Fix Screen Tearing on Ubuntu With Intel iGPU and a 144Hz Monitor

Screen tearing ruins an otherwise great setup. You have a smooth 144Hz monitor connected to your Ubuntu PC, videos should look fluid, and games should feel responsive. Instead, a horizontal line keeps slicing across the screen whenever the camera moves, windows split when you drag them, and fast scenes look broken in the middle. The picture is fast, but it never looks clean.

With an Intel integrated GPU this problem is very fixable. It usually comes down to a mismatch: the monitor wants to refresh 144 times per second, but Ubuntu may still be driving it at 60Hz, or the desktop may be drawing frames without syncing them to the display. Wayland and Xorg handle syncing very differently, so the right fix depends on which session you use. This guide takes you through the checks in the right order, from simple settings most people miss to the driver option that solves stubborn cases.

Quick Answer

To fix screen tearing on Ubuntu with an Intel iGPU and a 144Hz monitor, first set the refresh rate to 144Hz in Settings under Displays, and use a DisplayPort cable or a proper HDMI 2.0 cable. Then use a Wayland session, which prevents most tearing by design. If you must stay on Xorg, enable the TearFree option in an Intel graphics configuration file and restart, which removes tearing for the great majority of Intel systems.

What Screen Tearing Actually Is

Tearing happens when your graphics chip sends a new frame to the monitor in the middle of the monitor drawing the previous one. The top half of the screen shows the old frame and the bottom half shows the new frame, with a visible seam between them. Your eyes catch that seam easily during side-to-side motion, which is why tearing is worst in videos with camera pans, in games, and when scrolling quickly.

A 144Hz panel can only help if Ubuntu is actually sending it 144 frames per second in a synced way. If Ubuntu is set to 60Hz, or sync is turned off for performance, the expensive monitor cannot save the picture. Intel integrated graphics fully support tear-free output at 144Hz for desktop use, video, and light gaming, as long as the connection and settings are right.

Step 1: Check the Cable and Port First

Before touching software, check the physical connection, because it quietly causes a large share of 144Hz problems.

• Prefer DisplayPort. It reliably carries 144Hz at 1080p and 1440p on Intel systems.
• Be careful with HDMI. Older ports and cheap cables often limit you to 60Hz or 120Hz. You need HDMI 2.0 or better on both ends for 144Hz at higher resolutions.
• Avoid adapters where possible. USB-C hubs and format adapters frequently cap the refresh rate or break sync.
• Use the main output. On some desktops different ports follow different limits, so try the primary display output.

Swap in a short, certified cable during testing.

Step 2: Set 144Hz Correctly in Ubuntu

Ubuntu does not always select the highest refresh rate by itself, especially after connecting a new monitor or waking from sleep.

1. Open Settings and go to Displays.
2. Click your 144Hz monitor if you have more than one screen.
3. Set the resolution to the monitor’s native resolution first, because some rates only appear there.
4. Open the Refresh Rate menu and select 144Hz, or the closest listed value such as 143.9Hz.
5. Click Apply and confirm the setting is kept.

To double-check on Xorg, run xrandr and look for the star marking the active mode. If 144Hz is not listed, the cable, port, or dock is limiting you.

Step 3: Use Wayland for the Simplest Tear-Free Desktop

Wayland is the modern display system on Ubuntu, and it handles frame timing in a fundamentally better way. Under Wayland, applications present complete frames that the compositor displays in sync with the monitor, so classic tearing basically does not happen in normal desktop use. If you are on Xorg and tearing is your main complaint, simply switching sessions solves it for most Intel users.

Check your current session with echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE. If it says wayland, your tearing is coming from somewhere else, most likely the refresh rate, a specific app, or a video player setting. If it says x11, log out, click your name on the login screen, use the gear menu to choose Ubuntu on Wayland, and sign back in. Test the same video or window movement that tore before. In most cases the improvement is immediate. The official Ubuntu display help pages explain the refresh rate settings in more detail if you want to confirm what each option means.

Step 4: Fix Tearing on Xorg With the TearFree Option

Some people need Xorg for a specific app, a screen recorder, or older software. On Xorg, Intel graphics need one explicit setting for guaranteed tear-free output. The Intel driver supports an option called TearFree, and enabling it is safe and reversible.

1. Create the folder if needed with sudo mkdir -p /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d.
2. Create a file with sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf.
3. Add a device section that sets the driver to intel and enables TearFree, as shown below.
4. Save the file, restart, and sign into the Xorg session again.
5. Test with fast video motion and by dragging a window quickly across the screen.

Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel Graphics"
Driver "intel"
Option "TearFree" "true"
EndSection

If anything looks wrong, delete the file with sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf and restart. The Arch Wiki Intel graphics page documents TearFree in depth.

Step 5: Fix Tearing Inside Specific Apps

Sometimes the desktop is smooth and tearing only appears in one place. Browsers and video players are the usual suspects, because they have their own rendering and sync settings.

Browser Video Tearing

In Firefox, make sure hardware video acceleration is active, because software decoding at 144Hz often produces uneven frames. In Chromium-based browsers, check that hardware acceleration is enabled. If tearing only happens in full-screen browser video, test the same video in a local player such as VLC or Celluloid. If the local player is clean, the browser pipeline is the issue, and switching to Wayland fixes almost all of these cases at once.

Game Tearing

In games, turn on vertical sync in the game settings if you want zero tearing, understanding that it can add a tiny amount of input delay. Many players also cap the frame rate just below 144, for example at 141 frames per second, combined with sync, for a cleaner result. Intel integrated graphics suit lighter games and esports titles at 1080p best, so lowering a few heavy settings often produces smoother frames than chasing maximum rates.

If your issue involves stutter across the whole desktop, our guide on fixing a laggy Ubuntu desktop on Intel graphics covers the power and driver settings behind general sluggishness.

Step 6: Update Drivers and Check Multi-Monitor Setups

Intel graphics drivers come with the Linux kernel on Ubuntu, so the simplest driver update is a normal system update. Run Software Updater, install everything, and restart. Moving to a newer kernel through Ubuntu’s hardware enablement stack has fixed tearing and flicker bugs for many Intel generations, especially newer chips.

With two monitors at different refresh rates, Xorg syncs to just one, and the other can tear. Wayland handles mixed rates far better. Test with only the 144Hz monitor connected.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Buying fixes before checking the cable. A cheap or old HDMI cable is the most common hidden cause of missing 144Hz options.
• Leaving Ubuntu at 60Hz. The box says 144Hz, but Ubuntu must be set to use it. Always verify the active rate.
• Editing Xorg files while using Wayland. Xorg configuration files have no effect in a Wayland session.
• Turning off sync everywhere for performance. Disabling sync in games, browsers, and the driver at the same time guarantees tearing.
• Testing with one slow video. Use a fast camera-pan video, because slow content hides the problem.
• Mixing refresh rates on Xorg and blaming the GPU. Mixed-rate setups are a known weak point of Xorg, not faulty hardware.

Conclusion

Screen tearing on Ubuntu with an Intel iGPU and a 144Hz monitor is almost always a settings problem, not weak hardware. Confirm the cable can truly carry 144Hz, set the refresh rate in Displays, and prefer a Wayland session for a naturally tear-free desktop. If you need Xorg, the TearFree option solves nearly every remaining case and can be removed in seconds. Finish with normal system updates and per-app sync checks, and your monitor will finally deliver the clean, fluid picture you paid for.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Ubuntu only show 60Hz for my 144Hz monitor?

The usual causes are an older HDMI cable, an HDMI 1.4 port, a limiting adapter or dock, or using a non-native resolution. Switch to DisplayPort or a certified HDMI 2.0 cable, set the native resolution, and check the Refresh Rate menu again.

Is Wayland really better than Xorg for tearing?

Yes, for this specific problem. Wayland presents only complete, synced frames to the screen, so normal desktop tearing is essentially eliminated. Xorg can also be tear-free, but it needs the right driver option, such as TearFree on Intel graphics, to get there reliably.

Does enabling TearFree or VSync add input lag?

It can add a very small amount of delay, usually one frame, which most people never notice in desktop use or video. Competitive players sometimes prefer a frame cap instead. For everyday use, the clean picture is well worth the tiny cost.

Why do I still see tearing in games when the desktop is fine?

Games render independently of the desktop, so they follow their own sync settings. Turn on vertical sync in the game, or cap the frame rate slightly below 144. Also check that the game is running at your monitor’s native resolution and refresh rate.

Can Intel integrated graphics really handle 144Hz?

Yes, for the desktop, video playback, and lighter games at 1080p, Intel integrated graphics handle 144Hz output perfectly well. Heavy modern games may not reach 144 frames per second, but that is a performance limit, not a display problem.