Your Mac screen is too dark

Why it happens

Brightness may simply be turned down, often by a stray key press. Automatic brightness also lowers it in a dim room, and battery-saving settings can dim the screen when you unplug. Each of these is a setting you can change.

How to fix it

1. Try the keyboard first. Press the brightness-up key, the one with the large sun on the top row, a few times.

2. Or click Control Center at the top right of the screen and drag the Display slider to the right.

3. For full control, open System Settings, click Displays and drag the Brightness slider to the right. With more than one screen, pick your Mac's own display at the top first.

   Displays›Brightness

4. If it keeps sliding back down, turn off Automatically adjust brightness just below.

   Displays›Automatically adjust brightness

Still not fixed?

1. If the brightness keys act as F1 and F2 instead, hold Fn while you press them.

2. On a MacBook that dims when unplugged, open Battery, click Options… and turn off Slightly dim the display on battery.

   Battery›Options…›Slightly dim the display on battery

3. Low Power Mode also lowers brightness. In Battery, set Low Power Mode to Never. If you see Energy Mode instead, choose Automatic in the On battery and On power adapter pop-ups.

   Battery›Low Power Mode

4. An external monitor usually needs its own buttons for brightness. Check its menu if the Mac's slider does nothing.

5. If you can only just see a faint picture at full brightness, the screen's backlight may have failed. That's hardware, so contact Apple Support or a repair shop.