How to Toggle ‘Compatible Apps’ for Dynamic Lighting in Windows 11

This article explains how to turn “Compatible apps in the foreground always control lighting” on or off in Windows 11.

Windows has a Dynamic Lighting feature allows developers and hardware partners to experiment with new RGB accessories and component integration. You can control Dynamic Lighting-compatible devices (such as LED-lit keyboards, mice, case lighting, or other devices) individually or as a group through the Windows Settings app.

When these devices are connected, they will show up as cards at the top of the page. You can select these cards to change individual device settings.

The “Compatible apps in the foreground always control lighting” setting turns the default Dynamic Lighting app behavior On or Off. When this feature is toggled off, a background app can control devices even when a foreground app that wants control is active.

Turn “Compatible apps in the foreground always control lighting” on or off

As described above, the “Compatible apps in the foreground always control lighting” setting turns the default Dynamic Lighting app behavior on or off so that background apps can control devices even when the foreground app that wants control is active.

Here’s how to do it.

First, open the Windows Settings app.

You can do that by clicking on the Start menu and selecting Settings. Or press the keyboard shortcut (Windows key + I) to launch the Settings app.

When the Setting app opens, click the Personalization button on the left.

Select the Dynanic Lighting tile on the right to expand it.

On the Personalization -> Dynamic Lighting setting pane, select the “Compatible apps in the foreground always control lighting” tile.

Then, toggle the button switch to the On position to enable it.

To disable it, toggle the switch back to the Off position.

Exit the Settings app when you’re done.

Turn “Compatible apps in the foreground always control lighting” on or off via Windows Registry Editor

Another way to turn “Compatible apps in the foreground always control lighting” on or off is to use the Windows Registry Editor.

To do that, open the Windows Registry and navigate to the folder keys below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Lighting

If you don’t see the Microsoft key, right-click on the Lighting key, then create the subkey (Lighting) folders.

Next, right-click the Lighting folder key’s right pane and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value. Type a new key named ControlledByForegroundApp.

Double-click the new key item name (ControlledByForegroundApp), make sure the Base option is Decimal, and then update the Value data:

• To turn “Compatible apps in the foreground always control lighting” on, type 1.
• To turn “Compatible apps in the foreground always control lighting” off, type  0.

Save your changes and restart your computer.

That should do it!

Reference:

Microsoft

Conclusion:

• This article provided detailed steps to enable or disable the “Compatible apps in the foreground always control lighting” setting in Windows 11, both through the Windows Settings app and the Windows Registry Editor.
• Including visual aids and hyperlink references enhances the clarity and accessibility of the instructions.
• Users who encounter issues or wish to contribute further insights are encouraged to utilize the comments section for further discussion and support.