[BUG] Claude Desktop App — Screen Flickering & Mouse Lag on Windows

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/31990
2. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/26302
3. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/42045

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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Closing for now — this doesn't appear to be about Claude Code. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.

Workaround confirmed — plus the missing piece: how to pass --disable-gpu-compositing to the MSIX (Microsoft Store) build.

⚠️ This is an unofficial, temporary workaround. It relies on undocumented launch behavior of the packaged build, so a future Claude / Electron update may change this and break the method (or, hopefully, make it unnecessary). Use at your own risk.

Same root cause here (NVIDIA dGPU + high-refresh display, DWM ↔ Electron GPU-compositing). --disable-gpu-compositing removes the mouse / view-switch stutter for me too.

The open problem in this thread was how to pass the flag to the Store/MSIX build — it ignores normal CLI args, and launching the exe directly fails (no package identity). Solution: launch the packaged app via IApplicationActivationManager::ActivateApplication, passing the flag as the activation arguments. Those arguments land on the process command line, so Chromium reads the switch and propagates it to the renderers. (--remote-debugging-port is separately blocked and makes the app exit, but --disable-gpu-compositing is accepted and persists.)

$Aumid = 'Claude_pzs8sxrjxfjjc!Claude'   # confirm via:  Get-StartApps | ? Name -eq 'Claude'
Add-Type -TypeDefinition @'
using System; using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
[ComImport, Guid("2E941141-7F97-4756-BA1D-9DECDE894A3D"), InterfaceType(ComInterfaceType.InterfaceIsIUnknown)]
public interface IApplicationActivationManager {
    int ActivateApplication([In] string appUserModelId, [In] string arguments, [In] int options, [Out] out uint processId); }
[ComImport, Guid("45BA127D-10A8-46EA-8AB7-56EA9078943C")] public class ApplicationActivationManager { }
public static class L { public static uint Go(string a,string b){ var m=(IApplicationActivationManager)(new ApplicationActivationManager()); uint p; m.ActivateApplication(a,b,0,out p); return p; } }
'@
# Quit Claude first (single-instance lock), then:
[L]::Go($Aumid, '--disable-gpu-compositing')

Verify it stuck:

Get-CimInstance Win32_Process -Filter "Name='Claude.exe'" | ? CommandLine -match 'disable-gpu-compositing'

Wrap it in a .ps1 + a shortcut (pwsh -WindowStyle Hidden -File ...) and launch Claude from that instead of the Store tile (also disable launch-at-login so it doesn't start without the flag).

Env: RTX 3070, 3440×1440@120 Hz ultrawide, Win11, Claude 1.8555.2.0 (Store). A built-in "disable GPU compositing / hardware acceleration" toggle in Settings would remove the need for this.

Update-proof workaround (handles the MSIX packaging gotcha)

The --disable-gpu-compositing flag fixes this, but the raw command above breaks on every app update because the path is version-numbered (Claude_1.6259.1.0_... changes each release), and pointing a normal .lnk at the inner Claude.exe can silently drop the argument — MSIX-packaged apps only reliably receive command-line args via the Windows Application Activation Manager.

Here's a self-contained launcher that resolves the app dynamically (survives updates) and passes the flag correctly. Save as Launch-ClaudeNoFlicker.ps1:

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
$pkg = Get-AppxPackage -Name 'Claude' | Select-Object -First 1
if (-not $pkg) { Write-Error 'Claude desktop app not installed.'; exit 1 }
$appId = (Get-AppxPackageManifest $pkg).Package.Applications.Application |
         Select-Object -First 1 -ExpandProperty Id
$aumid = "$($pkg.PackageFamilyName)!$appId"
Add-Type -TypeDefinition @"
using System; using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
namespace ClaudeNoFlicker {
  [ComImport, Guid("2e941141-7f97-4756-ba1d-9decde894a3d"), InterfaceType(ComInterfaceType.InterfaceIsIUnknown)]
  public interface IApplicationActivationManager {
    int ActivateApplication([In] string appUserModelId,
      [In, MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPWStr)] string arguments, [In] uint options, [Out] out uint processId);
  }
  [ComImport, Guid("45BA127D-10A8-46EA-8AB7-56EA9078943C")] public class ApplicationActivationManager {}
  public static class Launcher {
    public static uint Activate(string aumid, string args) {
      var mgr = (IApplicationActivationManager)new ApplicationActivationManager();
      uint pid; mgr.ActivateApplication(aumid, args, 0, out pid); return pid;
    }
  }
}
"@
[ClaudeNoFlicker.Launcher]::Activate($aumid, '--disable-gpu-compositing') | Out-Null

