Surface Laptop 3 Bugs

As in previous generations, most Surface devices typically have bugs regarding initial releases. However, when Microsoft gathers enough feedback, most bugs can be fixed via firmware updates.

One of the most commonly reported problems for Surface Laptop 3 is the screen being turned off when the screen brightness is set to the lowest value (0% or 1%). Here is a post on the Microsoft Community forum on this problem.

The laptop works fine when the brightness is at any level except the lowest setting. When it’s set to low, it’ll work for a minute or two, and then the screen turns black. It doesn’t go to sleep because I can still hear videos playing in the background and I can pause/resume them using the spacebar, but the screen is completely black. To bring it back, I have to hit the power key to put it to sleep, and then again to wake it back up.

This is especially annoying because I mainly use the laptop when in bed at night, so I always have it on the lowest brightness.

All software is up to date. Any recommendations?

Question

How do we fix the display being turned off when the screen brightness is set to the lowest value on Surface Laptop 3?

Answer

Currently, there are a few workarounds to fix this issue:

Solution 1: Manually set the brightness value to 2 (instead of 0)

Instead of setting the brightness to the lowest with media keys (F6 or F7), use the brightness slider in the notification by setting it to 2 if you want a minimum brightness.

Manually set brightness to 2

Solution 2: Disable Display Power Savings

It uses Intel Graphics Command Center to disable display power savings, turning off the adaptive contrast on Surface Laptop 3. To do so:

  1. Download the Intel Graphics Command Center from the Microsoft Store.
  2. Go to the System section and turn off the Display Power Savings option.Disabling Display Power Savings

Here are some related questions you might want to know:

More on Surface Laptop 3

Here are some related articles you might want to check out: