How to Turn On Night Shift on a MacBook

Night Shift is a feature that controls the blue light on your screen to help regulate melatonin levels for improved sleep.

Night Shift is a built-in software feature on Macs. But what does Night Shift do? It is essentially a blue light filter that changes the color of your display when it’s dark outside. It acts as a blue light screen filter for MacBook which may help you sleep better. Despite the health benefits, you may need to learn how to turn this Night Shift feature off. 

Related: What MacBook Do I Have? How to Identify Your MacBook Model & Year

How to Turn On Night Shift on Your MacBook

  1. Open System Preferences.

    Open System Preferences on MacBook
     
  2. Click on Displays.

    Click on Display settings in System Preferences
     
  3. Click on Night Shift.

    Click on Night Shift in Display settings on MacBook
     
  4. Click on the drop-down menu next to the word schedule, and pick between Custom and Sunset to Sunrise. Selecting Custom will let you manually enter the times you want Night Shift to be on. Sunset to Sunrise will automatically change based on the daylight times in your timezone.

    Choose from Night Shift options in System Preferences
  5. Close the window by clicking the red x and your settings will be saved automatically.

    Close the window to save your setting changes
     
  6. You can also click the box to manually have it Turn On Until Tomorrow. Then you can control the tone of your screen based on personal preference. To learn more about taking MacBook Settings, sign up for our free Tip of the Day newsletter.

    Do Not Disturb settings in System Preferences

Night Shift is a useful feature if you use your laptop before bed. Research shows that a lower blue light on a monitor can improve your melatonin levels. This can help you sleep better at night. However, if you are editing photos or need to see colors clearly, you may need to disable this feature as necessary.

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Author Details

Olena Kagui's picture

Author Details

Olena Kagui

Olena Kagui is a Feature Writer at iPhone Life who lives in Hawaii. With a BA in International Relations from Anglo American University, Olena traveled the world. She has lived in Ukraine, the Czech Republic, China, and the USA. Olena won an excellence award for a controversial article, got a grant to blog from a war-zone, and published a short fictional story. She hopes to publish a full-length novel and continue writing up a storm on her blog The Travel Bug Bite! When she’s not typing or flying, she is loving on animals, crafting bizarre creations, and devouring all-you-can-eat sushi.