All About Changing The Brightness On Your MSI Laptop

Laptops sometimes have a problem where adjusting the brightness doesn’t work. What if you have an MSI gaming laptop that can’t adjust the brightness?

I was able to fix this problem by using safe mode. I booted my laptop up in safe mode and successfully changed the brightness. The change remained when I restarted my computer and didn’t enter safe mode.

Adjusting the Brightness on an MSI Laptop

A laptop screen that is either too bright or too dim can strain your eyes. How do you adjust the brightness? 

Changing the Brightness Using the Keyboard

With an MSI laptop, you can change the screen’s brightness without opening and programs or settings panels. Hold down the fn key and use the + and – keys to adjust brightness. 

Try Different Solutions

If you can’t change your brightness using the keyboard, try changing it by clicking on the MSI battery icon at the bottom of your screen. If that doesn’t work, use the control panel or mobility center to change the brightness.

If that still doesn’t work, a less simple solution is necessary. 

You may have to boot your computer up in safe mode, change some settings, or install a different operating system to fix the problem. 

Brightness in Windows 10

There are a few different ways to adjust the brightness in windows 10. You can use the battery icon on the taskbar, the mobility center or the control panel. 

Using the Control Panel

First, go to the start menu and open the control panel. Underneath the Hardware and Sound heading, click on adjust commonly used mobility settings. 

This will open a new window with a brightness slider. 

Using the Mobility Center

You can right click on the start menu and then open the power tasks menu. You can also press X and the windows key at the same time to open it. 

From the the power tasks menu, you can open the mobility center. Within the mobility center you can adjust a display brightness slider. 

Using the Battery Icon

You can also change the brightness using the battery icon on the toolbar at the bottom of your screen. You can use the battery icon to either check how much battery power you have left or change your screen’s brightness. 

Brightness in Windows 8

First, press the windows key and C to open the charms bar. Then, click on settings, click on the brightness icon, and adjust the brightness. 

Brightness in Windows 7

First, go to the control panel. In the control panel you can find hardware and sound and in hardware and sound you can find power options, which has a brightness slider.

Install Windows 10 or 11

Sometimes, installing the newest version of windows is enough to fix this kind of problem. If you are using windows 7 or 8, you are more likely to have problems adjusting the brightness than with a newer version of windows. 

Use Safe Mode

When you start your computer, you can choose to have it boot up in safe mode. Safe mode is very limited. Many things won’t work when you boot your computer up in safe mode. 

However, many computer problems won’t affect you when you are using safe mode. The lack of features makes safe mode stable and allows you to fix problems. Changing the brightness in safe mode may work, and the change should remain after you leave safe mode.

To enter safe mode:

• Press the Windows key plus R. This will open a box, type msconfig in the box and hit ok.
• Go to the boot tab, then to boot options, and then click the checkbox labeled safeboot. When you restart your computer, you should enter safe mode. 

Re-Install MSI System Control Manager

Your MSI laptop comes with a program called MSI system control manager, which runs in the background. You won’t normally notice the program running. 

What it does is display graphical icons when you change certain things, such as the screen’s brightness. 

If you change the brightness using the keyboard, an icon will appear on screen to indicate the change. Sometimes, uninstalling and reinstalling it can fix this problem. 

Disable Adaptive Brightness

Adaptive brightness is a feature that allows your computer to detect the amount of light in the room around you. The screen’s brightness changes based on the light levels in the room. 

While adaptive brightness is useful, it may cause problems sometimes. If adjusting the brightness isn’t working, some people recommend disabling adaptive brightness. 

To disable it, do the following:

• First, go to your start menu, and then to the control panel. 
• Within the control panel, find power options. 
• Go from there to change plan settings and then select change advanced power settings. 
• Within advanced power settings, click on display and then you can enable or disable adaptive brightness.

Install a Different Operating System

While it is kind of a hassle, installing another operating system might fix your problem. You can get a Linux disc, install Linux, and change the brightness in Linux.

The brightness may stay the same after you switch back to windows. 

Uninstall and Reinstall Your Laptop Monitor

One last possibility is to uninstall your laptop monitor and then reinstall it. This should set your screen’s brightness to the maximum so that you won’t get stuck with a dim screen. However, you might find it too bright. 

Take the Laptop in for Repairs

Sometimes, spending some money on professional repairs is better than putting too much time into fixing the problem yourself. Trying a lot of solutions that don’t work is also frustrating. You can learn a lot by fixing computer problems yourself, but not everyone has the time. 

Key Takeaways

• Start with the simplest solutions. Try changing the brightness in windows settings instead of with the keyboard. 
• If that fails, try using safe mode to fix the problem.
• Disabling adaptive brightness can work sometimes. 
• If that still doesn’t work, you may need to install windows 10 or 11 to fix the problem.