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.
If you encounter the below error while running the brightnessctl command:
brightnessctl: command not found
you may try installing the below package as per your choice of distribution:
| Distribution | Command |
|---|---|
| Debian | apt-get install brightnessctl |
| Ubuntu | apt-get install brightnessctl |
| Kali Linux | apt-get install brightnessctl |
| Fedora | dnf install brightnessctl |
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%-