How to Fix Windows 11 Night Light Not Working or Turning Off Automatically

Windows KB-586

Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: How to Fix Windows 11 Night Light Not Working or Turning Off Automatically. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

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Common Causes

Night Light in Windows 11 reduces blue light emissions from your display, making the screen warmer and easier on the eyes during evening hours. When the feature stops working — whether it won’t turn on, won’t turn off automatically, or the colour temperature doesn’t change — the cause is usually a corrupted registry setting, an outdated display driver, or a conflict with location services and scheduling. This guide walks through the most effective fixes in order.

Quick Fix Steps

Try these first. They resolve the majority of Night Light issues without deeper troubleshooting.

Restart your computer. A full restart (not shut down, which uses Fast Startup) clears temporary display state issues.
Toggle Night Light off and on. Open Settings > System > Display > Night light, turn the toggle off, wait five seconds, then turn it back on.
Check the strength slider. In the same Night light settings page, ensure the Strength slider is not set all the way to the left. A value of 0 means no visible change.
Verify the schedule. If Night Light is set to Sunset to sunrise, confirm that location services are enabled and that Windows has the correct time zone.

Tip: You can toggle Night Light instantly from Quick Settings. Press Windows key + A and click the Night light button. If the button is greyed out, your display driver may need attention.

Detailed Instructions

Fix 1: Reset the Night Light registry settings

Windows stores Night Light configuration in the registry. Corrupted values here are a common cause of the feature failing to activate or deactivate. Resetting these values forces Windows to recreate them.

Press Windows key + R, type regedit, and press Enter. Click Yes if prompted by User Account Control.
Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CloudStore\Store\DefaultAccount\Cloud
Look for two subkeys:
- default$windows.data.bluelightreduction.bluelightreductionstate
- default$windows.data.bluelightreduction.settings
Right-click each subkey and select Delete. Confirm the deletion.
Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer.
After restarting, go to Settings > System > Display > Night light and reconfigure the feature.

Important: Editing the registry can cause system instability if done incorrectly. Only delete the two keys listed above. Do not modify other entries. If you are uncomfortable editing the registry, contact your IT administrator or Open a Ticket for assistance.

Fix 2: Update or reinstall your display driver

Night Light relies on the graphics driver to apply colour temperature changes. An outdated or corrupted driver can prevent the feature from working.

Right-click the Start button and select Device Manager.
Expand Display adapters.
Right-click your graphics card (for example, Intel UHD Graphics, NVIDIA GeForce, or AMD Radeon) and select Update driver.
Choose Search automatically for drivers. Windows will look for and install any available updates.
If no update is found, right-click the adapter again and select Uninstall device. Tick Attempt to remove the driver for this device and click Uninstall.
Restart your computer. Windows will automatically reinstall the driver.
Test Night Light again.

Tip: For the best results, download the latest driver directly from the manufacturer’s website — Intel, NVIDIA, or AMD — rather than relying on Windows Update.

Fix 3: Check location and time settings

The Sunset to sunrise schedule requires Windows to know your location. If location services are disabled or the time zone is incorrect, Night Light may not activate or deactivate at the expected times.

Open Settings > Privacy & security > Location.
Ensure Location services is turned on.
Scroll down and ensure Let apps access your location is also enabled.
Go to Settings > Time & language > Date & time.
Turn on Set time zone automatically.
If the time zone is still wrong, turn off the automatic option and select your correct time zone manually from the dropdown.
Restart Night Light by toggling it off and on.

Fix 4: Run the Windows Display troubleshooter

Windows includes a built-in troubleshooter that can detect and fix display-related issues, including colour and brightness settings.

Open Settings > System > Troubleshoot.
Click Other troubleshooters.
Find Display in the list and click Run.
Follow the on-screen prompts. The troubleshooter will apply any fixes it finds automatically.
Restart your computer and test Night Light.

Fix 5: Check for conflicting third-party software

Some third-party applications — particularly screen dimming tools, colour calibration utilities, and GPU control panels — can override or interfere with Windows Night Light.

Applications such as f.lux, Iris, or LightBulb manage screen colour independently and may conflict with Night Light.
GPU control panels (NVIDIA Control Panel, AMD Radeon Software, Intel Graphics Command Centre) may have their own colour temperature or blue light settings that override Windows.
Temporarily disable or exit these applications and test Night Light.
If a specific application is causing the conflict, consider using its built-in scheduling instead of Windows Night Light, or uninstall it if it is no longer needed.

Fix 6: Create a new user account to test

If Night Light still does not work after the fixes above, the issue may be tied to your user profile. Creating a new local account can confirm this.

Open Settings > Accounts > Family & other users.
Under Other users, click Add account.
Click I don’t have this person’s sign-in information, then Add a user without a Microsoft account.
Enter a username and password, then complete the setup.
Sign out of your current account and sign in to the new account.
Test Night Light in the new account. If it works, your original user profile is corrupted.

Tip: If the new account resolves the issue, you can migrate your files and settings to the new profile. See our guide on Managing User Accounts in Windows 11 for detailed steps.

Troubleshooting Common Scenarios

Night Light turns on but the screen doesn’t change colour

Check the Strength slider in Night light settings. Increase it to at least 50%.
Ensure no third-party colour calibration software is overriding the display.
Update your display driver as described in Fix 2.

Night Light turns off automatically at the wrong time

Verify your time zone and location settings as described in Fix 3.
If using a custom schedule, check that the Turn off time is set correctly.
Reset the Night Light registry settings as described in Fix 1.

Night Light option is greyed out

Update or reinstall your display driver as described in Fix 2.
Check for third-party software that may be blocking the feature.
Run the Windows Display troubleshooter as described in Fix 4.

If you have tried all the fixes above and Night Light is still not working, please Open a Ticket and our support team will assist you further.

Still Having Issues?

Need more help? If the issue persists after trying these steps, please open a support ticket and our team will assist you.

💻 Open a Ticket