How To Reduce Eye Strain with Blue Light Filter on Windows 11 (Night Light)

The Night Light feature in Windows 11 helps reduce eye strain from your monitor. Here’s how to enable and configure the Night Light feature.

Most people don’t know this, but Windows 11 has a small but very useful feature called Night Light, which, when enabled, adjusts the display’s color temperature to a warmer setting. This, in turn, reduces eye strain while looking at the display. If you didn’t know, almost all modern color displays, like your mobile phone, laptop screen, or external monitor, emit blue light under normal conditions. This blue light from your screen can delay sleep and even increase eye strain under certain circumstances.

The best thing is, you can easily enable Night Light and configure it to turn on automatically on a schedule with just a couple of steps. Over the years, some of us have been using third-party apps such as F.lux to automatically adjust the screen color temperature based on the time of day. But that’s no longer needed.

In this quick and easy Windows 11 guide, I will show you how to turn on, schedule, and turn off Night Light. Let’s get started.

Quick navigation links:

• What is the Night Light feature in Windows 11?
• Turn on Night Light in Windows 11
• Schedule Night Light to turn on automatically
• Turn off Night Light in Windows 11
• I cannot find the Night Light button in Quick Settings

What is the Night Light feature in Windows 11?

In simple terms, the Night Light feature in Windows 11 reduces blue light emitted from your display. This will reduce eye strain and help you sleep better at night. If you don’t know, blue light from your screen, be it a laptop, smartphone, or an external monitor, is very different from other light wavelengths. Blue light is known to throw your circadian rhythm out the window and disrupt the biological clock.

Now, any kind of excessive light at night is not good for your eyes. However, blue light is the worst at disturbing your biological clock. Once disrupted, your sleep schedule will suffer, leading to increased eye strain. In fact, sleep disruption can even cause other health problems such as obesity, diabetes, hair fall, and more.

Given the problems associated with blue light, it is best to avoid it at night as much as possible. That is one of the reasons doctors suggest using dim, warm light even at home, when bright white or blue light is unnecessary.

To know more about blue light and its effects, read this Harvard Health article.

Enable Night Light in Windows 11

You can turn on Night Light from the Settings app or Quick Settings panel. I will show both methods. Follow the one you like.

Method 1: From the Settings App

The Settings app has a dedicated option on the Display options page to enable Night Light. Here is how to find the feature and turn it on.

1. Use the “Start + I” to open Settings.
2. Click on “System” on the sidebar.
3. Click on the “Display” option on the main panel.
4. Turn ON the “Night Light” toggle.
5. With that, the Night Light feature is enabled in Windows 11.

Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)

First, use the “Start + I” keyboard shortcut to open the Settings app. You can also open it from the Power User menu (Start + X) or search for it directly in the Start menu. In the Settings app, select the “System” tab on the sidebar and then click the “Display” option in the main panel of the Settings app.

On this page, turn ON the “Night Light” feature. The Night Light feature is instantly turned on, and the screen temperature turns warm as soon as you do that.

Configuring Night Light Strength

Windows 11 automatically sets the color temperature to a moderate level by default. If you want to adjust the warm color temperature, you can do so. To do that, click the “Night Light” option on the “Display” page.

Now, use the “Strength” slider to change the color temperature intensity. As you move the slider, Windows 11 shows a live preview, eliminating the need to guess. Set the slider where you feel comfortable, and you are good to go. Changes are saved automatically.

Method 2: From the Quick Settings panel

The Windows 11 Quick Settings panel makes it easy to turn Night Light on and off. Here is how to do it.

1. Click the “Network” icon on the taskbar.
2. Click the “Night Light” tile to turn it ON.
3. Once turned on, the screen’s color temperature warms up.
4. That’s it. With that, you’ve enabled Night Light.

Schedule Night Light to Turn ON Automatically

Rather than turning it on and off manually, you can schedule Night Light in Windows 11. That way, the Night Light feature will turn on and off automatically at a given time. Here’s how to schedule Night Light in Windows 11.

First, right-click the Start button on the taskbar and select the “Settings” option to open the Settings app. Next, go to the “System” > “Display” page.

Once you are here, click the “Night Light” option.

After that, turn ON the “Schedule night light” toggle.

The Settings app will show additional options as soon as you do that. Here, select the “Set hours” option.

Next, select a time from the “Turn on” and “Turn off” dropdown menus. For example, I chose to turn on Night Light at 7 PM and turn it off at 7 AM. Changes are saved automatically.

Finally, close the Settings app. That is it. With that, you have scheduled Night Light in Windows 11. From now on, Windows 11 automatically turns Night Light on and off at the scheduled times.

Turn Off Night Light in Windows 11

To turn off the Night Light feature, follow the steps below.

From the Settings app

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Go to the “System > Display” page.
3. Turn OFF the “Night Light” option.
4. With that, the Night Light feature is turned off.

From the Quick Settings panel

1. Click the “Network” icon on the taskbar.
2. Click the “Night Light” tile to turn it off.
3. Once turned off, the color temperature turns normal.
4. That’s it. With that, you’ve disabled Night Light.

I cannot find the Night Light button in Quick Settings

If you cannot find the Night Light tile in the Quick Settings panel, it might be hidden.

By default, the quick settings panel only shows six tiles. If you don’t see the Night Light tile, scroll down, and you will see it. If you are using it frequently, you can reposition the tile. To do that, click, hold, and drag the tile to where you need it.

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That is all. It is that simple to enable and properly configure Night Light in Windows 11. If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.

Update: The guide has been updated to reflect the changes to the Windows 11 UI.