Lately, I started noticing something unfamiliar to me, which is that the laptop screen’s brightness changes automatically based on the programs I use or the brightness of the room I am sitting in. Later on, I discovered that this is due to a feature in the Windows system that dynamically changes the screen brightness to adapt to the ambient light. Just like most smartphones, laptops also have ambient light sensors to detect the brightness level in your room where you use the laptop. If you are sitting in a dark room, Windows 10 will automatically reduce the screen brightness to reduce the strain on your eyes. And for example, in bright daylight, Windows will increase the screen brightness to the maximum.
As we mentioned, this feature only works if the laptop has ambient light sensors, which is not available in all laptops. Also, note that this feature is different from the one that changes brightness based on color, which we discussed in detail in a previous topic. Anyway, for me, the adaptive brightness feature was very annoying and sometimes caused headaches, as I sit in a place with inconsistent brightness. So let me clarify the steps to disable this feature in Windows 10 for you.
To begin, open the Power Options window in Windows 10. There are several ways to do this, you can press the Windows key + the letter R together, then enter the command “powercfg.cpl” in the Run window and click OK to immediately display the window on the screen. Alternatively, you can also right-click on the small battery icon in the Notification Area on the taskbar, and from the menu that appears, click on Power Options as shown in the attached image above.
In the Power Options window, you will find many options to change power settings on the laptop, and all you need to do here is click on the “Change plan settings” option in front of the power plan you are using. In most cases, the default power plan set by Windows for most laptops is Balanced, and you are likely to find it under the Selected plan list.
Once you click on the “Change plan settings” option, a window will appear with control options for setting the time you want the screen to turn off or put the device to sleep mode, there is also an Adjust brightness bar to change the screen brightness level at the moment. But what we are here for is to click on the Change advanced power settings option, then through the window that appears, scroll down to double-click on Display, then Adaptive Brightness, and select Off for both On battery and Plugged in options. After making this adjustment, click OK to save the new changes.
From now on, you will not face this annoying issue in Windows 10 where the screen brightness changes dynamically. But if you do not see the Adaptive Brightness setting in the Power Options window, it may be because your computer screen does not have ambient light sensors that can recognize the light level in the surrounding environment. Typically, desktop computer screens do not have these sensors, but most modern laptops do.
