Drag the square over the stuck point. The arrow keys nudge it one pixel, ten with Shift. To reach a pixel under the browser's bars, press F11 first (Control Command F on a Mac).
10 min
Colour static, every pixel on its own
Square of 100 pixels
100 by 100 px · up to 60 changes a second · 10 min
Each pixel in the square takes a new colour, picked at random from eight, up to 60 times a second. From a step back it looks like coloured snow. It matches the encyclopedia account of the method: rapid changes at the level of single pixels that read as static.
Colour static, every pixel on its ownEach pixel in the square takes a new colour, picked at random from eight, up to 60 times a second. From a step back it looks like coloured snow. It matches the encyclopedia account of the method: rapid changes at the level of single pixels that read as static.
Primary cycle: red, green, blue, white, blackThe whole square steps through five colours at 10 changes a second, so one lap takes half a second. Every sub-pixel under the square is driven fully on and fully off on each lap. Nobody has shown that it works better or worse than static.
One channel, on and offPick red, green or blue to match the colour of the stuck point. The square blinks that one colour against black at 10 changes a second and leaves the other two sub-pixels dark. It is a narrower version of the same idea, with no better evidence behind it.
Slow cycle, two changes a secondThe eight colours in turn, 2 changes a second, one lap every 4 seconds. That is one flash a second at most, under the three-a-second line in the web accessibility guidelines. It is much easier on the eye. Whether slow changes can free a pixel, nobody knows.
Show all 21 patterns and steps (17 more)
How big the square is 3
Square of 60 pixelsAn area of 3,600 CSS pixels, about 16 percent of the small-area limit. The least flashing light the page offers, and enough to cover one pixel and its neighbours. You have to place it carefully: use the arrow keys to nudge it one pixel at a time.
Square of 100 pixelsAn area of 10,000 CSS pixels. The accessibility guidelines set their small-area limit at a quarter of a 10 degree field of view, which is 21,824 CSS pixels. This square is about 46 percent of that limit, and it is easy to drop over a pixel by eye.
Square of 120 pixelsAn area of 14,400 CSS pixels, about 66 percent of the limit, and the largest the page will draw. Use it for two or three stuck points close together. A square reaches the limit itself at about 147 pixels a side, and this page stops well short.
Before you start: which fault is it? 6
Lit in one colour on every pictureThis is the fault the page is for. A stuck sub-pixel is always on, so the point stays red, green or blue whatever the picture does. On an LCD the usual cause is a transistor that is powered all the time, or never, and keeps letting light through.
White on every pictureA bright dot, sometimes called a hot pixel: all three sub-pixels of one pixel are on together, so the point is white. In effect it is a stuck sub-pixel three times over. Worth a run, with the same lack of promises.
Dark on every pictureA pixel that stays black is dead, not stuck: no light passes at that point at all. Flashing colours at it is not expected to change anything, and one published close-up of a screen with dead pixels shows a run of this kind having no effect.
A full row or column is outA black line running the whole width or height of the screen is a failed connection between the glass and the driver board, often after a knock or flexing. The panel itself has to be replaced. No pattern on the screen can reach that fault.
A stuck point on an OLEDThe usual account of why flashing might help is about liquid crystal that has stopped moving. An OLED has none: each sub-pixel is its own small light. So there is less reason to expect a result there, though a short run on a small square costs nothing.
Still inside the return windowMakers' pixel policies differ, and the dead pixel test lists how. If the screen is new, read its policy and ask for a replacement before you spend an evening on a fix that may not hold.
Running it, step by step 8
Read the warning, then start the squareNothing on this page flashes until you start the square, and the warning sits above the button. Flashing content can cause seizures, migraine, nausea and dizziness. If flashing light has ever affected you, do not run it: ask someone else to, and leave the room.
Find the point on a dark backdropSwitch on Dark backdrop and the area round the tool turns black without any flashing. A stuck point glows most clearly there. Put a fingertip beside it, not on it, so you can find the spot again when the backdrop goes back to normal.
Drag the square over the pointDrag the square with a mouse or a finger until the point sits near its middle, then nudge with the arrow keys, one pixel a press. The square stays inside the browser window and never goes full screen, so move the window if the point is near an edge.
Set a time and look awayChoose 5, 10, 20 or 30 minutes and start the square. The square does the same work whether or not anyone watches, so turn away or lean a postcard against the screen in front of it. It stops itself when the time is up.
