PGari Glowee: Mac brightness with window spotlight

Dim inactive windows on a Mac: what works and what macOS documents

Short answer: To dim inactive windows on a Mac you need an app, because Apple does not document a setting for it. The Desktop & Dock list and the Accessibility → Display list were both read in full for this page, and neither contains an option that turns down the windows behind the one you are using; the only entry with "dim" in it sets a style for desktop widgets. What macOS offers instead moves the other windows out of sight: full screen, Stage Manager, and Option-Command-H. Two apps actually dim. HazeOver, the one most Canadians search for by name, "automatically highlights the front window by dimming background windows." PGari Glowee does it with a single menu item called Spotlight — Off, Soft or Strong, switched with ⌃ ⌥ ⌘ S, on any Mac display, and visible in screenshots and screen recordings.

How to dim inactive windows on a Mac: one window at normal brightness with the rest of the screen turned down by Glowee's Spotlight

If you arrived with the opposite complaint — a Mac that dims itself while you sit and think — the last section before the FAQ covers the three settings Apple documents for that.

What macOS does with the windows you are not using

Apple's own window tools all work by removal, not by contrast.

That is the right answer when one window is genuinely all you need. It is the wrong one when the other windows have to stay visible — the source you are quoting, the chat you check every few minutes, the terminal under the editor. Dimming leaves the layout exactly as it is and simply turns down whatever you are not in.

Two apps that dim inactive windows on a Mac

HazeOver

HazeOver is the name behind most of the Canadian search traffic for this, and it describes itself as a Distraction Dimmer: "This app automatically highlights the front window by dimming background windows." Its own site lists these controls:

The current version requires macOS 12 Monterey or later, with a beta for macOS 27 Golden Gate. There is a free trial, and it is also sold through the Mac App Store and Setapp.

PGari Glowee

Glowee keeps its dimming under one menu item, Spotlight. Its own page puts it in six words: "Spotlight dims everything except the window you are in."

The two side by side

HazeOver PGari Glowee (Spotlight)
What it does Highlights the front window by dimming background windows Dims everything except the window you are in
How much dimming Intensity, colour and animation speed you adjust Three settings: Off, Soft, Strong
Switching it Keyboard shortcut; a gesture for intensity; Fn while dragging ⌃ ⌥ ⌘ S, or the menu bar
Light and Dark appearance Separate settings for each Nothing to set beyond the menu
Automation Shortcuts app, Focus filters, AppleScript None. You switch it yourself
Several displays "See which screen is active, or highlight windows on each monitor" Any display, built in or external
Requires macOS 12 Monterey or later macOS 13 or later, Apple silicon and Intel
Trying and buying Free trial; Mac App Store; Setapp Free for 7 days; one-time purchase — one Mac, or three Macs on one key; 30-day refund

Each column is taken from that app's own site.

The choice is not subtle. Both of them dim inactive windows on a Mac; what separates them is how much you are expected to adjust. If you want to tune the shade, tint it, or have it follow Dark Mode or a Focus, HazeOver's site lists a control for each of those. If you want one chord and no settings page, that is Glowee. Glowee also does a second thing, which only matters if your Mac has an XDR panel.

On an XDR display: darker outside the window, brighter inside it

Dimming darkens the surroundings and leaves the window you are reading exactly as it was. On a MacBook Pro 14-inch or 16-inch from 2021 or later, a Pro Display XDR or another EDR display, Glowee can do both halves at once: set Boost Area to Active Window and the window you are in is lifted past the slider's maximum, by 1.20, 1.38 or 1.50 at Low, Medium and Max, within the headroom the display has. Add Spotlight and, in the developer's phrase, "the lit window gets brighter while the rest steps back."

The brightness half depends on the panel, so a MacBook Air and ordinary external monitors cannot be boosted. Spotlight still works there, because plain dimming needs nothing special. The MacBook Pro brightness guide has the numbers.

Dimmed windows in recordings and shared screens

Spotlight is drawn on the screen, so screenshots and screen recordings capture it the way they capture any window. Present from an ordinary window or record a walkthrough, and your audience sees what you see — the lit window, the darkened rest, and no masking work in the edit. The brightness boost behaves the other way round: it stays out of captures, so a recording of a boosted screen looks perfectly ordinary.

Both halves get their own page: Spotlight in a screen recording and ways to mark the active window.

If you meant a Mac that dims by itself

More than half the related questions Google shows for this search are about the display rather than the windows: a screen that dims, or goes dark, when the Mac is left alone. Apple documents three places to look.

  1. The display turns off too soon. System Settings → Lock Screen. Turn display off on battery when inactive and Turn display off on power adapter when inactive each take a length of time — choose a longer one.
  2. The screen is dimmer on battery. System Settings → Battery, under Additional Options: Slightly dim the display on battery, which Apple explains as "Conserve energy by dimming the display when your Mac is not plugged in."
  3. Brightness moves on its own. Macs with an ambient light sensor carry Automatically adjust brightness in System Settings → Displays. Read Apple's caution before switching it off: doing so "may affect battery life, energy consumption, and long-term display performance."

Questions people ask

Is there an application to dim all windows except the active one?

Yes — the two above. HazeOver turns the background down at an intensity, colour and schedule you set yourself. Glowee's Spotlight has three fixed settings and one chord, ⌃ ⌥ ⌘ S, and on an XDR panel it can push the window you are in the other way at the same time.

Is there a macOS setting that dims inactive windows?

Not according to Apple's documentation. The Desktop & Dock settings list and the Accessibility → Display settings list contain no such option; the one entry that mentions dimming, Dim widgets on desktop, chooses a style for widgets. Full screen, Stage Manager and Option-Command-H all work by moving windows aside instead.

Monterey greys out the interface in non-active windows — is that the same thing?

No, and it is worth separating the two. What Apple documents is that "only one app at a time is active" and that its name, in bold, and its menus are shown in the menu bar; the appearance of the windows themselves is not something Apple's settings lists let you change. A window dimmer is a separate layer drawn over the screen at an intensity you choose, and it turns down the whole background rather than any single control.

How do I stop my Mac from dimming so quickly?

Two documented settings. In System Settings → Lock Screen, raise the Turn display off … when inactive times. In System Settings → Battery, under Additional Options, switch off Slightly dim the display on battery.

Does this work on a MacBook Air or an external monitor?

Spotlight does, on any display, built in or external, because plain dimming asks nothing special of the panel. Extra Brightness is the half that requires XDR or another EDR display.

What is the best focus app for Mac?

It depends which thing is pulling you away. If it is notifications, Apple's Focus is already installed. If it is the state of the screen itself, you want a window dimmer. The distinction is laid out in focusing on one window on a Mac.

Is there a free way to try it?

Glowee works fully for seven days with no account and no card. After that it is a one-time purchase — one Mac, or three Macs on one key, with a 30-day refund. HazeOver runs a free trial of its own.

Put it on your own screen

Glowee is a single menu bar app: under 2 MB, macOS 13 or later, one universal build for Apple silicon and Intel. Nothing is added to the system — no kernel extensions, no background helpers — and quitting it hands the display straight back to macOS.

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