How to Adjust Brightness & Contrast on Your Windows 11 PC [Step-by-Step]

Adjusting contrast in Windows 11 can make your screen easier on the eyes and help reduce strain. You can change contrast settings, boost gamma, or tweak brightness on your laptop to get a clearer, more comfortable display.

These tips work great on Windows 11, and most of them apply to Windows 10 too. In this guide, you’ll learn how to adjust contrast step by step to get the best look for your screen.

How to change contrast and brightness on a Windows PC

1. Turn On High Contrast Mode (Quickest Option)

High Contrast Mode dramatically changes screen colors for better legibility.

• Press Left Alt + Left Shift + Print Screen to toggle it instantly.
• Or go to Settings > Accessibility > Contrast themes.
• Choose a theme like “High Contrast #1” and click Apply.

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2. Calibrate Display Color (Fine-Tune Gamma and Contrast)

Windows 11 includes a built-in calibration tool:

• Go to Settings > System > Display.
• Click Advanced display settings > Display adapter properties.
• Open the Color Management tab > click Color Management…
• Under the Advanced tab, choose Calibrate display.

Follow the wizard to adjust:

• Gamma settings (controls midtones)
• Brightness & contrast
• Color balance

💡 This helps fix screen contrast on computer screens that look washed out or too dark.

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3. Adjust Brightness and Contrast on a Laptop Screen

If you’re on a laptop:

• Press Fn + Brightness keys (usually F1–F3).
• Or go to Settings > System > Display, then use the Brightness slider.

Note: Some laptops also offer graphics control panels (like Intel or NVIDIA) to tweak contrast directly.

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4. Use Graphics Driver Settings (Advanced)

Your GPU may let you manually adjust gamma, contrast, and brightness.

For Intel Graphics:

• Right-click desktop > Intel Graphics Settings
• Go to Display > Color Settings

For NVIDIA:

• Right-click desktop > NVIDIA Control Panel
• Navigate to Display > Adjust desktop color settings
• Modify Contrast, Gamma, and Brightness

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5. Change Color Filters (Alternative to High Contrast)

Another way to change color contrast:

• Go to Settings > Accessibility > Color filters
• Turn on and choose filters like Inverted or Grayscale Inverted.

Speaking of the Settings page, you can use it to tweak other screen settings as well. For example, you can change the font size, screen resolution, orientation, set up multiple display configurations, enable high contrast mode, and so on.

Calibrating your screen’s color, contrast, gamma, and brightness is a good way to improve the overall performance of the screen and draw the best from your monitor.

Before you go, you can also check our guide on the best monitor brightness and contrast settings for your eyes.

If you know other ways to enhance display performance, write those down in the comments. Our readers would love to read your suggestions.