5 Best Fixes for Night Shift Not Working on iPhone and Mac

Using your iPhone or Mac for long periods of time can harm your eyesight. You can track device usage with Screen Time on iPhone and Mac. But if you have to use them, especially at night, enable Night Shift to reduce blue light exposure.

You can schedule Night Shift on your iPhone or Mac. If you’re having trouble with it, here are some troubleshooting methods to fix Night Shift issues.

1. Check Your Night Shift Schedule

Night Shift is disabled by default. You need to enable it if you plan to use it regularly. If Night Shift is not turning on automatically despite being enabled on your iPhone or Mac, check the duration you have scheduled it for. Here’s how.

On iPhone

Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

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Step 2: Scroll down and tap Display and Brightness.

Scroll down and tap on Night Shift.

Step 4: Check the schedule for turning on Night Shift by tapping From To.

Step 5: Select the correct preferred schedule for Night Shift.

Step 5: Close the Settings app and check if the problem is solved.

On Mac

Step 1: Open Spotlight Search by pressing Command + Spacebar, type “System Settings,” and press Return.

Step 2: Click on Displays in the left menu.

Step 3: Click Night Shift at the bottom-right corner.

Step 4: Check your Night Shift schedule and ensure you have selected the correct preferred one.

Step 5: Click Done to confirm your preferences.

Step 6: Close Settings window and check problem is solved.

2. Check Date and Time Settings

If the Night Shift isn’t working after scheduling, check the Date and Time settings for iPhone or Mac. This applies if you’ve chosen Night Shift from sunrise to sunset.

On iPhone

Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

Step 2: Scroll down and tap General.

Step 3: Select Date and Time.

Step 4: Verify the selected date and time match your current location.

Enable Set Automatically to allow Apple to set the precise Date and Time on your iPhone.

Step 5: Close the Settings app and check if the problem is solved.

On Mac

Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight Search, type System Settings, and press Return.

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Step 2: Click on General from the left menu. Step 3: Select Date and Time. Step 4: Check whether the correct date and time have been set for your Mac.

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Step 2: Click General in the menu.

Step 3: Select Date and Time.

Step 4: Check if the correct date and time are set for your Mac.

Enable ‘Set Time Zone automatically for your current location.’

Close the Settings window and see if the problem is solved.

3. Check Location Settings

If Night Shift isn’t working on your iPhone or Mac, check if location access is enabled. System Customization has a setting that needs to be enabled for Night Shift to work properly based on your location. Here’s how to check:

On iPhone

Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

Step 2: Scroll down and tap Privacy and Security.

Step 3: Select Location Services.

Step 4: Ensure Location Services are enabled.

Step 5: Scroll down and tap on System Services.

Step 6: Scroll down and enable System Customization.

Step 7: Close the Settings app and check if the problem is solved.

On Mac

Press Command + Spacebar keyboard shortcut to open Spotlight Search, type “Privacy and Security,” and press Return.

Step 2: Click on Location Services. Step 3: Ensure Location Services are enabled on your Mac.

Step 3: Scroll down to the bottom and click on Details next to System Services.

Step 4: Toggle System Customization to enable the feature.

Step 5: Click Done to confirm.

Step 6: Close the Settings window and check if the problem is solved.

You can also refer to our posts if Location Services are not working on your iPhone or Mac.

4. Use ColorSync Utility (Mac)

If Night Shift isn’t working on your Mac, you can use ColorSync Utility to verify and repair your Mac display’s color profile. This tool checks and fixes the ICC profiles approved by the International Color Consortium (ICC) on your Mac. It’s similar to using Disk Utility to resolve storage problems on your Mac.

Here’s how you can do it:

1. Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight Search.

2. Type “ColorSync Utility” and press Return.

Step 2: Select the Profile First Aid tab and click Verify.

Step 3: Verify color profiles, then click Repair.

After closing the window, check if the problem is solved.

5. Update Software Version

The last option is to update and install the latest iOS or macOS version for your device. This will fix any bugs or glitches causing the issue.

On iPhone

Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

Step 2: Scroll down and tap General.

Step 3: Tap Software Update.

If an update is available, download and install it. After that, check if the problem is solved.

On Mac

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Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar keyboard shortcut to open Spotlight Search, type Check For Software Update, and press Return.

Step 2: Download and install any available updates. Step 3: Check if the problem is solved.

Shift to Night Shift

These solutions will fix the Night Shift feature not working on your iPhone and Mac. Read our post to learn how to automatically dim flashing lights in videos on your iPhone and Mac.