What A Yellow Border Around Your Screen In Windows 11 Means (And How To Remove It)

If you use a PC, there's a good chance it's running some version of Windows. The operating system is one of the most popular in the world, with a market share of around 72 percent. Windows 11 is the latest iteration of the popular operating system and comes pre-installed on new computers. Like with all operating systems on the market, there have been some complaints from users about Windows 11, and some settings can take away from the experience, but for the most part, satisfaction seems to be high.

However, as we all know, no matter how good an operating system is, something is bound to go wrong every once in a while. For Windows 11 users, one of those things is a mysterious yellow border appearing around their screen. Since it seems to appear out of the blue, if it happens to you and you don't know what's going on, it can be confusing and concerning. After all, at first glance, it might appear to be a sign that there's something wrong with your system or display. The good news is that's usually not the case. Instead, when you see the yellow border around your screen in Windows, it's typically linked to a Windows 11 feature or setting, such as recording tools, accessibility features, or display settings. 

You're most likely to see the yellow border on Windows 11 when your screen is being recorded, whether with its propriety screen and video recording feature, Snipping Tool, or with a third-party tool like OBS, but it can appear at other times. If you use an accessibility feature like Windows Narrator, it might cause a yellow border to appear around your screen as it does things like read and write emails, browse the internet, or work with your documents. The same can happen with High Contrast Settings and themes. An outdated or malfunctioning display driver can also sometimes cause this problem. You can't turn off this security feature, but if you're not recording anything and still see a yellow border, something could be running in the background. 

Follow these steps to force stop the Snipping Tool:

1. Right-click the Windows key on your computer's taskbar.
2. Select Task Manager from the drop-down menu.
3. Click the Processes tab in the navigation pane.
4. Scroll down to Snipping Tool under the Processes tab.
5. Click Snipping Tool and then End Task.

When you restart your computer, the yellow border around your screen should be gone. If not, accessibility features could be to blame. You can try turning these off to see if that solves the problem.

Follow these steps to disable the Narrator:

1. Press Windows + I to open Settings.
2. Go to Accessibility, then select Narrator.
3. Toggle the Narrator feature to off.

Follow these steps to turn off High Contrast Settings:

1. Press Windows + I to open Settings.
2. Go to Accessibility, then Contrast Themes.
3. Select None from the drop-down menu.

If these steps don't work, try updating or reinstalling your NVIDIA or other display drivers and make sure your computer is up to date.