Guide: Fix ‘Windows 10 Night Light if it Doesn’t Work Properly’ Issue
First introduced in the Windows 10 Creators Update, Night Light has been a welcome addition to those of us struggling with the massive amounts of blue light leaking from our displays. Unfortunately, two major updates have come and gone, but there are certain issues with the feature are still largely present. If you see Night Light simply greyed out on the Action Center, or if it suddenly starts to malfunction, take comfort in the fact that you’re not the only one getting into trouble. But can you do something about it? Fortunately, you can. There are a number of fixes that can help you get Night Lights back to normal, so let’s take a look at them.
Night light greyed out
A grayed-out Night Light Action Center tile is perhaps the most common problem. Not a nice experience if you just installed or upgraded to Windows 10 and one feature turned off for no apparent reason. And unlike issues where a simple restart of the computer is enough, Night Lights will stay that way unless you do one or both of the following tweaks.
Change the registry settings
Windows 10’s problem with its night light feature usually stems from some broken registry keys. Therefore, deleting these keys forces the operating system to create them from scratch. However, you need to take a quick dive into the Registry Editor to be able to do that. Step 1: Press Windows-R to open the Run box. Enter now regedit in the Open field and click OK. That should prompt Windows 10 to launch the Registry Editor. Note: While you’re not going to do anything drastic, it’s always a good idea to go back up your registry to be on the safe side before proceeding. To do that, click on File in the Registry Editor window and then Export. Step 2: Use the navigation pane on the left side of the Registry Editor to navigate to the following folder (scroll from right to left in the box below to see the full range of text): HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionCloudStoreStoreCacheDefaultAccount Tip Just copy and paste the path into the address bar at the top of the Registry Editor and hit Enter to get to the folder faster. Step 3: Expand the DefaultAccount registry folder and then delete the subfolder labeled $$ windows.data.bluelightreduction.bluelightreductionstate
Then delete the subfolder labeled $$ windows.data.bluelightreduction.settings is located just below the previous one. Note: To delete, right-click on a subfolder and select Delete. Exit Registry Editor and restart your PC. And voila! You should see Night Light fully functional in the Action Center.
If that doesn’t work, you can try updating your video drivers next.
Update your drivers
Windows 10 offers enormous convenience as it performs most driver updates automatically. However, there are instances where the operating system applies what it considers to be the ‘latest updates’ for your graphics card or chipset when it is just a generic display driver. To fix the problem, you need to manually download and install the correct display drivers for your PC. Simply visit the NVIDIA, AMD or Intel download portals and then specify your graphics chipset to download the latest drivers. NVIDIA Drivers AMD Drivers Intel Drivers If you don’t know the exact make and model of your chipset, you can use utilities like NVIDIA Smart Scan, AMD Driver Autodetect or Intel Driver Update Utility to help you with that. After installing your drivers, reboot your PC and you will probably no longer see Night Light greyed out.
Night light does not turn on / off
Sometimes the Nightlight tile looks like the Action Center or the toggle under Display Settings, but doesn’t actually do anything. It’s either on and you can’t turn it off, or vice versa. This usually happens when you wake your PC from standby mode or after exiting a video game. So, how do you fix it?
Log in and out of account
Yes, you read that right. Logging in and out of your account sounds ridiculous, but it does help a bit with ‘freezing’ a stuck Nightlight mode. If you are not familiar with the procedure, just open the Start menu and click on your profile picture. On the context menu that appears up, click Logout.
Once you are on the lock screen, log in again and you will see Night mode functioning normally. That was simple, right?
Night light that runs out of schedule
Another problem that crops up is when Night Light stays on even beyond the time it is scheduled to actually work. And of course, if you turn it off, it won’t turn off either. Logging in and out of your account will usually fix the problem, but if that doesn’t work, you can go through the next few solutions to get things back to normal.
