My brightness adjustement doesn't work. I tried everything, it literally just does not want to change.

Question

The keys that I usually use to adjust brightness aren't working. Every other key works just fine, so it's not a keyboard issue. I tried going in settings, but the entire brightness adjustment slider disappeared. I tried updating my graphics card's driver. I tried editing my actions bar, but the brightness adjustment also disappeared there. Of course, I tried restarting my computer. Literally nothing is working and my screen is just stuck at max brightness. It just won't let me change my brightness at all.

Not sure how relevant this is, but this happened after I pressed the power button for a long time (the screen went fully black and I couldn't see anything anymore. But I know it hasn't shut down because sounds were still playing. This is a thing that has happened before, and I always press the power button to restart it.) Only this time, it said there was a problem and I needed to sign out and sign in again. So I did, I'm signed in and all, but the brightness just won't adjust. Please help.

Answer 1

Based on the description, Windows has effectively lost control of the built‑in display’s brightness, which is why:

• The brightness hotkeys no longer work.
• The brightness slider is missing from both Settings and the action center.
• The issue started after a forced power‑off / black‑screen event.

Use these steps in order:

1. Check for external display and basic wake/graphics reset

• If an external monitor is connected, disconnect it. On many systems, brightness controls only apply to the built‑in display and may disappear when only an external monitor is active.
• Press Windows logo key + Ctrl + Shift + B once to reset the graphics driver and see if brightness control returns.

2. Try the standard brightness controls in Windows 10

• Open Settings > System > Display.
• Under Brightness and color, look for Change brightness for the built-in display and try to move the slider.
  • If the slider is still missing, continue with driver steps below.

3. Update or repair the display adapter driver A corrupted or disabled display driver can remove the brightness slider and break brightness hotkeys.

• Open Device Manager (type “Device Manager” in the taskbar search and select it).
• Expand Display adapters.
• Right‑click the display adapter and select Update driver, then follow the instructions.
• If brightness is still not working after updating, in Device Manager:
  • Right‑click the display adapter again and choose Uninstall device.
  • Restart the PC so Windows reinstalls the driver automatically.

If the device is from a major OEM (for example, Lenovo, Dell, HP, Surface), also install the latest system or graphics updates from the manufacturer’s support tool or update utility, as OEM driver packages can fix brightness issues after abnormal shutdowns.

4. Re‑enable automatic brightness (if supported) If the PC has an ambient light sensor and supports auto‑brightness:

• Go to Settings > System > Display.
• Under Brightness and color, look for Change brightness automatically when lighting changes and enable it.
• Move the Change brightness for the built-in display slider slightly after turning it on to “wake up” the brightness control.

If auto‑brightness stopped responding after a reboot (common on newer builds), any of these actions can re‑activate it:

• Manually adjust brightness once (slider or hotkeys).
• Plug or unplug the power adapter (switch between AC and battery).
• Turn Battery saver on or off.
• Put the device to sleep on battery, then wake it.

5. If the screen goes black again If the screen goes black but the system is still running:

• Press Windows logo key + P and cycle through display modes (e.g., PC screen only, Duplicate) to ensure the built‑in display is active.
• Use Ctrl + Alt + Del to see if the security screen appears; if it does, sign out and back in.

If the problem persists after all of the above and the brightness slider is still missing, the issue is likely with the OEM display/graphics package or firmware. In that case, install the latest OEM system update bundle (chipset + graphics + power management) from the device manufacturer and reboot.

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References:

• Change display brightness and color in Windows
• Display brightness control
• Troubleshooting black or blank screens in Windows
• Troubleshooting blank screens in Windows
• HDR settings in Windows
• My laptop no longer adjusts screen brightness - Microsoft Q&A
• how to update display drivers - Microsoft Q&A