't have much luck. Even after restoring to a state a week before I enabled HDR, it was still enabled after a system restore.
Reset your Monitor & Disable HDR on your Monitor.
If your monitor has the option to reset it to default settings then make sure HDR is disabled on your monitor. This should prevent Windows from being able to use the HDR option allowing you to avoid the entire issue.
Update Windows 11.
This is a 50/50 solution but it's worth checking anyway. Simply make sure that you are using the latest version of Windows 11. The goal here is to install a version that has fixed this bug. however, if you are pretty certain the problem was introduced in the most recent update you can try uninstalling the update instead. How to uninstall a bad Windows 11 update. Rollback a Windows 11 update.