Then make a shortcut targeting:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -WindowStyle Hidden -File "<path>\Launch-ClaudeNoFlicker.ps1"

Verified: the flag propagates all the way to the renderer processes (--type=renderer ... --disable-gpu-compositing), confirming Electron honors it. Tested on Windows 11 with an NVIDIA dGPU.

Would be great if the app shipped a hardware-acceleration toggle (or defaulted this flag on affected NVIDIA/DWM configs) so users don't need a launcher. This issue has been going on for over 4 months and is a hassle to manage. Constant flickering is making it very difficult to use the Claude Desktop app.

Yes, facing this issue with a very similar setup.

OS — Windows 11 Pro
CPU — AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D (with AMD integrated graphics)
GPU — MSI RTX 5070 Ti Ventus 3X OC (discrete)
Motherboard — Gigabyte B850 Gaming X WiFi6E
Monitor — LG 27GX700A-B 2560x1440 @ 280Hz connected via DisplayPort to RTX 5070 Ti
Claude Desktop Version — 1.11187.4.0 (MSIX/Microsoft Store package)

Note: The issue is not happening when using Light mode

Got the following error messages in terminal when trying to run the applicaiton with --disable-gpu-composting flag

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Start-Process "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Claude_1.11187.4.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc\app\claude.exe" --disable-gpu-compositing
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> eprecationWarning: url.parse() behavior is not standardized and prone to errors that have security implications. Use the WHATWG URL API instead. CVEs are not issued for url.parse() vulnerabilities.
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> recation ...` to show where the warning was created)
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> RROR:net\disk_cache\cache_util_win.cc:25] Unable to move the cache: Access is denied. (0x5)
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> RROR:net\disk_cache\disk_cache.cc:284] Unable to create cache

@VanditGupta — no worries, that error is expected with the way it was launched, and it's the exact case my earlier comment was about.

What went wrong (in plain terms): you started the app's .exe file directly. A Store (MSIX) app launched that way runs without its package identity, so it loses permission to its own cache folder — that's what these lines mean:

ERROR:net\disk_cache\cache_util_win.cc:25] Unable to move the cache: Access is denied. (0x5)
ERROR:net\disk_cache\disk_cache.cc:284] Unable to create cache

The fix: don't run the .exe yourself. Instead, ask Windows to launch the app by its app ID and hand it the flag — that keeps the package identity and delivers the flag. The script below does that for you.

Setup (step by step)

1. Save the script below to a file named Launch-ClaudeSmooth.ps1 (anywhere you like, e.g. C:\Users\<username>\.local\bin\).
2. Create a shortcut on your Desktop (right-click Desktop → New → Shortcut), and for the location/target paste this single line:

``
"C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe" -NoProfile -WindowStyle Hidden -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\Users\<username>\.local\bin\Launch-ClaudeSmooth.ps1"
``

1. Launch Claude from that shortcut instead of the Start menu / Store tile. Also turn off "launch at login" so it never starts without the flag.

Notes / please read before trying:

1. This works in my environment (Japanese edition of Windows). I haven't tested it on other language editions, so no guarantees there.
2. Replace <username> with your actual Windows username, i.e. your real folder path. You can find it in File Explorer (the C:\Users\... folder for your account).
3. The idea is: make a Desktop shortcut and set its target/location to the [command in step 2].
4. The example paths may differ on your machine. Please check your own paths and adjust them before running.

The script

# Launch Claude Desktop (MSIX / Microsoft Store) with --disable-gpu-compositing.
# Fixes mouse/redraw stutter (DWM <-> Electron GPU compositing) on NVIDIA + high-refresh displays.
# The MSIX build ignores Chromium flags on a normal launch, so we pass them via
# IApplicationActivationManager::ActivateApplication on the AUMID (this keeps package
# identity AND lands the flag on the command line, so it propagates to the renderers).

