Whether you are using the computer for longer or shorter time, it is necessary to keep the display’s brightness properly to protect your eyes. Good thing is that Windows comes with default options to automatically adjust the brightness. It works based on the environment, content you view, day/night time and adjust the brightness without your intervention.
Change Brightness in Windows 11Generally, you can use F1 and F2 keys to manually reduce and increase the brightness respectively. If you he a PC with separate monitor, there will also be controls in the monitor to adjust the display. Other than these manual adjustments, you can use one or all of the followings to automatically adjust the brightness in Windows 11 computer.
1. Auto Adjust Brightness Based on Lighting Press “Windows + I” keys to open Settings app. Go to “System” section from the left sidebar and click on the “Display” option from right pane.
Windows System Settings
You will see the “Brightness” slider under “Brightness & color” section. Click the small arrow showing at the end of “Brightness” option to expand its setting.
Expand Brightness Setting
Check the box that says, “Change brightness automatically when lighting changes”.
Enable Change Brightness Automatically Option
This will adjust your display’s brightness based on the environment you work.
2. Content Adaptive Brightness ControlIn addition to environment, the content you view also can affect the brightness and contrast of the display. For example, you may type in Word document with white background and switch to YouTube video playing in full dark screen. In this case, you can enable Windows to automatically adjust the brightness and contrast for you based on the content you view.
Open Settings app and go to “System > Display” section. Expand “Brightness” option and then click the dropdown against “Change brightness based on content” option. You will see three options – Off, Always and On Battery Only. Select either “Always” or “On Battery Only” option to automatically adjust brightness and contrast based on the content you view.
Change Brightness Based on Content
This is called content adaptive brightness control which helps to se power and improve battery life.
3. Night Light Mode in Windows 11Using night light mode in Windows 11 is the final option to automatically adjust brightness of your computer. As the name indicates, night light helps the show warmer colors by reducing blue light from the screen.
Open Settings app and go to “System > Display” section. Just below the “Brightness” option, you can find “Night light” option.
Night Light Option in Windows 11
Click on the “Night light” option and then turn it on by clicking “Turn on now” button. You will see the screen instantly changes the display with warmer colors and adjust the colors by changing the “Strength” slider.
Turn On Night Light and Adjust Strength
You can adjust the strength and schedule the night light mode if needed.
Turn on “Schedule night light” to view additional options. You can either set the hours manually or use the sunset to sunrise time for automatically enabling night light mode. However, you should enable location services (under “Privacy & security > Location > Location services”) for using auto night light schedule.
Schedule Night Light
4. Enable High Dynamic Range (HDR)
You can enable HDR in Windows 11 to use high color profiles and brightness in HDR supported apps, games or videos. You can check whether your device supports HDR and enable it in Windows Settings app.
Open Settings app and go to “System > Display” section. Click HDR option showing under “Brightness & color” section.
HDR Option in Windows 11
Expand “Device capabilities” section and check whether your computer supports video streaming and app usage.
Based on the device capabilities, you will see additional options for enabling/calibrating HDR setup.
Check Device Capabilities for HDR
After enabling HDR options, click “Calibrate” button to adjust the brightness/colors for using in HDR.
Calibrate HDR Video Streaming
Whenever you play HDR videos or use HDR supported apps, Windows will automatically use the calibrated brightness/colors instead of default setup.
Final WordsYou can enable auto brightness and content adaptive brightness options to automatically set correct brightness for your display. Night light can help when you work for longer time in darker environment and HDR will work only on supported apps. Remember, though these options can help in protecting your eyes, you may need to disable them when working with design or photograph apps to view the correct colors.