How to change brightness in Windows 11

One of the things every computer user does relatively regularly is to adjust the brightness of the screenespecially when working on a laptop. That’s true for Windows 11 userstooas many want to either increase the brightness on their laptop because of glare or reduce brightness to lessen the burden on their eyes during the night. Regardless of your reasonshere are eight different methods to change brightness on Windows 11 computerslaptopsand 2-in-1 devicesincluding brightness shortcut keys:

1. What’s the brightness shortcut key?

The easiest and fastest way to reduce or increase the brightness in Windows 11 is to use a keyboard brightness shortcut key. Of coursethis can be one key onlybut on most laptopsit’s usually a combination of two keys that you need to press simultaneously to change brightness. For exampleon an ASUS TUF Gaming F15 gaming laptopI have to press Fn + F7 to lower the brightness in Windows 11 or Fn + F8 to increase the brightness. The brightness shortcut keys on an ASUS TUF Gaming F15 On the HP Spectre 16 x360 2-in-1 device that my colleague Ciprian useshe needs to press the F2 key to reduce brightness and the F3 key to increase the screen’s brightness. The brightness shortcut keys on an HP laptop Other devices from other manufacturers can have other brightness shortcut keys. For instanceon a Microsoft Surface Pro device with a type coveryou have to use the Fn + Del keyboard shortcut to increase brightnessand you must press Fn + Backspace to lower it. The brightness keyboard shortcuts on a Surface Pro Laptops and tablets from different manufacturers use other brightness shortcut keys. If none of the previous examples apply to you and you are still wondering “What is the function key for brightness in Windows 11?”carefully inspect your device’s keyboard for two keys with a sun icon printed or etched on them. Unfortunatelyyou don’t get such keys on desktop keyboardsas every monitor has its own brightness settings. Read the next chapter of this tutorial to see how to change the brightness on a standalone monitor.

2. How to change the brightness in Windows 11 using the physical buttons found on your monitor

Many monitors have built-in physical buttons that allow you to reduce or increase their brightnesscontrastcolorsand other settings. You can usually find these buttons on your monitor’s bottomfrontsidesor back. Howeverif you can’t find the brightness buttonsyour monitor might require you to navigate its settings in search of the brightness controls. If that’s the caseeither browse your monitor’s settings menu until you find them or read its user manual to figure out where they are. For exampleon my ASUS ROG Strix XG32UQ monitorI can change the brightness using its joystick to navigate to the Color > Brightness menulike in the picture below. How to adjust brightness using the monitor buttons

3. How to adjust the brightness in Windows 11 from the quick settings

Windows 11’s quick settings also allow you to change your laptop’s brightness easily. Start by clicking or tapping one of the system icons (Wi-FiVolumeBattery) from the system tray. Alternativelyyou can also use the Win + A keyboard shortcut. Access Windows 11's quick settings (Win + A) This opens Windows 11’s quick settings panelwhere you’ll also find a brightness slider towards its bottom. Drag the slider to the left to lower the brightness in Windows 11 or to the right to increase the brightness of your laptop’s screen. Drag the brightness slider to adjust the screen's luminance

4. How to increase or decrease the brightness in Windows 11 from the Settings app

Although slightly more time-consuminganother way to change brightness in Windows 11 is available in the Settings app. Open Settings (Windows + I)select System in the left sidebarand then click or tap Display on the right. Open Settings and go to System > Display On the Display pageuse the Brightness slider under Brightness & color to “Adjust the brightness of the built-in display.” Drag the cursor to the right to increase the brightness of your laptop’s screenor drag it to the left to lower the brightness in Windows 11. Adjust the brightness of the built-in display You can also let Windows 11 adjust brightness automatically based on what’s shown on the screen. Expand the Brightness sectionand you’ll see that the operating system is set to “Change brightness on content” automatically “On Battery Only.” Change brightness based on content On Battery Only Depending on what you preferyou can configure this brightness-related feature to be enabled Alwaysor you can set it Off permanently. Choose when to Change brightness based on content TIP: If your Windows 11 laptop or tablet also has light sensorsyou might get an additional option hereletting you automatically adjust brightness depending on how bright or dim your environment is.

