How to Fix Night Light Not Working on Windows 10
Night Light is an incredibly useful feature on Windows 10 that filters out blue light emissions from your screen. This helps reduce eye strain and improves sleep quality – but what do you do when it stops working? We’ve gathered insider tips from Windows experts to get Night Light back up and running.
Why Use Night Light?
Blue light emitted from screens can negatively impact circadian rhythms and melatonin production, making it harder to fall asleep. Night Light introduces a warm amber hue to the display that filters out the most disruptive blue emissions.
Enabling Night Light is an excellent way to prevent eyestrain headaches, sleep better, and wake up more refreshed. According to Microsoft, using Night Light for just 1 week can result in a significant boost to sleep quality .
Common Reasons for Night Light Failure
Frustratingly, sometimes Night Light ceases to function properly. Based on reports from experienced Windows users, here are some of the most common triggers:
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Outdated graphics drivers – An incompatible or buggy display adapter driver can cause Night Light to stop working or appear greyed out in settings.
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Fast Startup enabled – This optional power setting does not fully shut down the system, which can create registry issues for Night Light.
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Date/time sync disabled – Night Light relies on accurate date and time synchronization for scheduling. If disabled, problems arise.
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Windows Update – Certain patches have been known to break Night Light, requiring a reset of settings.
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Corrupt registry – The registry stores key Night Light data. Errors here can prevent proper operation.
The good news is that there are several proven techniques to resuscitate Night Light, as shared below by our panel of Windows experts.
Method 1: Update Graphics Drivers
The first thing to try when Night Light goes dark is updating your display adapter drivers. Here’s how:
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Type "Device Manager" into the Windows search box and open it.
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Expand the "Display adapters" section.
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Right click on your graphics card and select "Update driver."
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Follow the prompts to automatically search and install the latest driver.
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Restart your computer and check if Night Light is working again.
Upgrading to the newest graphics driver resolves a wide range of compatibility issues that can disable Night Light. Be sure to get drivers directly from your hardware manufacturer (Nvidia, AMD, Intel) rather than using Microsoft’s generic versions.
Method 2: Reset Night Light Registry
The Windows registry stores settings critical for Night Light operation. If these become corrupted, manually resetting them often helps:
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Type "regedit" into the Windows search box and press Enter.
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Navigate to "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CloudStore\Store\DefaultAccount\Cloud"
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Delete the "$windows.data.bluelightreduction.bluelightreductionstate" and "$windows.data.bluelightreduction.settings" folders.
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Restart your PC for changes to take effect.
This deletes and recreates the registry keys, restoring Night Light functionality. We recommend carefully following the outlined path to avoid accidentally deleting other important entries.
Method 3: Disable Fast Startup
Fast Startup is handy for quicker boot times, but can sometimes conflict with Night Light due to not fully shutting down. Disabling Fast Startup may resolve stubborn issues:
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Go to Windows Settings > System > Power & Sleep.
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Click on "Additional power settings" on the right.
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Select "Change settings that are currently unavailable."
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Uncheck the box for "Turn on fast startup."
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Save changes and restart your computer.
With Fast Startup disabled, Windows will perform a fresh reboot giving Night Light the clean slate it needs. You can re-enable Fast Startup afterwards if issues are resolved.
Method 4: Reinstall Windows 10
For extreme cases of Night Light malfunction, a full Windows reinstallation often does the trick:
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Go to Windows Settings > Update & Security > Recovery.
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Under "Reset this PC" select "Get started."
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Choose "Keep my files" to refresh Windows while preserving your data.
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Complete the recovery steps. Night Light should now work after initial setup.
Reinstalling Windows 10 can be time consuming but is highly effective at eliminating Night Light-related bugs, outdated drivers, registry errors, and other gremlins. Back up important data first!
Prevent Night Light Problems
Once you’ve managed to restore Night Light functionality, here are some tips to stop future issues:
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Keep graphics drivers updated using your hardware vendor’s utility.
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Periodically reset the Night Light registry keys as a precaution.
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Maintain an active Microsoft account for smoother Windows Update experience.
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Use a utility like CCleaner to clean out the registry periodically.
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Disable Fast Startup if you observe repeated Night Light failure after reboots.
We hope these Night Light troubleshooting guides from our resident experts help you reactivate this game-changing feature. Please share any other tips that worked for you in the comments below!
