Staring at a bright, white computer monitor late at night can severely disrupt your circadian rhythm. Modern LED displays emit a high volume of blue light, which tricks your brain into thinking it is still daytime, suppressing the production of melatonin (the hormone that makes you sleepy). This leads to eye strain, headaches, and insomnia. To combat this, Microsoft built a native feature into Windows called “Night Light,” which acts as a blue light filter. When activated, it overlays a warm, amber tint across your entire screen, making it much easier on your eyes in dark environments.
How to Manually Enable Night Light
If you are working late and suddenly feel your eyes burning, you can toggle the filter on instantly.
- Click the Start Menu (the Windows logo on your taskbar).
- Click the Settings icon (the gear).
- In the Settings window, select System from the left sidebar.
- Click on Display in the main pane.
- Look for the section labeled “Brightness & color” and find the toggle switch for Night light.
- Click the toggle to turn it On.
Your screen will immediately shift to a warmer, orange hue.
Adjusting the Strength of the Filter
The default amber tint might be too intense for some users, making white backgrounds look excessively yellow. You can easily adjust the intensity to find a comfortable balance.
- While still in the Display settings menu, click the small arrow (or the text itself) next to the Night light toggle to open its advanced options.
- Locate the Strength slider.
- Click and drag the slider to the left to reduce the amber tint (making it cooler), or drag it to the right to increase the amber tint (making it warmer).
How to Schedule Night Light Automatically
The true power of this feature is setting it to run automatically in the background. You should never have to manually toggle it every evening.
- On the same Night light advanced options page, look for the Schedule night light toggle and turn it On.
- Two new options will appear below the toggle:
- Sunset to sunrise: (Highly Recommended). If your Windows location services are enabled, Windows will automatically calculate the exact time the sun sets in your specific geographical area and slowly fade the amber tint in. It will then fade it out automatically the next morning.
- Set hours: If you work unconventional shifts (like a night shift in a hospital) or live far north where sunset times are extreme, you can manually define the exact times. Click “Turn on” and set it to 10:00 PM, and “Turn off” to 6:00 AM.
Once the schedule is set, you can close the Settings app. Windows will now seamlessly manage your monitor’s color temperature in the background every single day, drastically reducing your nightly eye strain.