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

Keyboard backlight dimming in Windows 11’s Energy Saver mode automatically lowers your keyboard’s brightness when the system is trying to save power.

This feature helps conserve battery by reducing the power used by the keyboard’s lights when your laptop is running on battery and Energy Saver is active.

By default, Windows 11 reduces your keyboard backlight to 70% brightness when Energy Saver turns on. You can easily change this setting.

You can choose to turn this dimming off completely, or even adjust the dimming level from 0% (off) to 100% (no dimming) to match your needs.

Option 1Using ⚙️ Windows Settings

You can easily 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 Windows key + 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)

For advanced users, changing how your Windows 11 keyboard dims with Energy Saver can be done using the Registry Editor. 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

Summary

This guide showed you how to manage your keyboard backlight’s dimming behavior in Windows 11 when Energy Saver is on. You can adjust this setting in the ⚙️ Windows Settings app, or for more advanced control, by modifying a value in the Registry Editor, a tool for editing system settings.