dim screen

[sarahpatto]

My new HP Chromebook 14 Laptop, Intel Celeron N4120 has an incredibly dim screen. Is there anything I can do about it?

HP Chromebook 14 Laptop, Intel Ce...

[Hawks_Eye]

Hi @sarahpatto 

Welcome to the HP Support Community! We're here to help you get back up and running.

Thank you for describing the issue clearly—when a brand-new Chromebook feels dim even at full brightness, it can be frustrating and hard on the eyes. 

If your HP Chromebook 14 screen is unusually dim, try adjusting brightness manually, disabling adaptive brightness, and performing a hardware reset. These steps often restore normal display levels.

Let’s walk through a few targeted steps to help brighten things up.

Step-by-step recovery for dim screen on HP Chromebook 14

Manually increase brightness

• Press the brightness up key (usually the key with a sun icon and upward arrow, near the top row).
• Hold it for several seconds to ensure the screen reaches maximum brightness.

Disable adaptive brightness

• Open Settings > Device > Displays.
• If available, toggle off Adaptive brightness or Auto brightness.
• This prevents the system from dimming the screen based on ambient light.

Perform a hardware reset

• Turn off the Chromebook.
• Press and hold Refresh (⟳) and Power simultaneously for 10 seconds.
• Release both keys and allow the device to restart.
• This clears temporary hardware glitches affecting brightness.

Check power mode

• Go to Settings > Battery or Power.
• Ensure the Chromebook is not in Battery Saver mode, which can reduce screen brightness.

Test in Guest Mode

• Sign out and click Browse as Guest.
• Open a bright webpage and test brightness controls.
• If brightness is normal in Guest Mode, the issue may be tied to your user profile settings.

Update Chrome OS

• Go to Settings > About Chrome OS > Check for updates.
• Install any available updates and restart.

Let me know if the screen remains dim even after these steps—I can guide you through checking display diagnostics or testing with an external monitor.

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Take care, and have an amazing day!

Regards, 

Hawks_Eye