SQL Server Management Studio graphical glitches

Question

I had installed SQL Server Management Studio 2014 and 2016 and the 2016 version had a strange behaviour. I uninstalled it and installed 2017, but it had the same behaviour. What happens is that some icons disappear when I do a mouse over and then reappear when I do it again. Sometimes the query box view gets corrupted with another image:

I've tried updating the drivers (nVidia GTX960 from MSI and nVidia), updating the SSMS and changing compatibility configuration for high DPI to no avail.

What more can I do? Thanks for your time.

Solution

I would recommend you try turning off hardware acceleration to help rule out driver issues. If you go to Tools -> Options... then in the General section there is a Visual Experience section.

Please untick all three boxes and see if it makes a difference.

Comments

[Noctis]

Had the same issue and a mate suggested doing the above. Anyone can explain WHY it happens ?

[J.D.]

Thanks, this was driving me insane, until your suggestion fixed it! :)

[leqid]

Fixed an issue where clicking on tabs did not refresh the tab contents but displayed whatever was on the last tab displayed. Strangely, using the ctrl-tab keyboard shortcut to switch tabs did always refresh the tab contents. (SSMS v18.0; 15.0.18118.0)

[james2code]

Had same issue with my new MSI (GTX 1050Ti) laptop and this fixed it.

[ransems]

Had same issue, was driving me nuts. This fixed it. Kudos

[Pseudonymous]

The "use hardware graphics..." option was causing the issue for me.

[Helpha]

Worked for SSMS 18

[Daniel]

Works on 18.4. I assume this has something to do with the graphics driver failing to be notified that the content has been refreshed.