Perplexity Flicker Fix

A tiny, two-script fix for the screen-flickering bug in the Perplexity Windows app (Microsoft Store version). The flicker is caused by GPU compositing — this launches Perplexity with GPU compositing turned off, which stops it.

Is this safe? (read this if you're unsure)

Yes — and you don't have to take my word for it, you can verify it yourself:

• It's two short PowerShell scripts, both fully readable below and in this repo. There is no compiled binary, no installer, and nothing downloaded from the internet. Open them in Notepad before running them if you want.
• It doesn't modify Perplexity or Windows. All it does is close the app if it's running, look up where Windows already installed it, and start it again with two extra command-line flags (--disable-gpu and --disable-gpu-compositing). Those are standard Chromium flags — the same ones used by Edge, Chrome, Discord, Slack, and every other Chromium-based app to work around GPU rendering bugs.
• Nothing is installed, and no scheduled tasks, services, or startup entries are created. The optional second script only creates a normal Desktop shortcut (.lnk file) that runs the first script — you can delete it any time like any other shortcut.
• No admin rights, no network access, no telemetry. The scripts run entirely offline and only touch: (1) the Perplexity process, (2) the Perplexity install folder Windows already created, and (3) your Desktop folder (only if you run the shortcut script).

If you're still not comfortable, that's completely reasonable — read through Launch-Perplexity-NoGPU.ps1 line by line, or run it through a script scanner of your choice first.

What's in this repo

File	Purpose
Launch-Perplexity-NoGPU.ps1	Closes Perplexity (if running) and relaunches it with GPU compositing disabled. This is the actual fix.
Create-Desktop-Shortcut.ps1	Optional. Creates a "Perplexity (No GPU)" shortcut on your Desktop so you can launch the fixed version with a double-click instead of running PowerShell each time.

How to use it

1. Download Launch-Perplexity-NoGPU.ps1 from this repo (green "Code" → "Download ZIP", or just copy the file's contents into a new .ps1 file).
2. Save it somewhere you'll remember — for example C:\Scripts\.
3. Double-click it, or right-click → "Run with PowerShell".
   • If Windows blocks it with a execution-policy warning, that's the normal Windows protection for downloaded scripts, not a sign anything is wrong. Right-click the file → Properties → check "Unblock" → OK, then try again.
4. Perplexity will close (if it was open) and relaunch — the flicker should be gone.

Optional: make it a one-click shortcut

1. Make sure Launch-Perplexity-NoGPU.ps1 is saved at C:\Scripts\ (or edit the $script path at the top of Create-Desktop-Shortcut.ps1 to match wherever you saved it).
2. Run Create-Desktop-Shortcut.ps1 once.
3. You'll now have a "Perplexity (No GPU)" icon on your Desktop — double-click it any time instead of opening Perplexity's normal shortcut.

Why this happens / why this works

Some GPUs and driver combinations don't play well with the GPU-accelerated compositing that Chromium-based apps (which Perplexity's Windows app is built on) use by default. Disabling GPU compositing forces the app to render in software mode instead, which is very slightly heavier on your CPU but eliminates the flicker entirely.

License

MIT — see LICENSE. Use it, share it, modify it.