What happens at bedtime

Nightcap doesn't cut you off all at once. The screen and the sound fade out slowly over the last part of the timer, so whatever you're watching trails off instead of stopping. Here's what a typical night looks like, and what you'll find in the morning.

A night with the standard settings

Say you start a 45-minute timer at 10:00 PM and haven't changed any settings.

1. 10:00 PMYou press Start. Nothing changes yet. Nightcap shows 10:45 PM as the time your computer will sleep.
2. 10:25 PMThe screen starts to dim, a little at a time. This begins 20 minutes before the end.
3. 10:30 PMThe volume starts to come down. This begins 15 minutes before the end.
4. 10:40 PMThe screen has reached 10% brightness and the volume has reached 20%. They stay there for the last few minutes.
5. 10:45 PMYour computer goes to sleep.

The changes are slow enough that you may not notice them happening, which is the idea. You can change when each fade starts, how long it takes and how low it goes in Settings, or switch either one off.

While a fade is happening, the main window shows how far along it is, for example "Now 42%, going to 10%".

Short timers

If your timer is shorter than the time the fade is set to start, the fade begins as soon as you press Start and is shortened to fit. For example, a 15-minute timer with dimming set to start 20 minutes before the end will start dimming right away.

Screens that can't be dimmed

Some screens, especially external monitors, don't let apps change their brightness. When that happens, Nightcap darkens the screen with a see-through dark layer instead. It looks much the same, and you can still click and use everything underneath it.

The layer covers the screen that Nightcap's window is on. The main window tells you when Nightcap is using it: "This display doesn't support brightness control. Nightcap will dim it with an overlay instead."

Nightcap only turns things down

Nightcap never makes your screen brighter or your sound louder. If your screen is already dimmer than the level you've chosen, Nightcap leaves it alone.

When the timer ends

When the countdown reaches zero, the main window shows "Going to sleep…" and your computer goes to sleep, hibernates or shuts down, whichever you chose. Using the timer explains the difference.

In the morning

When you wake your computer, Nightcap puts the brightness and volume back where they were before the fade started. It does the same if you cancel a timer partway through. If you'd rather they stay low, turn off Restore brightness and volume after canceling or waking in Settings.