How to enable Night Light on Windows 11

Windows 11 includes "Night light" to help you reduce eye strain and improve sleep quality at night — here's how to set it up.

Windows 11 Night light
Windows 11 Night light
  • To enable Night Light on Windows 11, open Settings > System > Display and turn on the “Night Light” toggle switch. 
  • You can also click the “Night Light” button to customize the settings and configure the schedule.
  • Alternatively, you can turn on the “Night Light” feature from the “Quick Settings” flyout using the “Windows key + A” shortcut.

UPDATED 10/20/2023: On Windows 11, you can enable and configure Night Light for the best experience, and in this guide, I’ll show you how. “Night Light” is a feature that helps you fall asleep more naturally and reduces eye strain when working long hours at night in front of your computer.

The Night Light feature reduces the amount of blue light emitted by the display (which mimics the sunlight you receive naturally during the day). Also, it shows warmer colors to make it easier to fall asleep and reduce the chances of eye strain when using the computer late at night.

This guide will teach you the steps to enable the Night Light feature on your laptop or desktop running Windows 11.

Enable Night Light on Windows 11

On Windows 11, you can turn on Night Light from the Settings app or Quick Settings in the Taskbar, and here’s how.

1. Turn on from Settings

To turn on Night Light on Windows 11 from Settings, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings on Windows 11.

  2. Click on System.

  3. Click the Display tab.

  4. Under the “Brightness & color” section, turn on the Night Light toggle switch to enable it on Windows 11.

    Windows 11 enable Night light

2. Turn on from Quick Settings

To turn on Night Light from Quick Settings in the Taskbar, use these steps:

  1. Click the Network icon in the bottom-right corner of the Taskbar to open the “Quick Settings” flyout (“Windows key + A” keyboard shortcut).

  2. Click the “Night Light” button.

    Quick Settings Night Light option

    Quick note: If the option isn’t available, click the “Edit quick settings” button, click the “Add” button, choose the “Night Light” option, and click the “Done” button.

Once you complete the steps, the feature should turn on, reducing the blue light from the screen and showing a more amber color, which you can control from the Night Light settings.

Change Night Light color temperature on Windows 11

To change the warm color strength for Night Light, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings.

  2. Click on System.

  3. Click the Display tab.

  4. Under the “Brightness & color” section, click the Night Light setting.

    Night light settings

  5. Use the Strength slider to choose how warm the colors should be to whatever is comfortable for your eyes.

    Night light color temperature

  6. (Optional) Click the “Turn on now” button for the “Show warmer colors on your display to help you sleep” setting to enable Night Light on Windows 11.

Once you complete the steps, the feature will show your selected warm color intensity.

Schedule Night Light automatically on Windows 11

To turn the Night Light feature on and off automatically on a schedule, use these steps:

  1. Click on System.

  2. Click the Display tab.

  3. Under the “Brightness & color” section, click the Night Light setting.

    Night light settings

  4. Turn on the “Schedule Night Light” toggle switch.

  5. Choose the “Sunset to sunrise” option to allow the system to schedule Night Light automatically.

  6. Choose the Set hours option to schedule Night Light manually on Windows 11.

    Schedule Night light

  7. Specify when the Night Light feature should turn on automatically.

  8. Specify when the Night Light feature should turn off automatically.

After you complete the steps, the Night Light feature will enable and disable automatically according to the schedule you specify on Windows 11.

Here are some additional considerations for using this feature:

  • This feature doesn’t have a recommended setting. You can set the strength to whatever is comfortable for your eyes. You can set a strength level of Night Light between 0 (6500K) and 100 (1200K).
  • If the Night Light feature isn’t working, you can try restarting the computer and turning on and off the feature manually. Usually, the problem can be related to a video driver issue. As such, reinstalling the graphics driver using the latest version may fix Night Light on Windows 11.
  • You can customize the feature any way you like. The best settings are those in which you feel more comfortable. I personally set the warm strength to 30 percent, and I use the “Sunset to Sunrise” option.

Update October 20, 2023: This guide has been received to ensure accuracy and reflect new changes.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].