Where is the refresh rate setting?
High refresh rate arrived on phones around 2020 and brought the desktop vocabulary with it — along with one vendor who decided to call it something friendlier. We read the settings tree of all 43 systems in the catalogue and recorded where each one keeps it.
What each system calls it
10 of the 43 operating systems in our catalogue have this setting, and between them they use three different labels for it:
| Name on screen | Systems |
|---|---|
| Refresh rate | 5 |
| Refresh Rate | 3 |
| Motion smoothness | 1 |
| Screen refresh rate | 1 |
The most common is Refresh rate, on 5 of the 10. If that is not the word on your screen, the table above is the rest of the vocabulary to try.
Some of those rows differ only in capitalisation — 4 spellings for three actual names. We have kept them apart because that is what is printed on the screen, and a settings search that matches case will tell them apart too.
Where it lives on each system
These are the shortest paths from the first settings screen on the newest release of each system. 8 of the 10 are within two taps; the rest sit deeper, and the table shows how much deeper.
| System | Path | Taps |
|---|---|---|
| HarmonyOS 6.0 | Display & brightness › Refresh rate | 2 |
| HyperOS 4.0 | Display › Refresh rate | 2 |
| macOS 27 Golden Gate | Displays › Refresh Rate | 2 |
| Meta Quest v81 | Display › Refresh Rate | 2 |
| One UI 9 | Display › Motion smoothness | 2 |
| OxygenOS 16 | Display and brightness › Screen refresh rate | 2 |
| Roku OS Roku OS 16 | Display type › Refresh rate | 2 |
| Steam Deck SteamOS 3.8 | Display › Refresh Rate | 2 |
| ChromeOS 151 | Device › Display › Refresh rate | 3 |
| Xbox 2608 | General › TV & display options › Display › Refresh rate | 4 |
Each system name above opens the real menu in the simulator, so you can walk the path before you touch your own device.
Why the names came out this way
Refresh rate is the engineering term, taken straight from monitors, and most systems use it unchanged. Motion smoothness is the exception: a name that describes the result rather than the mechanism, aimed at someone who has never thought about hertz.
Both control the same trade. A higher rate makes scrolling look better and costs battery, which is why this setting almost always sits in the display group within a tap or two of the brightness controls.
Find it on your own device
If your system is not in the table, or the label on your screen is different again, there are three ways through it:
- Search every system at once for a setting by name — it looks inside all 43 trees, not just the one you are holding.
- Open your own system in the settings simulator and click to the screen without changing anything real.
- Follow the step-by-step guide to battery life, or see where that setting lives on every system.
Related settings in the same part of the menu:
- Where is the always-on display setting?
- Where is the battery saver setting?
- Where are the power settings?
All of it comes from the same catalogue: 43 systems, 135 versions, published as an open dataset.
Try it yourself, on the real menusOpen any of 43 operating systems in your browser and walk the Settings tree exactly as it appears on the device. No download, no account.Frequently asked questions
Where is the refresh rate setting on most systems?
On 8 of the 10 systems that have it, within two taps of the first settings screen. The most common label is “Refresh rate”, used by 5 of them. The table above gives the exact path for each system.
Why can I not find it by searching my settings?
Because settings search matches the label your system uses, and there are three different labels in use for this one setting. Searching for the word your previous device used is the single most common reason a setting appears to be missing.
How many systems have this setting at all?
10 of the 43 operating systems we catalogue. The rest either have no hardware for it or fold the behaviour into something else, which is why a feature that feels universal often is not.