This article shows you how to brighten your screen in Windows 11 or Windows 10. Laptop screen brightness can affect productivity, eye strain, and battery life.

Press Win+A to light up the screen

This is the fastest way to adjust screen brightness. Here’s what to do: Press To win+AND to launch Windows 11 Quick Settings (Action Center in Windows 10). Then move brightness slider right to increase screen brightness.

Use the Settings app to change the screen brightness

The same brightness slider as above is available through the Settings app.

1. Open settings. The fastest way is using the keyboard (press To win+I), but is also available from the Power User menu.

2. choose System.

3. choose Displaythen scroll brightness slider to the right.

   You can also change the night light intensity in the Settings app.

Adjust the screen brightness using the Mobility Center

Windows Mobility Center is designed for quick access to common mobile settings. One of them is the screen brightness slider. This is incredibly easy to use to change the screen brightness:

1. Start the power user menu by right-clicking on Start button or pressing To win+x.

2. choose Mobility Center from the menu.

3. Move Screen brightness laptop screen brightness slider.

Use battery saver settings to automatically adjust brightness levels

Windows automatically reduces the screen brightness when the battery drops below a certain level. You can change this threshold to manage screen brightness by editing battery saver settings.

1. Press To win+I to open settings.

2. To go System > Power supply and battery (Windows 11) or System > Battery (Windows 10).

3. From Battery saving select the drop-down menu next to Automatically turn battery saver on and select a percentage.

   This is the percentage of remaining battery life that Windows will wait to reach before starting battery saver. Lower it to make your screen brighter for longer.

4. If you do not If you want the screen to dim automatically when in this mode, remove the box next to it Reduce screen brightness when using battery saver (Windows 11) or Reduce screen brightness while saving battery (Windows 10).

What is the shortcut key to adjust the brightness?

Most laptops have a dedicated button to brighten or dim the screen. Special keys are usually found with the function keys on the top row. The button resembles a sun, but hotkeys can vary between laptops, so check your laptop’s manual for the exact keys.

For example, on the Dell Inspiron 7786 and Dell XPS 13, press F11 to decrease the brightness or press F12 to make the screen brighter. On some laptops you will need to press Fn the first key, such as Fn+Home to increase brightness or Fn+End to reduce the brightness.

Why is my laptop screen so dark?

Anything from a faulty display driver to a faulty display can cause the screen to dim. However, the most common reason is an incorrect brightness setting in Windows. But before you brighten the screen, look at the ambient lighting and any sources of glare. Sunlight is the primary source of ambient light during the day.

Change your location to test the effect of ambient light on the screen. Also, anti-IR/anti-UV films can reduce brightness by staining.