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
$Aumid = 'Claude_pzs8sxrjxfjjc!Claude'   # confirm via: Get-StartApps | ? Name -eq 'Claude'
$Flag  = '--disable-gpu-compositing'

Add-Type -TypeDefinition @'
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
[ComImport, Guid("2E941141-7F97-4756-BA1D-9DECDE894A3D"), InterfaceType(ComInterfaceType.InterfaceIsIUnknown)]
public interface IApplicationActivationManager {
    int ActivateApplication([In] string appUserModelId, [In] string arguments, [In] int options, [Out] out uint processId);
}
[ComImport, Guid("45BA127D-10A8-46EA-8AB7-56EA9078943C")]
public class ApplicationActivationManager { }
public static class ClaudeLauncher {
    public static uint Launch(string aumid, string args) {
        var mgr = (IApplicationActivationManager)(new ApplicationActivationManager());
        uint pid; int hr = mgr.ActivateApplication(aumid, args, 0, out pid);
        if (hr != 0) Marshal.ThrowExceptionForHR(hr);
        return pid;
    }
}
'@

# Return the MSIX Claude main process (exclude --type=* renderer/GPU/utility children
# and the CLI's claude.exe; only the UI process remains).
function Get-ClaudeMain {
    Get-CimInstance Win32_Process -Filter "Name='Claude.exe'" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
        Where-Object { $_.CommandLine -like '*WindowsApps*Claude*' -and $_.CommandLine -notlike '*--type=*' }
}

# Poll until the main process is gone (single-instance lock release).
function Wait-ClaudeGone {
    param([int]$TimeoutMs = 6000)
    $sw = [Diagnostics.Stopwatch]::StartNew()
    while ((Get-ClaudeMain) -and $sw.ElapsedMilliseconds -lt $TimeoutMs) {
        Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 200
    }
}

# Already running with the flag -> nothing to do (AUMID activation focuses it).
$alreadyFlagged = Get-ClaudeMain | Where-Object { $_.CommandLine -match [regex]::Escape($Flag) }
if ($alreadyFlagged) { return }

# Up to 3 tries: kill -> wait for lock release -> launch with flag -> verify it landed.
# If a post-update build releases the lock slowly, a fixed wait can redirect the relaunch
# into the dying old instance and drop the flag. Verify + retry guards against that.
for ($try = 1; $try -le 3; $try++) {
    Get-Process -Name claude -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
        Where-Object { try { $_.Path -like '*WindowsApps*' } catch { $false } } |
        Stop-Process -Force
    Wait-ClaudeGone

    [void][ClaudeLauncher]::Launch($Aumid, $Flag)

    # Wait for the main process to appear and confirm the flag is on it.
    $sw = [Diagnostics.Stopwatch]::StartNew()
    do {
        Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 300
        $main = Get-ClaudeMain | Select-Object -First 1
    } while (-not $main -and $sw.ElapsedMilliseconds -lt 8000)

    if ($main -and $main.CommandLine -match [regex]::Escape($Flag)) { break }
    # Flag didn't land (race) -> next loop re-kills and relaunches.
}

Verify the flag is active:

Get-CimInstance Win32_Process -Filter "Name='Claude.exe'" | ? CommandLine -match 'disable-gpu-compositing'

(If that prints a line, it worked. If it prints nothing, Claude isn't running with the flag.)

Heads-up: this is still an unofficial, undocumented workaround — a future Claude/Electron update could change the activation behavior and break it.

I don't know if that option is new (I guess so since @ReconGrunt said on June 5 that it would be a great feature), but I found a way easier and less hacky solution on Reddit, courtesy of user SuperStumps.
Hardware acceleration can be disabled by clicking on the hamburger menu in the top left, going to help > troubleshooting > disable hardware acceleration to toggle it off.
After a restart, the issue completely disappeared.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeAI/comments/1twxqff/comment/os03ftb/

This is a critical flaw that's been going on for two weeks, when is a fix coming? We've lost a solid days of developer time just trying to get this to work with no resolution. All of the mitigation issues listed here disable the use of Claude Code and Cowork or fail to solve the chrome slow down and freeze issues.

I wish I could say iwata-1116's hack works, but it doesn't (I appreciate the effort). This needs a fix Anthropic, now!

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.