Power Options - Add or Remove "Dim display after"

Add or Remove "Dim display after" in Power Options in Windows​

   Information

The display can use more power than any other part of a PC. Reducing the display brightness level can help extend your battery life before needing to recharge.

The Dim display after setting under Display in Power Options specifies how long your computer is inactive before your display(s) dims.

This tutorial will show you how to add or remove the Dim display after setting under Display in Power Options for all users in Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial.

   Note

This could be handy if you wanted to set this how you wanted, then remove the setting to prevent other users from being able to change it in Power Options.

If you did not originally have the Dim display after option available, then it means that it is not supported on your PC.

Instead, your display(s) will automatically dim by the percentage set in "Dimmed display brightness" exactly 15 seconds before what is set in "Turn off display after".

EXAMPLE: "Dim display after" added to Advanced Power Settings

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Here's How:

1. Do step 2 or 3 below for what you would like to do.

2. Add "Dim display after" to Advanced Power Settings

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A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.​

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Add_Dim_Display_After.reg​

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3. Remove "Dim display after" from Advanced Power Settings

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A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.​

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Remove_Dim_Display_After.reg​

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4. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to Merge it.

6. If prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7. You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.




That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Turn On or Off Automatic Dim Display Brightness in Windows 8 and 8.1
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• How to Add or Remove "Turn off hard disk after" in Power Options in Windows
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• How to Add or Remove "When sharing media" in Power Options in Windows
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[TBolt]

Oh maaaaaaaaaan ... you are AWESOME, Brink! Thank you so much for the easy tweak!

I wish you the best of holidays!

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome TBolt. I hope you have a great holidays as well.

 

[TBolt]

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{edit}
No luck thus far. Updated NVIDIA drivers again -- the laptop screen still won't dim.
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Well, this must be a Microsoft or NVIDIA thing that they need to fix. Even though I set the dim to 1 minute in both Balanced Mode & High Performance Mode, the laptop display is not dimming.

• I disconnected external monitors/TVs.
• I even turned off the mouse to make sure there was no input to the PC.
• No videos playing.

It was a brilliant effort though, Brink!

 

[Brink]

Well, so much for that. What I have set for "Dim display after" doesn't get applied for me as well.

However, I noticed that the display will automatically dim by the percentage set in "Dimmed display brightness" exactly 15 seconds before what is set in "Turn off display after".

 

[TBolt]

Well, so much for that. What I have set for "Dim display after" doesn't get applied for me as well.

However, I noticed that the display will automatically dim by the percentage set in "Dimmed display brightness" exactly 1 minute before what is set in "Turn off display after".

Interesting. For me, the main laptop display dimmed 15 seconds before the screen turned off at 2 minutes. Tested it twice - same result.



So, do you feel this is just a bug that MS will need to fix?

Thank you, Brink!

 

[Brink]

I don't think it's a bug, but was changed for whatever reason. Oops, yep 15 seconds.

 

[Frog]

Hi Brink,

I just tried your reg fix and yes, it brings the option back up in the advanced settings but it doesn't have any effect.

My laptop is a HP Compaq 6710b core 2 duo T7500 2.2GHz 3GB RAM now running Win 8.1 update.

It was working fine in Win 8 but not in the Win 8.1 update.

I have used the Intel driver update program you suggested in another post and all my drivers are up to date and no problems in the device manager.

 

[Brink]

Hello Frog, and welcome to Eight Forums.

It appears that the Dim display after option is no longer supported on your PC.

Instead, your display(s) will automatically dim by the percentage set in "Dimmed display brightness" exactly 15 seconds before what is set in "Turn off display after".

 

[pikalax]

Awesome, thank you Brink. That was one of the many useful features they removed between Win7 and Win8.1. Personally I don't see why they need to make a desktop computer behave like a mobile device. Give it up, Microsoft, a 25-lb tower will never be a tablet no matter how much fat you trim on the software side.

 

[crimson]

Why don't they have the "dim display after x min" feature in W8.1?

According to IBM:
"Dim the display does not display in the edit plan settings. This new behavior is designed for Windows® 8.1. Dimming will be set to occur 15 seconds before display off."

So is this true? For W8.1, it will automatically dim the screen 15sec before shutting off, but there's no option to set it to dim after a certain idle time?

 

[Brink]

Hello Crimson,

Only for what is in the blue note box at the top of the tutorial in Windows 8.1.

 

[crimson]

I don't understand. It just says it won't work if it's not supported by the PC. So it's something built in the hardware? Because the desktop I built is just a normal desktop build. So it's only for something like laptops where the display is integrated into the hardware of the system?

 

[Brink]

Correct. Desktops would not have this as an option. Only PCs that have a battery would, but I have not seen this setting available since Windows 8.1.

 

[usawake]

Can you give a link for a "Add_Dim_Display_After.reg" file download for windows 8.1??

Oh! I have a Lenovo laptop (brand new one too)

 

[Brink]

Hello usawake, and welcome to Eight Forums.

This tutorial is for Windows 8.1 as well. Windows 8 is just generic for all Windows 8 builds and versions.

Be sure to read the blue Note box at the top of the tutorial. If you did not originally have the Dim display after option available, then it means that it is not supported on your PC. etc...

 

[tprothro1]

ran the reg file on my windows 8.1 based tablet and it successfully added "dim display after" to the display power options. however after setting the "dim display after" time, 5 minutes in my case, nothing happens, the screen does not dim. is this feature dependent on setting the "turn off display after" to x minutes? i don't want my screen to ever turn off, i just want it to dim 75% or so after idle for x minutes, my tablet is always plugged in. if i allow the tablet's screen to turn off, the tablet goes into sleep or hibernate mode, depending on the setting, and requires a power button push to waken, i don't want that. any thought or help is much appreciated!

 

[Brink]

ran the reg file on my windows 8.1 based tablet and it successfully added "dim display after" to the display power options. however after setting the "dim display after" time, 5 minutes in my case, nothing happens, the screen does not dim. is this feature dependent on setting the "turn off display after" to x minutes? i don't want my screen to ever turn off, i just want it to dim 75% or so after idle for x minutes, my tablet is always plugged in. if i allow the tablet's screen to turn off, the tablet goes into sleep or hibernate mode, depending on the setting, and requires a power button push to waken, i don't want that. any thought or help is much appreciated!

Unfortunately, if you did not originally have the Dim display after option available, then it means that it is not supported on your PC.

Instead, your display(s) will automatically dim by the percentage set in "Dimmed display brightness" exactly 15 seconds before what is set in "Turn off display after".

 

[tprothro1]

ran the reg file on my windows 8.1 based tablet and it successfully added "dim display after" to the display power options. however after setting the "dim display after" time, 5 minutes in my case, nothing happens, the screen does not dim. is this feature dependent on setting the "turn off display after" to x minutes? i don't want my screen to ever turn off, i just want it to dim 75% or so after idle for x minutes, my tablet is always plugged in. if i allow the tablet's screen to turn off, the tablet goes into sleep or hibernate mode, depending on the setting, and requires a power button push to waken, i don't want that. any thought or help is much appreciated!

Unfortunately, if you did not originally have the Dim display after option available, then it means that it is not supported on your PC.

Instead, your display(s) will automatically dim by the percentage set in "Dimmed display brightness" exactly 15 seconds before what is set in "Turn off display after".

thanks for the prompt reply but i'm a bit confused, i thought the reg "fix" was for those who didn't have the "dim display after" option originally, i.e. that it would give them it, assuming a battery driven pc... if that's not the case, what is this "fix" for? thanks again...

 

[Brink]

Nar, it's to be able add or remove it if you already had it by default.