Most of us spend hours in front of a computer every day. Having the correct screen brightness is one of the best ways to avoid eye strain while working on a PC or any other device that has a display.
On supported PCs, Windows 10 automatically adjusts the screen brightness, but most users disable auto or adaptive screen brightness to manually adjust the brightness level.
Thankfully, Windows 10 offers a couple of easy ways to quickly adjust the screen brightness.
In Windows 10, in addition to hotkeys, you can also use the Settings app as well as the Action Center to adjust screen brightness.
Please note that the following methods may not work on a desktop PC connected to an external monitor. If you are on a desktop computer, please refer to our how to change external monitor screen brightness in Windows 10 guide.
Method 1 of 6
Adjust screen brightness using hotkeys
Almost all notebooks come with dedicated keys to quickly adjust the screen brightness. For instance, on my ThinkPad laptop, Fn + F5/F6 can be used to change the screen brightness.
Have a look at your keyboard to see the brightness symbol on Function keys.
And if the hotkeys are not working, make sure that the display and keyboard drivers are installed.
Method 2 of 6
Use Action Center to display brightness in Windows 10
Step 1: Click on the Action Center icon in the taskbar to reveal the Action Center pane.
Step 2: Recent versions of Windows 10 have a slider at the bottom of the Action Center that you can use to adjust the screen brightness right from the Action Center. Move the slider to change the screen brightness.
Method 3 of 6
Use settings to adjust screen brightness in Windows 10
This is the best way to adjust the correct screen display brightness as you can increase or reduce the brightness one percent at a time.
Step 1: Open the Settings app by clicking on its icon on the left side of the Start menu.
Step 2: In the Settings app, navigate to System > Display page.
Step 3: The Brightness and color section has a slider to adjust the screen brightness of the display. Note that this method applies to the internal or primary monitor only. You can’t use it to change the screen brightness of the external monitor. Refer to how to change the external monitor screen brightness in Windows 10 guide for directions.
Note that the brightness level adjuster might not appear if you’re trying to adjust the screen brightness of a monitor connected to your PC.
Method 4 of 6
Adjust display brightness via Windows Mobility Center
Step 1: Launch Windows Mobility Center by typing the same in the Start/taskbar search field and pressing Enter key.
Step 2: In the Display brightness section, move the slider to the left of the screen to reduce and to the right to increase the screen brightness.
Method 5 of 6
Change screen brightness using keyboard shortcuts
If your laptop does not offer hotkeys to adjust the screen brightness, use the keyboard shortcuts provided by Windows 10 to adjust the brightness. Here is how.
Step 1: Simultaneously press the Windows logo and A keys to open the Action Center.
Step 2: Press Shift and Tab keys (Shift + Tab) to select the brightness slider.
Step 3: Use the left and right arrow keys to adjust the screen brightness.
Method 6 of 6
Use Control Panel to adjust brightness in Windows 10
UPDATE: This method does not work in recent versions of Windows 10
This is the classic way to manually adjust screen brightness in Windows 10.
Step 1: Right-click on the battery icon in the system tray of the taskbar and then click Adjust screen brightness option to open the Power Options window.
Step 2: At the bottom of the screen, you should see the Screen brightness option with a slider. Move the slider towards the left of the screen to reduce the screen brightness and towards the right to increase the brightness.
Let us know if there are additional ways to adjust screen brightness in Windows 10.