The Geek Diary

brightnessctl Command Examples in Linux

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brightnessctl is a command-line utility in Linux that is used to control the brightness of a display on a laptop or other portable device. brightnessctl allows you to adjust the brightness of the display manually or automatically, depending on the available options on your device.

Usage:

Usage: brightnessctl [options] [operation] [value]

Options:
  -l, --list            list devices with available brightness controls.
  -q, --quiet           suppress output.
  -p, --pretend         do not perform write operations.
  -m, --machine-readable    produce machine-readable output.
  -n, --min-value       set minimum brightness, defaults to 1.
  -e, --exponent[=K]        changes percentage curve to exponential.
  -s, --save            save previous state in a temporary file.
  -r, --restore         restore previous saved state.
  -h, --help            print this help.
  -d, --device=DEVICE       specify device name (can be a wildcard).
  -c, --class=CLASS     specify device class.
  -V, --version         print version and exit.

Operations:
  i, info           get device info.
  g, get            get current brightness of the device.
  m, max            get maximum brightness of the device.
  s, set VALUE      set brightness of the device.

Valid values:
  specific value        Example: 500
  percentage value      Example: 50%
  specific delta        Example: 50- or +10
  percentage delta      Example: 50%- or +10%

brightnessctl Command Examples

1. List devices with changeable brightness:

# brightnessctl --list

2. Print the current brightness of the display backlight:

# brightnessctl get

3. Set the brightness of the display backlight to a specified percentage within range:

# brightnessctl set 50%

4. Increase brightness by a specified increment:

# brightnessctl set +10%

5. Decrease brightness by a specified decrement:

# brightnessctl set 10%-

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