How to change brightness, dark mode and other settings by voice
Brightness, dark mode, night light, text size, sound and battery: where each one lives on Windows and Mac, and the shorter way, which is just saying what you want.
Brightness down for the evening, dark mode on, text a little bigger on the laptop screen. None of it is hard, but each one is a hunt through a different menu, and the menus move between versions. Below is where each setting is on Windows 10, Windows 11 and macOS, followed by the shorter way.
One tip first: if you are not sure which version of Windows you have, the Settings window gives it away. Windows 11 has rounded corners and a centered Start button by default. Windows 10 has square corners and a Start button at the left.
Brightness
Windows 11: click the group of status icons (network, volume, battery) at the right end of the taskbar, or press Win + A, and drag the Brightness slider. You can also open Settings › System › Display and use the brightness slider there.
Windows 10: click the action center icon at the right end of the taskbar, or press Win + A, and drag the brightness slider. If you do not see a slider, use Settings › System › Display.
Mac: press the brightness keys in the top row of the keyboard. If your keyboard uses the top row as function keys, hold Fn while you press them. You can also open Control Center in the menu bar and drag the Display slider, or open System Settings › Displays. In the newest versions of macOS this page is simply called Display.
Dark mode
Windows 11: Settings › Personalization › Colors, then Choose your mode and pick Dark. Light takes you back.
Windows 10: Settings › Personalization › Colors, then Choose your color and pick Dark.
Mac: open System Settings › Appearance (you may need to scroll the sidebar). Choose Light, Dark or Auto. Auto switches between the two through the day. On macOS 11 and 12 the setting is in System Preferences › General.
There is a quick way on a recent Mac too: in Control Center, click the arrow next to Display and choose Dark Mode.
Night light and Night Shift
Both warm the screen colors in the evening, which is easier on the eyes.
Windows 11: Settings › System › Display, then turn on Night light. Open the Night light entry to switch on Schedule night light and choose sunset to sunrise or your own hours. There is also a Night light button in the Win + A panel.
Windows 10: Settings › System › Display › Night light settings. Turn Schedule night light on and pick a schedule.
Mac: System Settings › Displays, then Night Shift, where you can set a schedule. On older versions it is a tab in System Preferences › Displays.
Bigger text
Windows 11: to enlarge only the text, open Settings › Accessibility › Text size and drag the slider under Text size preview. To make everything bigger, text, images and apps together, open Settings › System › Display and choose a larger number in the Scale menu.
Windows 10: Settings › Ease of Access › Display. The slider under Make text bigger changes text only. The option under Make everything bigger scales it all.
Mac: in System Settings › Displays, pick a size towards Larger Text. This makes everything bigger. Recent versions also have text size options in System Settings › Accessibility › Display. On older versions, choose Scaled under Displays.
Sound
Windows: click the speaker in the taskbar, or use Win + A, and drag the volume slider. Click the speaker icon itself to mute.
Mac: use the volume keys, or open Control Center and drag the Sound slider. Click the volume level to mute.
What is using the battery
Windows 11: Settings › System › Power & battery › Battery usage lists apps by how much battery they used. You can look at the last 24 hours or the last seven days.
Windows 10: Settings › System › Battery, then See which apps are affecting your battery life.
Mac: System Settings › Battery shows recent use, and the Energy tab in Activity Monitor shows which apps are working hardest.
Or just say it
With Key you skip the menus. You can speak to it or type to it, and both give the same result. Say what you want, in your own words, and Key opens the real settings window and moves the real control, then reads the setting back to make sure it took.
KeyVoiceTurn the brightness down and switch to dark mode
Done. Brightness is at 40% and dark mode is on.
Half a sentence is enough. A few more that work the same way:
- "Make the text bigger."
- "Mute everything."
- "Turn the brightness down."
- "What's eating my battery?"
Key runs on Windows 10 and 11, and on any Mac with macOS 11 Big Sur or newer. It is free to download, and every feature is in the free version.
While it works, a small panel shows what it is doing, and you can stop it at any point. Because Key changes the setting in the same window you would use, nothing is hidden. You can see what it changed, and change it back the same way, by hand or by asking.
Related guide: An AI assistant for your Mac that works in your real apps
Related guide: A voice assistant for your PC: say what you want, and it gets done
Related guide: Where is my Downloads folder? How to find and change it
Try Key free
Speak to it or type to it. It opens your apps, finds your files and changes your settings, then tells you what it did.
Free, no card. Windows 10 or 11, macOS 11 or newer.