System freezes have many possible causes and can randomly occur anytime on your PC. In such cases, you might want to look for an effective and long-lasting solution to this issue. The solution mainly depends on what is causing your device to freeze frequently. Many Windows 11 users might encounter system freezing whenever due to alt-tab.
The Alt + Tab keyboard shortcut allows you to switch between various programs on your PC. Here, we have some effective solutions for the system freezing caused by this shortcut. Trying out each of them might fix the problem by the time you apply the last one.
How to Stop System Freezing while Alt-Tabbing from Games on Windows 11?
The problem you are facing does not necessarily have something to do with the game. So, you must also consider the usual causes of system freezing and apply an appropriate solution. Now, that can help you fix the system freezing issue more effectively in some cases.
Reboot Your Device
A simple restart might not always offer an effective solution but is worth giving a try. It might fix the issue, at least for a while, if not permanently. So, turn off your PC for a minute and opt for a reboot through the Start menu. Launch the game after the restart and try using the Alt + Tab shortcut while playing it. Find and fix any app conflict on your PC if it freezes again.
Shut Down Conflicting Programs
Some of your apps might get into conflict with each other, causing performance issues. You must avoid running them at the same time to prevent any problems. Repeated system crashes while alt-tabbing from a game might indicate a software conflict. So, you resolve any such issues on your PC before moving on to other fixes.
Check the apps running in the background while you are playing the game. Do you face system freezes while running a specific app alongside your game? Then, shutting it down right away might help you stop the freezing.
From what it seems, Discord can often freeze your device while alt-tabbing from a game. Many PC users have reported that closing Discord fixes the problem, and you must try the same.
Stop the Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling
Your CPU might fail to handle high-priority tasks on your PC. So, you can pass some of them on to your GPU to get better performance. In most cases, you can get a better experience by taking this step. However, enabling the hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling can cause system freezes when you alt-tab from games.
So, you must disable this feature if you have enabled it on your device. Go to the Settings menu, open the System section and click on the Display option there. Click on ‘Change the default graphics settings’ on the new window and disable hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling.
Disable Fast Startup
As the name suggests, the fast startup feature makes your PC reboot faster. Some Windows users have suggested disabling this feature to stop the system freezing. You might want to try it out as it has fixed the problem for many people. There are various ways to disable fast startup, the easiest one is through the Control Panel.
Go to the Start menu and enter “control panel” in the search bar. Then, open the System and Security section through the Power Options window. Click on ‘Choose what the power buttons do’ on the left side to change the settings. You will find the Fast Startup feature by clicking on ‘Change settings that are currently unavailable.
Turn off fast startup and click on Save Changes before leaving the Control Panel. There are many other tricks to try if this one does not work. Proceed with the next step immediately if the system keeps freezing on using Alt + Tab.
Change the In-Game Aspect Ratio Method (In Valorant)
Does your PC freeze when you alt-tab from Valorant? Many other players have reported that you are not the only one facing this issue. You can fix this problem on Valorant by making changes to the visual settings. Launch the game and bring up its Settings menu on your screen.
The Settings contain multiple tabs, and you must open the Video tab in this case. Find the Aspect Ratio Method under the General Video settings, select Letterbox and click on Apply. Then, check whether your PC freezes when you alt-tab from the game. If it does, then your Valorant graphics settings are probably not causing it.
Get Rid of Temporary Files
Temporary files quite commonly cause freezes on your Windows PC and you should clear them regularly. Various apps generate these files and will re-generate them after deletion. So, you need not worry about any issues if you remove temporary files from your device. You can delete temporary files either through the File Manager or through Settings.
You will find the temporary files in a separate folder on your PC’s system drive. Do you prefer to delete them using Settings? Then, open the System section and go to the Temporary Files tab. Check the total size of temporary files and click on ‘Remove files’ next.
Do you want to keep temporary files on your PC? You must uncheck those specific types of files below the ‘Remove files’ option. You can opt for keeping Downloads, Windows update clean-up, and system error memory dump files, among others.
Increase the Virtual Memory
Random system freezes might indicate a RAM shortage on your device. Increasing the virtual memory can help you improve your PC’s performance in such situations. Also, this is a great way to adjust for the low RAM on your device. You can increase the virtual memory on your PC anytime through its Settings.
Navigate to the System settings section and click on the ‘Advanced system settings’ option’. Then, select the Settings option under the Performance section and open the Advanced tab. You can find out and adjust the allocated virtual memory quality there. Click on Change and enter an increased virtual memory to assign to your PC.
Find and Repair Damaged System Files
It might seem unlikely to users but damaged system files can often freeze Windows systems. So, you must check for corrupted system files using the System File Checker (SFC) tool. Open the Command Prompt as the administrator and enter the command “sfc/ scannow” to start scanning.
SFC will automatically repair any corrupted files it detects within a short time. Exit the Command Prompt once the procedure is complete and launch the game again. If alt-tabbing keeps freezing your PC, it might have something to do with system installation issues.
Ways to Fix the System Freezing
You will find many alternative fixes worth trying apart from the common ones listed here. If the freezing problem persists, you must consider restoring a previous system image. A Windows 11 clean installation or a roll back to Windows 10 can also be quite effective. If required, you must approach a professional repair service to ensure a long-term solution.
