How to Lock the Brightness on a Mac

Ever find yourself constantly checking the brightness settings on your Mac, only to have it adjust automatically based on the lighting conditions? Locking the brightness can help enhance your browsing experience, reduce eye strain, and save battery life. This guide will walk you through the process of preventing your Mac from automatically adjusting its brightness and demonstrate how to lock the brightness manually.

Preventing Automatic Brightness Adjustment

The first step in locking the brightness on your Mac is to disable the automatic adjustment feature. Here's a step-by-step guide:

Open System Settings by clicking on the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen and selecting System Settings. For older macOS versions, choose System Preferences.

Navigate to the Displays section:

Click on the Displays option in the System Settings window.

Locate and uncheck the option that says Automatically adjust brightness. This will prevent your Mac from changing the brightness automatically based on ambient light.

Locking Brightness with Keyboard Shortcuts

Another way to set and maintain your preferred brightness level is by using keyboard shortcuts. These shortcuts allow you to quickly adjust the brightness to your liking:

To decrease the brightness, press the F1 key.

To increase the brightness, press the F2 key.

By using these shortcuts, you can ensure that your Mac's display remains at a consistent brightness level, without the need for frequent manual adjustments.

Disabling Night Shift and Additional Customizations

For users who also use Night Shift, another feature designed to reduce blue light exposure at night, you can further customize your Mac to suit your preferences:

Go to System Preferences, then select Displays.

Find the Night Shift settings within the Displays section.

Change the Schedule to Off. This will disable Night Shift's automated settings, allowing you to manually control the display temperature.

With Night Shift turned off, you can still change the brightness using the keyboard and menu options to your satisfaction.

By following these steps, your Mac's brightness should remain at the level that best suits your needs, whether it be for improving visibility, conserving battery life, or enhancing your overall user experience.