Windows · Display & Sound
Reduce blue light in the evening
Night light shifts your display's color temperature to warmer tones at scheduled times, reducing blue light exposure that can interfere with sleep and cause eye strain in the evening.
How to open Night Light
- Open Settings → System → Display → Night light
- Turn Night light on, or set it to schedule
- Adjust the strength slider to your preference
- Choose sunset-to-sunrise or a custom schedule
What you should know
- Toggle Night light on manually or set an automatic schedule
- Adjust color temperature strength with a slider
- Schedule Night light to match sunset and sunrise for your location
- Set custom on and off times independent of sunset and sunrise
Why it matters
Extended screen exposure to blue-heavy light in the evening has been linked to disrupted sleep patterns, since blue light suppresses melatonin production more than warmer tones do. Night light provides a simple, automatic way to reduce this exposure without needing external blue-light-filtering glasses or software. For users who work late or use their PC right before bed, this setting can noticeably reduce eye strain and make the transition to sleep easier. Because it can be scheduled automatically to local sunset and sunrise, it requires no ongoing manual effort once configured.
Best practices
- Set Night light to follow your local sunset and sunrise for a fully automatic schedule
- Increase the strength slider gradually to find a comfortable warmth level
- Turn off Night light temporarily for color-accurate work like photo or video editing
- Pair with a lower overall brightness in the evening for additional eye comfort
Common problems and fixes
- Night light doesn't turn on automatically
- Confirm location services are enabled so Windows can calculate accurate sunset and sunrise times, or set a custom schedule instead.
- Colors look too orange for design work
- Temporarily disable Night light while doing color-sensitive tasks like photo editing.
- Night light setting is missing entirely
- Some external monitors or graphics configurations may not support this feature; check monitor and driver compatibility.
Tips and tricks
- Use the strength slider preview to test warmth levels before committing to a schedule
- Add a Quick Settings shortcut for Night light to toggle it instantly without opening full Settings
Frequently asked questions
Does Night light affect all connected monitors?
In most cases yes, though behavior can vary depending on monitor and graphics driver support.
Is Night light the same as Dark mode?
No, Dark mode changes app color schemes, while Night light shifts the color temperature of everything displayed.
Can I schedule custom times instead of sunset and sunrise?
Yes, you can set specific manual on and off times instead of using location-based scheduling.
Related settings
- Display SettingsDisplay settings allow you to adjust screen resolution, brightness, scaling, and multiple monitor configurations. Proper display configuration improves visual clarity and productivity.
- HDR SettingsHDR settings let you turn on high dynamic range on a supported display, adjust HDR brightness balance, and stream HDR video content for a wider range of colors and contrast.
More Display & Sound guides for Windows
- Sound SettingsSound Settings allow you to select input and output devices, adjust volume levels per app, and troubleshoot audio issues such as no sound or distorted playback.
- NotificationsNotification settings let you control which apps can send alerts, how they appear, and when Do Not Disturb (Focus Assist) is active to reduce interruptions.
- Focus AssistFocus Assist (formerly Quiet Hours) automatically silences notification banners and sounds so alerts don't interrupt you during focused work, gaming, or presentations. You can trigger it manually or set automatic rules for specific times, duplicated displays, or full-screen games, and choose whether only alarms or also priority contacts still get through.
- Game ModeGame Mode prioritizes system resources for the game you're actively playing, preventing Windows Update from installing updates or restarting the PC mid-session, and reducing background activity that could interrupt gameplay. It's a single toggle designed to squeeze more consistent performance out of the same hardware during full-screen gaming.
- Volume MixerVolume mixer lets you control the output volume of individual running apps independently, and assign specific apps to different output or input devices.
- Advanced Display SettingsAdvanced display settings show detailed information about each connected display, including exact resolution, refresh rate, bit depth, and color format, with options to change them individually.