Scenario
At the start of the day, you open your laptop and the screen feels too bright. After a few minutes, your eyes may ache. You might later get a headache, feel dizzy, or feel sick.
This can feel worse when you move between apps, join video calls, or work under bright lights.
You lower the brightness, but then the words are harder to read. When you turn it back up, the headache comes back.
What is getting in the way?
Screens can cause discomfort for different reasons. Common triggers include:
- high brightness levels or bright white backgrounds
- glare from overhead lights, windows or reflective surfaces
- moving quickly between dark and bright screens, apps or documents
- blue light, especially later in the day
- screen flicker, which can be linked to some brightness settings
- motion, animation or visual effects on screen
- using more than one monitor with different brightness levels
- long periods of screen use without regular breaks
These can lead to headaches, eye strain, dizziness or nausea, particularly during long sessions, video calls or work under strong lighting.
Tools that can help
Windows includes several built-in options that can reduce visual strain:
- Night light
- Dark mode in Windows and supported apps
- Brightness and HDR controls
- Colour filters and contrast themes
- Display scale and text size
- Reduce motion or animation
- ColorVeil – if you need a view that is softer on your eyes
- Focus and break reminders
You do not need to try everything. Start with one small change and see what helps.
