How to fix display brightness low at 100 on Windows 10

Screen brightness is not a complicated system setting when it works correctly. If your display doesn’t look right i.e., it’s too dark even with brightness set to full, you may need to calibrate your display again, among other things. Here are a few things you can try to fix display brightness low at 100.

Display brightness low at 100

Before you proceed with any fixes, make sure the problem is with the display and not with the media you’re viewing. Open a few different images, or play a few different media files. Make sure you include live action as well as animated content so that you’re not just playing content that’s poorly lit (like that Game of Thrones episode).

If all media is too dark, try the fixes below.

Check third-party apps

If you have any apps installed for modifying the UI, check if there’s anything that adds visual enhancements on an OS level. They might be interfering with the brightness, or they may not be working correctly causing your screen to appear darker.

Additionally, check if anything might have added an overlay to your screen.

Check Night Light or F.lux

Night Light is a Windows 10 feature that adds an orange tint to the screen. Check if you might have turned it on. If you prefer to use F.lux over the native feature, check its settings. It does more than just tint the screen orange. Disable it and see if fixes the problem.

Restart the graphics driver

Tap Win+Ctrl+Shift+B on your keyboard to restart the graphics driver. Your screen will flash once and the graphics driver will be restarted.

Check graphics control panel

Display graphics are handled by the on-board graphics card and it’s usually an Intel chip. Open the Intel Graphics settings and go to the Display tab. Look for Color settings, or something similar.

Normally, the brightness control on Windows 10, and the brightness buttons on your keyboard have the highest level of control over your display’s brightness but this app might interfere with it. Make sure the brightness is set to its highest value in the app as well.

Uninstall and reinstall graphics driver

It’s best to do this in safe mode since it runs in a low graphics mode by default. Open the Device Manager and look for Display Adapters. Expand it, and right-click the on-board graphics card. Select ‘Uninstall device’. Restart your system and the graphics driver should be installed again. If they aren’t, return to the Device Manager, right-click the on-board graphics card, and select the install or enable option.

Calibrate display

In Windows Search, enter the following.

Calibrate display color

This will open the display calibration app. Read through the instructions that tell you how you to calibrate the display. Change the settings until your screen looks better but be mindful you don’t end up with washed out colors.

Check BIOS

Some laptops have a brightness control in the BIOS. We can’t give you a definitive list of which ones do and which ones don’t, nor can we tell you where in your BIOS to look. Access the BIOS and dig around for brightness settings. If you find them, make sure they’re not set too low.

Beyond this, it is possible that your hardware is damaged. If the above doesn’t help, have your display checked for problems.

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Fatima Wahab

Fatima has been writing for AddictiveTips for six years. She began as a junior writer and has been working as the Editor in Chief since 2014. Fatima gets an adrenaline rush from figuring out how technology works, and how to manipulate it. A well-designed app, something that solves a common everyday problem and looks

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