8 Tested Steps to Fix a Missing Brightness Slider in Windows

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In This Guide

TRY IT NOW: A Few Quick Ways to Solve Brightness Slider Missing in Windows

4 Beginner-friendly Solutions to Fix Missing Brightness Slider

Solution 1. Add a Brightness Slider in the Quick Action Center

Solution 2. Adjust Brightness Within the Settings Menu

Solution 3. Activate “Enable Adaptive Brightness”

Solution 4. Upgrade Windows

4 Advanced Solutions to Fix the MissingBrightness Slider in Windows

Adv. Solution 1. Reinstall the Default Monitor Driver after Uninstalling it

Adv. Solution 2. Install the Generic PnP Monitor Driver

Adv. Solution 3. Turn Off and On the Display Enhancement Service

Adv. Solution 4. Use your Graphics Card Software

Conclusion

Fix Brightness bar

Adjusting the screen brightness in Windows is important for improving visibility and reducing eye strain, particularly when switching between various lighting conditions. However, users may encounter an issue where the brightness slider disappears, making it difficult to adjust the brightness.

Usually, the brightness slider can be found in Windows Display settings under the Brightness and Color section. Its absence indicates a system problem that impacts desktop and laptop computers with inbuilt displays. Such problems are usually triggered by faulty updates, system changes, or incorrect driver installations.

The primary cause of Windows’ lack of a brightness slider is outdated or incompatible display drivers.
The system might not recognize display settings if the driver for your display adapter isn’t appropriately installed or updated, which would make the brightness control disappear.

In correct drivers and other issues might trigger other Windows UI elements missing (learn how to solve it here) as well as “D:” drive missing and not-visible Bluetooth icon.

TRY IT NOW: A Few Quick Ways to Solve
Brightness Slider Missing in Windows

Here are a few fast fixes to address the missing brightness slider issue for those in a hurry:

• Add Brightness Slider in the Quick Action Center for easy access
• Use settings to adjust Brightness.
• Activate Enable Adaptive Brightness to automatically adjust screen brightness based on ambient light.
• Update Windows to fix bugs or system problems that could be causing the brightness slider to disappear.

4 Beginner-friendly Solutions to Fix Missing Brightness Slider

Even if you are a non-technical user, you can quickly resolve the missing brightness slider problem using these simple solutions.

Solution 1. Add a Brightness Slider in the Quick Action Center

If the brightness slider is not visible in the Quick Action Center, it seems to have been removed. You can add it following the below:

• In order to access ‘Windows Settings’, press ‘Windows + I’.
• Select “System” in the menu.

• From the sidebar, select “Notifications & actions”.
• Once you reach the Quick Actions area, Click “Edit your Quick Actions”.

• Press on “Add and select Brightness”. Click “Done” once you’ve finished adding.

This will help in enabling the brightness slider in the Action Center.

Solution 2. Adjust Brightness Within the Settings Menu

If the brightness slider is missing, you have the option to adjust your PC’s brightness via the Settings menu. Simply follow these steps:

• Press the ‘Windows + I’ keys to open “Settings”, then select “System”.
• Navigate to the “Display” tab, where you’ll locate a brightness slider under “Brightness and Color”, allowing you to adjust brightness according to your preferences.

Solution 3. Activate “Enable Adaptive Brightness”

Incorrect power settings might occasionally have an impact on the brightness controls. These parameters can be changed to help:

• To access “Settings”, press ‘Windows + I’.
• Choose “System”.

• Choose “Additional power settings” under “Power & sleep”.

• Select “Change plan settings” next to your current plan.
• Click on “Change advanced power settings”.

• Find “Display”, press the + icon and activate the “Enable adaptive brightness”.

Solution 4. Upgrade Windows

Updates for Windows might fix issues and malfunctions that might be causing the brightness slider to disappear.

To access “Settings”, press ‘Windows + I’.

To update Windows Update, select “Update & Security” > “Check for updates”.

• Download and install any update if available.
• After applying updates, restart the computer to see if the issue has been resolved.

4 Advanced Solutions to Fix the Missing
Brightness Slider in Windows

It’s time to try some complex solutions if the simpler ones don’t work. These can solve deeper system issues that simpler solutions might miss.

Adv. Solution 1. Reinstall the Default Monitor Driver after Uninstalling it

A driver problem can also be the cause of this issue. You should uninstall and reinstall the driver to resolve this issue.

• Press ‘Win + S’, type “Device Manager” and open it.
• Double-click the “Monitors” section, then right-click the monitor driver and select “Uninstall device”.

• To uninstall the driver software for this device, check the box and then select “Uninstall”.
• Allow the process to be completed.
• Click on the “Action” tab and choose “Scan for hardware changes”.

Following this will reinstall the driver by default. Check to see whether you can now adjust the brightness. 

Check whether the monitor driver is enabled or disabled if this doesn’t work. If it’s disabled, follow the guidelines below to enable it:

• Tap ‘Windows + X,’ then choose “Device Manager”.
• When you expand the “Monitors” category and right-click your monitor driver, the “Enable” option will appear. If you see Disable rather than Enable, the driver is enabled.

Adv. Solution 2. Install the Generic PnP Monitor Driver

By installing the Generic PnP Monitor driver, you can guarantee hardware compatibility and maybe fix brightness control problems.

• To launch the “Run” window, press ‘Windows + R’.
• After typing “devmgmt.msc” hit ‘Enter’.

• Extend the category of “Monitors”. Right-click on the monitor driver and choose “Update driver”.

• Choose “Browse my computer for driver software”, which is the second option.
• Click on “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer”.

• Click “Next” after selecting “Generic PnP Monitor” from the list.

• To implement changes, restart the computer. The brightness issue should be fixed now.

Adv. Solution 3. Turn Off and On the Display Enhancement Service

Any problems with the service that controls display settings can be refreshed and fixed by restarting the Display Enhancement Service.

• Type “Services” in the search bar and select “Run as administrator” to open the “Services management console”.
• In the “Services” window, scroll through the list to find the “Display Enhancement Service”.
• Double-click on it to open its properties. If the Display Enhancement Service is already running, click “Stop” to halt the service, then click “Start” to restart it.
• If the Display Enhancement Service is not running, click “Start” to initiate the service.

Adv. Solution 4. Use your Graphics Card Software

You may change the brightness of your display via your Graphics card Control Panel. Let’s take NVIDIA for example:

• On the desktop, use the right-click menu to choose the “NVIDIA Control Panel”, it would be AMD Software for AMD Graphics Card.

• Choose Adjust desktop colour settings under “Display”.
• Next, select the option to “Use NVIDIA Settings”.
• You can now adjust the brightness of your desktop by sliding the ‘Brightness slider‘.

Conclusion

By following these easy and advanced solutions, you should be able to restore the missing brightness slider on your Windows device. Updating your system drivers and settings is important to prevent such issues in the future. Hope this guide helped you solve the problem.