15 Fixes For Windows 10 Brightness Slider Not Working

Windows 10 systems come pre-loaded with a built-in tool, that is, the Brightness slider, which allows you to effortlessly manage the brightness settings of your system while also being able to modify the brightness of multiple screens at once.

It is a simple but productive tool that can be accessed from your computer’s Action Center and lets you access and controls the brightness levels on your screen by holding down the slider from left to right.

Brightness Slider in the Notification area - Brightness Slider Not Working

However, a lot of Windows users face issues at times when the brightness slider would remain stuck at either 0% or 100% and be entirely non-functional for you to make any changes. 

There could be several underlying causes that might have led to the problem including:

  1. There could be system incompatibility issues arising out of a conflict between your PC device drivers and updates.
  2. Incorrect power plan configuration causes your screen to remain stuck at a very low or high brightness setting. 
  3. Your graphic and/or video drivers are corrupted or faulty.
  4. A new Windows update caused an erroneous change.
  5. Your system is too old to run the new updates and drivers.

While these are the most typical factors responsible for the problem, several other aspects should be considered. If you are facing something similar, please scroll down to check out the solutions we have gathered below to fix your Brightness Slider Not Working on Windows 10 issue.

Windows 10 Brightness Slider Not Working? Try These Fixes

  1. Use the Keyboard Keys
  2. Update or Reinstall the Display Drivers 
  3. Use the Rollback Driver Feature 
  4. Change to Microsoft Basic Display Adapter 
  5. Change the Power Plan Settings
  6. Modify the PnP Monitor Driver 
  7. Change the Screen Resolution & Night Light Settings 
  8. Use Windows Powershell 
  9. Check For the Latest Windows Update 
  10. Uninstall the Last Updated Applications
  11. Disable Fast Startup
  12. Use the Windows Built-In Troubleshooters
  13. Check Services (Display Enhancement Service)
  14. Use the Group Policy Editor
  15. Try Resetting Your PC

1. Use the Keyboard Keys

If your brightness slider is not working or seems to be greyed out, you can manually use your keyboard keys to adjust the brightness levels on your screen.

Most laptops these days have designated buttons to increase or decrease the brightness level with a 🔆 symbol on them. 

You might need to press them individually or in combination with one or more keys to control the brightness.

Usually, the brightness keys are found somewhere in the top row of your qwerty keyboard, and the function keys are found at the bottom row towards the left of the space bar. It may differ with every manufacturer, so you might want to look up your system manufacturer’s manual. 

 Here are the usual steps to follow:

  1. Hold down the Fn key along with the brightness increase 🔆 (here, Fn+F3) or decrease 🔅 (Fn+F2) keys as per your requirements. 

In certain systems, it is not required to hold down the Fn key, or the Fn key might not be available at all, in which case you may go ahead and press the individual dedicated buttons to adjust the screen brightness. 

Function keys on a keyboard

In case your keyboard brightness keys don’t seem to work either, follow the below steps to fix them:

Use the Keyboard Troubleshooter

  1. Go to the Settings app from the Action Center or type ‘settings’ in the search bar. Go to Settings → Update & Security.
Update & Security settings tile
  1. Find the Troubleshoot option at the left pane of the next screen.
Troubleshoot option in the Update & Security window
  1. In the Troubleshoot window, you can find the Keyboard option below or click on the Additional troubleshooters and scroll down until you find the keyboard option. Then, click on ‘Run the troubleshooter’ and follow the next steps as mentioned. 
Run the troubleshooter option for Keyboard

Update the Keyboard Drivers 

  1. In the search bar, type ‘device manager’ or press Ctrl+X to open the Device Manager app.
Device Manager option in the Power User menu
  1. In the Device Manager window, scroll down to the Keyboard option and expand it. Now, find the Standard PS/2 Keyboard and right click on it then choose the Update Driver option.
Keyboard driver option with the Update driver option
  1. In the next window, click on Browse my computer for drivers, then choose Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.
Options to get a new driver software
  1. Select the Standard PS/2 Keyboard in the next window and click on Next. This should fix the issues related to the keyboard brightness keys.
Selecting a driver for update

2. Update or Reinstall the Display Drivers 

A display driver is a piece of computer software that allows you to connect to computer hardware such as the graphics card to perform all the graphically intensive tasks, giving your visual display unit the display functionality. 