5. How to change the brightness in Windows 11 using the Windows Mobility Center

Although it’s an old tool coming from earlier Windows versionsyou can also use the Windows Mobility Center to set the brightness in Windows 11. Firstfind the Windows Mobility Center by searching for it: type mobility in Windows 11’s searchthen click or tap the appropriate result. Search for and open Windows Mobility Center in Windows 11 In the Windows Mobility Centeruse the Display brightness slider to reduce or increase the brightness of your Windows 11 laptop. Drag the Brightness slider left or right to change the screen's brightness

6. How to increase or reduce the brightness in Windows 11 from PowerShell or Terminal

This method is for all the command-line aficionados. Firstfire up Windows 11’s Terminal or PowerShell. Thentype or copy & paste the following command: Before hitting Enter on your keyboardmake sure you replace brightnesslevel with the percentage value you want to set for your display’s brightness. For exampleif you want to change the brightness to 60%run: How to set the brightness from PowerShell ThenWindows 11 instantly sets the screen’s brightness according to the percentage you specified.

7. How to lower brightness in Windows 11 by enabling Battery saver

One of the main energy-saving options for any laptoptabletor mobile device is decreasing screen brightness. The fastest way to save energy on a Windows 11 device is to enable the Battery saver operating mode. You can easily find it in the quick settings panelwhich you open by clicking or tapping one of the system icons from the right side of the taskbar or pressing Win + A on your keyboard. Thenclick or tap the Battery saver button. Enabling the Battery saver feature lowers brightness too As Windows 11 is configured to reduce the brightness by default when the Battery saver is onyou should immediately see your screen dim.

8. How to change the brightness in Windows 11 by switching the Power mode of your laptop or tablet

Another useful way of saving energyespecially on a laptop or tablet running on batteryis to change its power mode. The most energy-consuming power mode in Windows 11 is the Best performance mode. Howeverthe more energy-saving Best power efficiency mode helps your device stay on longer even if it runs on batteries. And some of the things it can do is automatically lower brightness and enable Battery saver when a certain threshold is reachedlike when your battery has only 20% left. Enabling a more energy-efficient power mode is an excellent way to reduce the brightness in Windows 11. To access the power modes quicklyclick or tap the battery icon in the system tray and then press the battery percentage icon in the bottom-left corner of the quick actions panel. Click the battery icon in the system traythen click the battery percentage icon Alternativelyyou can right-click or press and hold the battery icon in the system tray and click/tap the “Power and sleep settings” option. Right-click the battery icon in the system traythen choose Power and sleep settings The previous action opens the Settings app and takes you to the System > Power & battery page. Thereselect “Best power efficiency” from the dropdown list next to Power mode. Enable the Best power efficiency mode That’s it!

Addendum: Reasons why you can't change brightness on Windows 11

If there is no brightness option in Windows 11 or if the brightness slider isn’t shown on your Windows 11 computeryou might have encountered an issue. Sometimessolving it is as easy as updating your drivers or operating system. Other timeshoweveryour device might have some hardware issues. If your laptop’s screen or computer monitor fails to respond to brightness adjustmentsthese potential causes could be at play:

• Screen problems: Physical damage or aging components within the display can disable the brightness controls. Repairing or replacing the display may be necessary to resolve this issue.
• Keyboard malfunction: A keyboard that’s gone haywire may also be the culpritespecially if the brightness shortcut keys on it used to work before. Make sure you press both the Fn key and the corresponding F (Function) keywhich are part of your keyboard’s brightness shortcuts. If this doesn’t work eithertesting a different keyboard can help you determine if the problem lies within the keyboard itself or your display.
• Outdated or buggy software: Broken graphics drivers or faulty Windows 11 updates can also interfere with brightness settings. To rule out software-related issuesmake sure you install the latest Windows 11 updates and update your drivers.

Update Windows 11 and your graphics drivers

How do you change the brightness on your Windows 11 laptop?

Now you know not only one or two but eight different methods to adjust brightness on your Windows 11 laptop or PC. Try them alland see which methods work best for you. Andif you know any others I have missedlet me know in a comment. If you liked this guide and want to stay in touch with our articlesdon’t hesitate to subscribe to our email newsletterusing the form below. It’s freeand you can unsubscribe at any time.🙂