How to Turn On or Off Keyboard Backlight Dimming with Energy Saver in Windows 11

Keyboard backlight dimming in Windows 11 automatically lowers the brightness of your keyboard lights when Energy Saver turns on to help your laptop battery last longer. By default, Windows 11 drops the backlight brightness to 70% whenever Energy Saver runs.

You can turn this feature off completely or change the brightness level anywhere from 0% to 100% to fit your needs.

Option 1Using Windows Settings

You can control whether your Windows 11 keyboard dims when using Energy Saver right in the Settings ⚙️ app. This option lets you decide if your keyboard light should get dimmer to save power or stay at its current brightness.

1. Open Settings. You can do this by pressing the Win+I on your keyboard.
2. On the left side, click on System. On the right side, click on Power & battery.
3. Click on Energy saver to see its options.
4. You will see an option called Lower keyboard brightness when using energy saver. Turn this on or off depending on what you want. By default, it is usually on.
5. You can now close the Settings ⚙️ window.

Option 2Using the Registry Editor (Advanced)

Advanced users can configure this same behavior through the Registry Editor (a database for low-level Windows settings ⚙️). This method is helpful if you want to automate the setting or if the regular Settings app ⚙️ isn’t working as expected for your keyboard dimming.

The keyboard backlight behavior in Windows 11 changes when Energy Saver mode activates. The keyboard backlight will either dim or stay at its normal brightness. This dimming or brightness change depends on the specific setting the user chooses.

1. First, you need to open the Registry Editor. Press the Windows key + R, type regedit, and press Enter. You might need to click Yes if a User Account Control window pops up.
2. Navigate to the following location in the Registry Editor: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Personalization\Settings
3. In the right-hand pane, look for a value named BacklightEnergySaverEnabled.
4. To turn on dimming: Double-click on BacklightEnergySaverEnabled. Set the Value data to 1 and click OK.
5. To turn off dimming: Double-click on BacklightEnergySaverEnabled. Set the Value data to 0 and click OK.
6. Close the Registry Editor. The changes should take effect immediately.

Reference:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/customize/desktop/unattend/microsoft-windows-devices-lights-configuration-backlightenergysaverenabled

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