Updating your display or the GPU drivers ensures you don’t have any outdated or corrupted software on your computer.

Follow the below steps to update your display drivers:

  1. Press down Windows icon+R and type ‘devmgmt.msc’ or press Ctrl+X to open the Device Manager app.
  1. In the Device Manager app, scroll down to the Display adapters. Choose a device from the display drivers available, then right click (or hold down) on the driver you wish to update and select Update device.
Update driver option for GPU driver software
  1. In the next window, you can either let Windows look for an update automatically and install them or click on Browse my computer for drivers to locate and install a driver manually.

Alternatively, you can look up your computer manufacturer’s website and update your display drivers. For example, in Dell, you can go to Support → Drivers & Downloads → type in your device name or Product ID under Identify your product → Windows 10 → then, choose the display and video graphics.

  1. To reinstall the drivers, simply follow the steps 1 and 2 above, then choose Uninstall device after right clicking on the driver. After a reboot, repeat the above steps and then reinstall the device again. Restart to save the changes.

3. Use the Rollback Driver feature

Although keeping your drivers up to date with the regular update patches is a great way to give your computer a performance boost (especially, for the gamers), fix bugs, and often even add in entirely new features, it may not always be the best option for your system.

Any new update might be ridden with its own issues and do more harm than good; most likely, you won’t notice any difference despite the update.

Follow the below steps to roll back the driver:

  1. Open the Device Manager app by pressing Ctrl+X, head over to the Display adapters, double click and expand it.
  2. Now, right click on the NVIDIA GPU and select Properties.
Properties option for GPU driver
  1. In the Properties window, move to the Driver tab and click on Rollback Driver in the left pane.
In the Properties window, move to the Driver tab and click on Rollback Driver in the left pane.

Note that if the Rollback Driver option is grayed out, there are no previous versions found and it has not been updated to any new versions recently. Your problem might not be due to the GPU driver if that’s the case.

4. Change to Microsoft Basic Display Adapter 

The MSBDD (Microsoft Basic Display Driver) is the default display driver in Windows 8, replacing the XDDM VGA and VGA PnP drivers. The preset display driver runs in the safe mode during setup, either when there is no IHV graphics driver installed or when the driver is either not functioning or is defective.

Follow the below steps to change back to the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter:

  1. Hold down the Windows icon+R and type in ‘devmgmt.msc’ then hit OK.
  2. In the Device Manager app, scroll down and double click on the Display adapters, then right click on the Intel HD Graphics driver and select Update.
  1. In the next window, click on Browse my computer for drivers, select Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer and then hit Next.
  1. In the next window, you will find a list of deemed compatible drivers for your system. You can uncheck the box next to Show compatible hardware. Under the Manufacturer column, click Select display types → then select Microsoft Basic Display Adapter under Model from the right pane. Then, hit Next. Reboot your system to save the changes.
select Microsoft Basic Display Adapter under Model from the right pane.

4.  Check the Windows Mobility Center

The Mobility Center is a Microsoft Windows in-built tool that provides quick access to the most common functionalities of a Windows system. This tool allows you to adjust volume, brightness, battery, wireless connections, and several other settings. 

To adjust the brightness setting using Mobility Center, follow the below steps:

  1. Press the Windows icon+X and click on the Mobility Center or Windows Mobility Center in the pop up menu. 
Press the Windows icon+X and click on the Mobility Center
  1. In the next window, you can see several different options, here, you can toggle the brightness levels as per your requirements and check if the problem is fixed.
 Mobility Center options

5. Change the Power Plan Settings 

Sometimes, a sudden change in Windows power plan settings could alter your system’s brightness levels and keep the slider stuck at one setting.

