Auto HDR in Windows 11 (24H2) Causes Game Freezes: How to Fix It and Disable the Feature

Edmund_McGowan · 4:50AM

One thing that you don’t want over the holidays is to be blighted with game crashes. Alas, it would appear that there’s a wee Windows bug in the most recent Windows 11 24H2 update that no one asked for this Christmas. The offending bug is causing in-game freezing and even crashes in PCs with Auto HDR enabled.

If you’re still on 23H2, then don’t worry, please return to gaming as usual. Also, if your monitor/screen doesn’t have HDR, then the bug will not affect you! If, however, you’ve recently updated to Windows 11 24H2, then it's probably a good idea to figure out a few ways to turn off Auto HDR, and avoid crashing your favorite games.

So, if you’re looking to figure out what’s causing this freezing, or maybe you’re just curious about Windows 11 Auto HDR, then you’re in the right place. Read on to discover all you need to know about Windows Auto HDR, all of the trouble it’s causing, and most importantly, how to solve this issue by turning off Auto HDR.

What’s HDR?

HDR, is short for High Dynamic Range. You’ve probably seen or heard this acronym used to describe displays, TV screens, and even photographic formats. Before we get to the Auto part, let’s focus on what HDR technology brings to the table for displays. As the game suggests, HDR enhances the display of compatible content. This higher dynamic range equates to a wider range of brightness, along with richer colors and deeper blacks and details in the shadows. So, HDR delivers a more realistic, detailed and natural viewing experience for both gaming and streamed content.

And Auto HDR?

Windows Auto HDR is a feature that automatically applies HDR enhancements to games that were originally designed for SDR (Standard Dynamic Range). In order to enhance color vibrancy, brightness, and contrast to make non-HDR games more life-like, Auto HDR uses advanced algorithms to simulate HDR effects in SDR games. Windows Auto HDR can be used on HDR-capable displays that support HDR10. This upgrade for SDR games is designed to seamlessly improve the in-game visual quality without the need for users to tweak settings and make manual adjustments.

Like the sound of this hack for immersive, ultra-engaging, and massively improved gaming experiences? Well, hold your horses, hoss. The word from the horse’s mouth (Microsoft) is that if you run Auto HDR:

“You might observe that the game colors are incorrect in certain display configurations. You might also observe that some games stop responding.“

Not good! Before we go any further, let’s get to the bottom of this freeze-pool, and examine what’s actually going on with Auto HDR, and how it may affect your gaming.

Beware the big freeze?

The Windows 11 2024 update, formally known as Windows 11, version 24H2 has been available to the public since early October 2024. While the benefits of immersive gaming in SDR games might sound mighty appealing, Auto HDR can actually cause some pretty serious issues, too. Quite the opposite of massively enhancing your gaming experiences, Auto HDR may have the unwelcome effect of causing your favorite games to freeze, unexpectedly crash, and not show their true colors.

On top of this, other frustrated users have reported that Auto HDR feature has resulted in some games refusing to start, and has even compromised the functionality of the Windows 11 home screen. This has affected wildly popular games including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.

As we mentioned above, Microsoft has acknowledged this issue, and stated that the root of the problem is Auto HDR. At time of writing, there is no permanent solution to this issue affecting millions of gamers worldwide. While it is hard at work on finding a suitably sized swat to eliminate this game freezing bug, Microsoft has implemented a compatibility hold to stop afflicted devices updating until a solution is found. On top of sitting tight and waiting for the big fix, there are several other approaches Windows 11 24H2 users can try. Let’s have a look at some of the recommendations from around the world.

How can you solve this issue?

Gamers of the world, unite and take over! Well, not quite yet, but there are many cheesed off individuals in the forums who aren’t thanking Microsoft for the Christmas gift of game freezes and crashes. People are quite rightly annoyed that something designed to improve their gaming experiences is having the polar opposite effect! So what can be done in the short term?

If you haven’t yet updated to 24H2, maybe hold off on that update for a few weeks, or months until the issue is resolved.
If you’ve recently updated and are stuck in a rut of game freezes and crashes, consider rolling back. Many users are actually taking the step of rolling back to 23H2, an easy option if you’ve only updated in the last 10 days, or less.
Complain! Let Microsoft know as many details as possible about the issues you’re experiencing. Make this a movement of the people, the more people speak up, the quicker they’ll sort the problem after the holidays.
Check for the latest updates. Hopefully Microsoft will release a patch soonish to sort this issue once and for all. In the meantime, Microsoft have urged users to avoid manually updating to version 24H2 with the Windows 11 Installation Assistant or the media creation until the problem is sorted.

How to turn off Auto HDR?

The fastest workaround for Windows 11 24H2 users who don’t want to try any of the solutions above is to simply disable Auto HDR. This will nip the issue in the bud, and is simple enough to do:

Click the Start menu and go to Settings.
Navigate to System > Display.
Scroll down, select Graphics.
To turn off Auto HDR for all games, use the Default Settings control.
To turn off Auto HDR for individual games, select Custom settings for applications and choose the specific game.

Try this method to disable Auto HDR, and get on with gaming in peace!

If you follow these steps and don't see the Auto HDR toggle, then your display doesn't have HDR features, meaning that something unrelated to Auto HDR is making your games freeze and glitch. Anyway, we hope that Auto HDR hasn’t blighted your holiday gaming, wherever you are in the world. By following the steps above, and keeping abreast of the latest updates from Microsoft, hopefully you’ll be able to continue on your gaming journey relatively unimpeded.