Staring at a bright computer screen late at night can disrupt your sleep cycle and cause significant eye strain. This is because modern displays emit a large amount of blue light, which tricks your brain into thinking it is still daytime.
To help combat this, Windows 11 includes a built-in feature called Night Light. When enabled, Night Light reduces the harsh blue light emitted by your monitor and replaces it with warmer, yellowish colours, making the screen much more comfortable to look at in dark environments.
How to Turn On Night Light Quickly
If you suddenly feel eye strain and want to activate Night Light immediately, the fastest way is through the Windows 11 Quick Settings menu.
- Look at the bottom right corner of your screen on the taskbar. Click on the Network, Volume, and Battery icons (or press Windows Key + A).
- This will open the Quick Settings flyout menu.
- Look for a button with a moon icon labelled Night light and click it.
Your screen will instantly shift to a warmer, orange tint. If you do not see the Night Light button in this menu, click the pencil icon (Edit quick settings) at the bottom right of the flyout, click “Add,” and select Night light from the list to pin it there.
How to Adjust Night Light Strength and Schedule It
The true power of Night Light is that you do not have to turn it on manually every day. You can instruct Windows 11 to automatically enable it exactly at sunset and disable it at sunrise.
- Open the Settings app (press Windows Key + I or search for “Settings” in the Start Menu).
- In the left sidebar, ensure System is selected.
- Click on Display.
- Under the “Brightness & color” section, you will see a toggle for Night light. Click the small arrow on the far right of the Night light panel (do not just click the toggle) to open its advanced settings.
Adjusting the Warmth
In the Night light settings menu, you will see a slider labelled Strength. Dragging it to the right makes the screen significantly more orange (blocking more blue light), while dragging it to the left makes the effect much more subtle. Adjust this slider until the screen feels comfortable to your eyes.
Setting an Automatic Schedule
- In the same menu, toggle the switch next to Schedule night light to the On position.
- You now have two options:
- Sunset to sunrise: This is the recommended setting. Windows 11 uses your computer’s location data to automatically determine when the sun sets and rises in your specific city, adjusting the Night Light schedule accordingly throughout the year. (Note: Location services must be enabled in Windows Privacy settings for this to work).
- Set hours: Choose this option if you want to define specific times (e.g., Turn on at 9:00 PM, Turn off at 7:00 AM) regardless of the actual sunlight outside.
When Should You Disable Night Light?
While Night Light is excellent for productivity and reading, it intentionally distorts the colours on your screen. You should temporarily turn off Night Light if you are performing tasks that require absolute colour accuracy, such as:
- Editing photographs in Photoshop or Lightroom.
- Colour grading video footage.
- Shopping online for clothes or paint where exact shades matter.