To change the Power Plan settings, follow the below steps:

  1. Right click on the battery icon and select Power Options. (alternatively, press the Windows icon+X)
Right click on the battery icon and select Power Options
  1. In the Power Options window, click on Change plan settings next to your current plan. 
  2. In the next window, click on Change advanced power settings to open up the plan settings. 
click on Change advanced power settings to open up the power plan settings.
  1. Scroll down and expand Display, then change the Enable Adaptive brightness settings to Off. Click on OK to save the settings.
change the Enable Adaptive brightness settings to Off

6. Modify the PnP Monitor Driver

PnP or Plug n Play is a feature of Windows that allows a computer system to adapt to changes in hardware with minimal human input. PnP monitor drivers offer support for display resolution, color quality, and refresh rates.

To change the Monitor Driver settings, follow the steps below:

  1. Press the Windows icon+X and type in devmgmt.msc to open the Device Manager. 
  2. Scroll down to Monitors and expand the category. Right click on the generic monitor and select Disable device and click OK. After the settings are saved, follow the same steps above and click on Enable device, then see if the problem is still there.
Right click on the generic monitor and select Disable device and click OK

7. Change the Screen Resolution & Night Light Settings 

The brightness issues could also be caused by a change in screen resolution or the Night Light settings so it’s a good idea to retrace your steps and change them back to the default configuration.

To change the screen resolution and night light settings, follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Settings app from the Action Center at the bottom right of your computer. Click on System.
Go to Settings, then tap on System
  1. In the left pane, go to Display, scroll down to Display resolution from the right pane, and try changing the resolution. 
go to Display and scroll down to Display resolution from the right pane to change the resolution
  1. Next, you can try changing the brightness using the slider at the top. To change the Night Light settings, toggle the Night Light On or Off under Brightness and color in the same window and see if it fixes the issue.
To change the Night Light settings, toggle the Night Light On or Off under Brightness and color

8. Use Windows Powershell 

PowerShell is a powerful built-in command-line interface for Windows that lets you automate several repetitive tasks and simplify the system settings.

Your Windows installation may have some minor flaws. When your system doesn’t shut down properly, the Check disc tool cleans up small parts of the disc that may have become corrupted. The SFC scan will inspect and repair Windows system files, followed by the DISM scan to fix any other minor Windows issues.

Follow the below steps to go ahead with the PowerShell processes:

  1. Type in Powershell in the search bar and it will right click on Windows PowerShell to Run as administrator.
Right click on Windows PowerShell to Run as administrator.
  1. In the Powershell window, type in Chkdsk /f  to allow it to check and automatically repair any system file errors. Reboot the computer to see the changes made.
  2. You can use the system file scanner to scan your system and repair and replace all the corrupted files and sectors on your device. Type in

sfc /scannow and wait for the scan to finish. You can manually replace the corrupted files or let Windows do it.

  1. The DISM command determines whether a failing process has flagged the Windows image as corrupted and whether the corruption can be repaired. To perform the scan, type in Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth. 

To check whether the parts are corrupted and repair them, type in Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth.

9. Check For the Latest Windows Update

Your brightness slider issues could also be triggered by a glitch caused by your current Windows operating system version. Microsoft keeps releasing new updates to fix well-known issues, so you might want to check for updates to see if that fixes the issue.

To check for windows updates, follow the steps below:

  1. Go to the Settings app from the Action Center and click on Update & Security.
Go to Update & Security from the Settings
  1. Click on Windows Update in the left pane and tap on the Check for updates button and let Windows install the latest version of the operating system for you. Reboot to install the updates and check if the issue is solved. 

10. Uninstall the Last Updated Applications

The brightness slider issues could also be caused by any third-party applications or software that might conflict with the system apps.