Check the point, then note the runWhen the square stops, switch Dark backdrop on again and look. Write down the pattern, the minutes and what you saw: still stuck, fainter or gone. The page keeps no record of runs, and your own note shows how long you have already given it before you start another.
Zoom at 100 percent, normal distanceThe small-area limit assumes a normal viewing distance. Zooming the browser in, or leaning close, makes the same square fill more of your vision, and the guidelines warn that flashing which passes on paper can then still affect people. Reset zoom before you start.
Set your own stopping pointSome people report that a stuck pixel came back to life after a run like this. No source gives a success rate, or a time that works. Decide on a limit first, say three runs, and after that treat the point as permanent.
What this page leaves outGuides elsewhere describe pressing, rubbing or tapping the glass over a stuck pixel. This page does not. It has no means of checking those methods, and pressing on a panel is a risk it will not ask you to take.
How this list was compiled: Patterns, steps and wording written for this page. Areas and percentages were computed from the figures in the W3C document Understanding Success Criterion 2.3.1, Three Flashes or Below Threshold (https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/three-flashes-or-below-threshold.html): a 10 degree field of view is taken as 341 by 256 CSS pixels (87,296), the combined flashing area may be no more than 25 percent of it (21,824 CSS pixels, a square of about 147 pixels a side; the figure itself is printed in W3C technique G176, https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Techniques/general/G176, as under 21,824 sq pixels of contiguous area of any shape, with no other flashing on screen), and the other route is no more than three flashes in any one second. The same document is the source for flashing content causing migraines, dizziness, nausea and seizures, and for the note that people closer to the screen, or using zoom, can be affected by flashing that passes. Stuck sub-pixels, bright dots, dark dots, connection (tape automated bonding) faults, maker pixel policies, the description of colour-flashing tools and the captioned close-up in which such a tool had no effect on dead pixels are from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defective_pixel, which carries a notice asking for more citations; this page therefore says only that some people report success, and no source read gives a success rate. OLED sub-pixels emitting their own light with no liquid crystal layer is from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLED. Asking the browser to keep the screen awake during a run uses https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Screen_Wake_Lock_API; a browser can refuse the request, and the page says so when it does. All checked 2026-09-19. Licence: own work
How it works
This stuck pixel fixer flashes colours on one small square, for a point that stays lit in one colour whatever the picture shows. Some people report that this frees the pixel; nobody can promise it.
Read the full guide
Warning first, then Start
The square changes faster than three times a second, so read this first. Flashing content can cause seizures, migraine, nausea and dizziness. If flashing light has ever affected you, do not run it. The flashing area is small: 100 pixels a side is about 46 percent of the small-area limit in the accessibility guidelines. The run fills the window, never the full screen, so Stop stays in view. The warning is about this windowed square. Stop at once if you feel unwell. Keep browser zoom at 100 percent.
Drag, then stop
The window goes black. Drag the square onto the point, or tap a dark spot to move it there. Stop, Space, Escape or a tab switch ends the run.
New LCD monitor, laptop or TV? Ask for a replacement before you try any stuck pixel fix or repair.
Slow cycle changes twice a second, under the three-flash line, with no evidence that it works better or worse.
Questions and answers
How do you fix a stuck pixel?
A web page can only flash colours over it, as this square does. The idea is that rapid changes shake loose liquid crystal that has stopped responding. No source gives a success rate.
Can you fix a dead pixel?
Not by flashing. A dead pixel, black on every picture, is not expected to respond, so this page is no dead pixel fix. A tool called a dead pixel fixer, this one included, is for a pixel stuck on one colour.
Is this a stuck pixel test?
No: it flashes one spot and tests nothing. To find and name a stuck or dead pixel, use the dead pixel test, which fills the screen with six plain colours.
Does it work on an OLED stuck pixel?
There is less reason to expect it. The usual explanation involves liquid crystal, and an OLED has none: each sub-pixel makes its own light. A short run costs nothing. Under warranty, a lit point that stays is a matter for the maker.
Is the flashing safe for me?
This page cannot tell you, and it is not medical advice. The accessibility guidelines allow flashing faster than three times a second only over a small area, under 21,824 CSS pixels, and the default square is 10,000. Sitting close or zooming in cuts that margin. If flashing light affects you, do not run it.