How to Fix the Dark Screen on an iPhone: The Complete Online Guide

Updated: April 13, 2023
6 min read
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How to Fix the Dark Screen on an iPhone: The Complete Online Guide
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by Dmytro Sywyi
Tech Expert & Writer
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Did you turn on your iPhone but can barely see what’s happening on the screen? Don’t worry – it can be fixed. If your phone has no physical damage, you can change the brightness settings – and everything will be OK again. Check out the complete guide on how to fix brightness on an iPhone in less than 30 minutes!

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Signs and causes

If you don't see anything on the iPhone screen while it is working, it may mean that you catch “Black Screen of Death”. It’s a serious hardware problem. If you don’t have the skills to find the cause and fix it, you should go to the repair station.

But in most cases, your display it’s just too dim. It means that you can see what happens on the screen, but there's just not enough brightness for it. The most common issues for the low iPhone brightness are next:

  1. Problems with some apps;
  2. Low battery;
  3. Software problems;
  4. Hardware issues.

Don’t stress and check our instructions on how to fix the dark screen on the iPhone. We have 9 step-by-step solutions that will help you increase the brightness of your phone display right now.

My iPhone screen is dark: how do I fix it?

In this article, we will share the most popular software tricks to fix your iPhone's dark screen. They help you find out why your phone screen is so dark and how to solve it. First of all, try to change the settings. They may be the source of the issue. If this will not help, reset the device. There are 3 ways to do this: soft reset (deep restart), reset of all settings, and hard (or factory) reset.

1. Change the brightness of your screen

Change the brightness of your screen

You can manually set any brightness of the screen. Check it now — maybe it’s just set to the minimum value. That may be the reason why your iPhone screen is too dark.

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  1. Open the Control Center. If you are an owner of the iPhone SE, iPhone 8, or older versions – swipe up. If you have an iPhone X or newer phone – swipe down from the upper right-hand corner.
  2. Find a brightness slider — it has a sun pictogram. Swipe it up until the comfortable brightness level.

Also, you can set the brightness value in Settings. Go to the Settings and choose Display & Brightness. Swipe the slider Brightness to the right.

2. Disable the TrueTone option

Disable the TrueTone option

iPhone 8 or later versions have a TrueTone option. It adjusts not only brightness but the color temperature too. This option makes screen colors look consistently in different places. In a warm lightning scene, it adds a yellowish tint — when you are under a warm lamp or under the midday sun. When your device is under some cool light (daylight lamp or metro), it adds a bluish tint. This way, your iPhone matches the environment.

It doesn’t always work perfectly. Sometimes it can turn down the brightness of your screen even under the midday sun or 150 Wt lamp. Switching off the TrueTone will solve the issue.

  1. Go to the Settings.
  2. Choose Display and Brightness.
  3. Find a TrueTone toggler and switch it off.

Also, you can open the Control Center. Find a TrueTone pictogram — it looks like a striped sun. Tap on it to disable the function.

3. Reduce White Point

Reduce White Point

The White Point reduces harsh colors on the screen. That’s why pictures look dimmer. It also can make you think that the phone brightness is low, while in reality, it’s on the same middle level. Check the Accessibility and turn down this setting. Here is the instruction on how to make your phone brighter:

  1. Go to the Settings.
  2. Find Accessibility.
  3. Select Display & Text Size.
  4. Find Reduce White Point. Switch it off or reduce it to the eligible value.

4. Check zoom settings

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If you use a zoom accessibility feature, make sure that you turn it off. It may be the reason why your phone is so dark. Open Settings Accessibility Zoom. Turn this setting down.

5. Brightness is constantly changing: fix auto-brightness

Fix auto-brightness on an iPhone

This setting changes the brightness on your phone to the environment level. When the light detector catches a lot of light, it changes brightness settings to the maximum. When it’s dark in the room, the phone adjusts the brightness to the lowest level.

Sometimes the light sensor can’t correctly catch the light changes. That’s why your screen constantly switches its brightness. Also, it could be a reason why the phone brightness on your phone is so low. Sensors didn’t catch the changing of a light scene as quickly as they should. The easiest way to fix this issue is to switch the auto-brightness settings off.

  1. Go to the Settings.
  2. Tap on Accessibility.
  3. Choose Display.
  4. Find the Auto-Brightness switch. Turn it off.

After this, you can make the screen brighter manually. If you want to bring back the auto settings, switch it back.

6. iPhone had an orange screen: turn off the Night Mode

You were playing with your phone at sunset, and your screen suddenly shifted to a yellow tint? It is a sign that the Night Shift mode was switched on. It’s not a default setting, so it’s most likely someone manually turned it on.

