Adjust Your iPad’s Brightness in 5 Seconds Flat

In case you haven’t heard, using your bright iPad at night might be contributing to some of your sleep problems. Experts highly recommend decreasing the brightness of your screen in the evening as a way to signal your body that it’s time to wind down and produce some sleep-inducing melatonin. This is especially important if you have a child cuddling up with the iPad at night. There is a quick way to make this adjustment; actually, 5 seconds might be overestimating the time required to change the brightness level on your iPad.

I know what you’re thinking. There’s no way to adjust the brightness level through the Settings icon that quickly. Right?

You’re right. You can certainly scan through your crazy amount of icons, find Settings, scroll to Brightness & Wallpaper, and then adjust the brightness level there, but it will most certainly take you longer than 5 seconds to do all that.

Ready, Set, Dim!

Prepare to have your mind blown… here’s a simple way to adjust your iPad’s brightness:

1. Press the Home button twice, like you’re double-clicking a mouse. This will reveal the multitasking bar at the bottom of the screen.  
2. Swipe toward the right along the multitasking bar to move the app icons off the screen.
3. These iPad controls will appear (from left to right):
   – mute button or orientation lock button, depending on how your iPad’s Side Switch is configured
   – brightness slider
   – audio control buttons (previous, play/pause, next, and sometimes AirPlay)
   – volume slider
   – icon for the last audio app you used
4. To adjust the brightness, touch and drag the little knob on the brightness slider left or right. 

You’re welcome!