Change the clock settings
Consider temporarily changing the time on your PC. Since the Night Light scheduler relies on the system time to function effectively, changing the time back and forth forces it out of its infinite loop. Step 1: Right-click on the clock in your system tray and then click Adjust Date / Time in the context menu.
Step 2: Click on Modify. If you button grayed out, turn off the switch under Set time automatically to enable it.
Step 3: Switch the time from AM to PM or vice versa, then click Change.
Step 4: Now just go back and set the time correctly. You can also click the toggle under Set time automatically to let Windows 10 do that for you automatically.
That is it! Night lights should turn themselves off and operate on schedule from now on.
Enable location service
In case changing the time didn’t help, toggling the built-in location service might be possible, especially if you rely on Windows 10 to automatically schedule night light from dusk to dawn based on your location. Instead of using the location tile in the action center, let’s turn it off and on completely from the Location Privacy Settings panel. Step 1: Type Location from the Start menu, then select Location Privacy Settings from the search results.
Step 2: In the Location Privacy Settings panel, turn off the switch next to Location Service. Next, click on Change and then turn off the toggle under Location for this device.
Step 3: Restart your PC, go to the Location Privacy Settings panel again, then reenable both Location for this device and Location service.
If the problem was caused by a disabled location service settings instance, that would be it trick to put Night Light back on track.
A few alternatives
Admittedly, Night Light is still pretty much broken. While the solutions above should help you fix the issues, it’s no fun if they keep coming back. So if you don’t mind an additional application loading on startup, consider using a third-party app to get similar functionality instead. Let’s take a look at a few that are great to use.
F.lux
F.lux is an extremely popular applet and the go-to blue light filter before Night Light was shown upIn fact, people still continue to use it, and there is a reason why.
Rather than limiting you to just one setting, F.lux offers multiple sliders for a fully customizable experience throughout the day. Having the ability to filter out different levels of blue light during the day, at sunset, and right before bed is pretty neat. And even better, the temperature transitions are subtle and not drastic like in Nightlight. You don’t even notice them happening!
There are also multiple preset profiles if you hate messing around with sliders. Cave painting is a personal favorite and a phenomenal filter if you prefer to work late at night! Download F.lux
Sunset screen
Sunset Screen is another extremely versatile applet and more suitable if you want to adjust almost every aspect of the color temperature of your screen. Granted, the options look a bit messy, but you should be able to sort things out easily and without much hassle.
Separate options and preset profiles for day and night, combined with color inversion support and global shortcut keys, really make Sunset Screen a great alternative to Windows 10’s Night Light. Download Sunset Screen
That is it …
Hopefully the above solutions helped and Night Light now works without any issues. While it feels great to have such functionality in the operating system as standard, Microsoft really should up their game for one feature that’s really nothing complicated. Com’on, F.lux and Sunset Screen have been doing it perfectly for years! So how did it go? Do you know of any other solutions? Share in comments.
Fix ‘Windows 10 Night Light if it Doesn’t Work Properly’ Issue: benefits
Faq
Final note
I hope you like the guide Fix ‘Windows 10 Night Light if it Doesn’t Work Properly’ Issue. In case if you have any query regards this article you may ask us. Also, please share your love by sharing this article with your friends. For our visitors: If you have any queries regards the Fix ‘Windows 10 Night Light if it Doesn’t Work Properly’ Issue, then please ask us through the comment section below or directly contact us. Education: This guide or tutorial is just for educational purposes. Misinformation: If you want to correct any misinformation about the guide “Fix ‘Windows 10 Night Light if it Doesn’t Work Properly’ Issue”, then kindly contact us. Want to add an alternate method: If anyone wants to add more methods to the guide Fix ‘Windows 10 Night Light if it Doesn’t Work Properly’ Issue, then kindly contact us. Our Contact: Kindly use our contact page regards any help. You may also use our social and accounts by following us on Whatsapp, Facebook, and Twitter for your questions. We always love to help you. We answer your questions within 24-48 hours (Weekend off). Channel: If you want the latest software updates and discussion about any software in your pocket, then here is our Telegram channel.