Night mode adds a warmish tone to the image after the sunset. It blocks a part of the blue “daylight” light, so your body can create melatonin (hormone of sleep). There are still debates if “blue LED light” is harmful or not, so the final decision is up to you. If you want to disable the warm tint and make your phone brighter, here is what you should do.

iPhones with a Home button

1. Go to the Home Screen. Unblock the phone and open the Home Screen.

2. Open Control Center. Swipe up.

3. Expand Screen Settings. Hold the Brightness slider until you see a menu with 3 options.

4. Turn off the Night Mode. Tap on the Night Shift. It will shut it down.

iPhones without the Home button

1. Go to the Home Screen. Unblock the phone and open the Home Screen.

2. Open Control Center. Swipe down.

3. Expand Screen Settings. Hold the Brightness slider until you see a menu with 3 options.

4. Turn off the Night Mode. Tap on the Night Shift. It will shut it down

7. Try the Soft Reset

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This is also called a “deep restart”. All information and settings of the device will be saved. The only thing that differs from the ordinary restart is the duration. Normally it takes 20-30 seconds to restart the iPhone. In this case, you will wait for 2 minutes. The phone switches down every detail of the hardware. It takes time to switch them all back.

If you have the phone with the Home button — hold both Power and Home buttons. Wait until you see the Apple logo and release the keys.

If you have an iPhone X and later — stick to the next instructions:

  1. Press Volume Up and release the button.
  2. Right after this, press Volume Down and release it.
  3. Then press and hold the Power until you see the logo.

8. Reset all the settings

Reset settings on an iPhone

If nothing from this list helped you — try to reset the settings. All your data will be saved. But this action will reset all settings from every app to default. You will need to set new wallpaper and connect Bluetooth devices and Wi-Fi networks. It will feel like you are opening every app for the first time.

If you are ready, follow the next path: Settings → General → Transfer Or Reset iPhone → Reset → Reset All Settings.

After 5-10 minutes, all your settings will be restored to default.

9. Do the factory reset

If none of these actions helped, try the factory reset. It will delete all the information from the device, including messages, apps, and photos. So back up all of your data to iCloud — you can install it back after reset. Here is how you can do backup:

  1. Go to the Settings.
  2. Type on your name: it’s the first line there.
  3. Find iCloud.
  4. Choose iCloud BackUp.
  5. Select Backup Now.

Your phone will start a backup process, which may take from 5 minutes to 1-1,5 hours – depending on the Internet settings and the amount of data in the iCloud.

After you save all of your data to the cloud, do a factory reset. Follow the next steps:

  1. Go to the Settings.
  2. Find General.
  3. Go to the bottom of the list and choose Reset iPhone.
  4. Tap on the Erase All.
  5. Choose Erase Now.
  6. Tap on the Erase iPhone virtual button.
  7. Enter your passcode.

After this, iPhone will start a reset process. Wait for 20-30 minutes. If the iPhone brightness is too low even after this, you need to go to the official Apple service center, as there is something wrong with the hardware.

Seek professional help

If you don’t know how to make the iPhone screen brighter — contact Howly experts. We will gladly guide you, so you can fix any software issues with your iPhone. If you want to fix hardware, we will give you detailed instructions, and you can repair it at home.

But if you don’t have repair skills, visit the nearest service center. It will cost you extra money, but it saves the phone and a few hours of your time.

F.A.Q.

Why does my iPhone screen go dark when the battery is low?

This is how the phone tries to conserve the remaining battery power to work longer. The screen goes dark to reduce background activity. To fix the issue, turn off auto-brightness in your phone settings.

Can brightness problems indicate a serious iPhone bug?

Most often, brightness problems arise due to incorrect settings. The issue is easy to fix and doesn’t pose a danger to your phone. However, the situation is much more serious if the problem lies in hardware, you should deal with it as quickly as possible.

How to identify if I have a hardware or software problem if the screen goes dark?

If your iPhone screen turns black after you drop your device or drown it, this is a clear sign of a hardware problem. If the display works flawlessly, the problem is software-related. Follow the above-mentioned steps – and you’ll fix it!

Conclusion. So why is your screen so dark on full brightness?

The most common issues in this situation are the wrong settings. First of all, check the brightness of your screen. Turn down the White Point and zoom. Fix auto-brightness and turn off the night mode.

If this still does not help, and your screen is too dark, reset your phone. Try the Soft Reset at first — it won’t delete your data, just deeply restart your phone. After this, try to reset all settings. Data will be saved, but the settings of all apps will be reset to default.

At last, you need to try the hard reset. It will erase information on the phone. Make sure that you save important information in your iCloud storage.

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