We explain how it can help you to temporarily change your screen to black and white or grayscale mode, and how you can activate and deactivate it in both Windows and macOS.
Although I have been using the color filter on my iPhone for some time now to turn the screen into black and white, I didn’t know that it could also be done on the computer. In my case, since I have a MacBook Air, I can do this by accessing a color filter menu very similar to the one on the iPhone and thus putting the screen in monochrome mode, but it can also be done on a Windows computer.
Others may look at you strangely if they see your PC screen in black and white, or even think that it is broken, but in reality there are several reasons why this filter can be very useful, not just for people with some kind of disability. type of visual condition, but to any user.
Black and white mode, even more so if you combine it with a dark theme on your PC and with reduced brightness, can help you concentrate and be more productive. I use black and white mode on the iPhone (you can also activate it on Android) so that social networks and their vibrant colors stop being so striking, thus helping me spend less time hooked on my smartphone wasting time.
Advantages of the color filter
On a computer, black and white mode can be useful when you want to concentrate more, for example, when you are studying, working or reading. By turning the screen to black and white, you prevent the bright colors of videos, images or GIFs on social networks from capturing your attention, distracting you from your task with new visual stimuli.
By seeing the screen in monochrome, you free yourself from all those stimuli, making it easier for you to concentrate on reading some notes, or on writing an essay that you have to hand in.
Many may not be interested in using this, or may consider it an eccentricity, but at the very least, it is worth remembering the possibility of activating this function, even if it is just to test it. Therefore, we are going to remember how to adjust this color filter in both Windows and macOS.
- Turn on black and white in Windows: On a PC running Windows 10 or 11, click Start menu > Settings > Accessibility > Color filters. In this menu, activate the Color Filters tab, having the “Grayscale” option selected.
- Activate black and white in macOS: As I said at the beginning, macOS has a menu for color filters and other screen accessibility tools. To access it, we can write “color filters” in the search bar of the System Settings menu, or follow this path: System Settings > Accessibility > Display > Color filters. In this section, check that “Grayscale” is selected as the filter type, and click on the Color Filters tab. To deactivate it, click on it again.
Although it may seem boring to have to enter the Settings menus, it is worth it if you need to spend a couple of hours studying, reading a PDF, a website or a document, because if you give in to temptation and open Twitter, Instagram or YouTube, The loss of colors will reduce your interest in spending time on these addictive social networks.