To uninstall any last updated or install applications, follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Control Panel and go to Programs and Features
Open the Control Panel and go to Programs and Features.
  1. In the next window, Windows will list all the recently installed updates and applications. You can modify or uninstall an application under Uninstall or change a program and reboot your device.

11. Disable Fast Startup

Disabling the Fast startup option may resolve incompatibility problems with your system apps and errors caused during a system or driver update.  

To turn off the Fast Startup option, follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Control Panel and go to Power Options (alternatively, hold down the Windows icon + X). Next, select System Settings.
  2. In the next window, head over to the Shutdown settings, uncheck the box next to the Turn on Fast startup, and click on Save changes.
Disable fast startup

12. Use the Windows Built-In Troubleshooters

Windows come pre-loaded with several troubleshooting tools to resolve issues with almost every system configuration.

Use the Power Troubleshooter 

Windows power management settings could also be causing your system’s brightness issues.

  1. Go to the Settings app from the Action Center and then Update & Security
  2. Now, click on Troubleshoot in the left pane and select additional troubleshooters from the right pane.
  3. Scroll down, click on Power, and follow the steps for a power troubleshooting guide. Reboot and check for the issue. 

Use the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter

You can also try running the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter from the same window to check if there’s an issue with the old programs on your current version of the operating system and fix them.  

To run the troubleshooter, follow the steps below:

  1. Go to the Control Panel → Troubleshooting → Programs.
Control Panel → Troubleshooting → Programs.
  1. Scroll down to the Power 

Compatibility Troubleshooter, in the next window, click on Next to begin the troubleshooter. Reboot and check if the issue remains. 

Power Compatibility Troubleshooter

13. Check Services (Display Enhancement Service)

The brightness slider could be caused by a service in process that suddenly interrupted or stopped working. 

Follow the below steps to access the display enhancement services:

  1. Press the Windows icon+R to start the Run command and type in services.msc to open the Services window.
services.msc command in run tool
  1. In the Services app, scroll down and double click on the Display Enhancement Service and click on Stop, and then tap on Start again.
Display Enhancement Service

14. Use the Registry Editor

The Windows Registry Editor (regedit) is a GUI tool with the Windows operating system that allows authorized users to see the Windows registry and create, delete, and modify problematic registry keys and subkeys.

To run the registry editor, follow the steps below:

  1. Press the Windows icon + R and type in regedit then click OK.
  2. In the Registry Editor window, scroll down and navigate to the below address:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\

  1. Change the DWORD value of FeatureTestControl to 0000.
  2. Now, set the DWORD value to 0 for both KMD_EnableBrightnessInterface2 and MD_EnableBrightnesslf2. Reboot the computer to save the changes. 

15. Use the Group Policy Editor

Follow the below steps to start the Group Policy Editor settings:

  1. Press the Windows icon + R to start the Run command and type in gpedit.msc to open the Group Policy Editor, navigate to the below address:

User configuration → Administrative Templates → Control Panel → Display

  1. Under Settings, double-click, change the Disable Display Control Panel to Disable, and hit OK.

16. Try Resetting Your PC

If none of the above methods work out for you, you could try resetting your Windows computer system. It enables you to keep your documents and files in case you want to keep them or remove everything to help you begin with a clean slate. It can sort out various system issues, from recovering accidentally deleted programs and files to freeing up your hard drive space.

To begin with, the reset process, follow the steps below:

  1. Go to the Control Panel → Update & Security → Recovery.
  2. In the Recovery window, click on Get started under Reset this PC and follow the next steps.
Get started under Reset this PC
  1. In the next window, you will be asked whether you want to keep your files & folders intact, click on Keep my files. If you may choose to discard them altogether, click on Remove everything and hit OK.

Hope the above solutions work out well for your Windows 10 Brightness Slider Not Working issue. If the brightness slider problem remains, head to your system manufacturer’s website for support options or reach out to the Windows community for further support and troubleshooting help.