Mac Screen Looks Yellow or Warm? Turn Night Shift On, Off, or Adjust It

Q: It's still warm even after I turned Night Shift off.

Check True Tone in Displays too — that also shifts color to match the room. Turn it off if you want a fixed color.

Q: The tint comes back every evening.

It's scheduled — set Schedule to Off or adjust the Custom times (Fix 2).

Q: Why does Night Shift turn on at the wrong time?

Sunset to Sunrise depends on your clock and location; check both, or switch to a Custom schedule with exact times (Fix 2).

Published ✓ Verified ⏱️ 2 min read September 26, 2025 · by Ryan Bennett

Your Mac’s screen has a yellow or warm orange tint, often in the evening — colors look off and you want the normal cooler screen back.

Why: This is almost always Night Shift, which shifts the display toward warmer colors after dark to reduce blue light. It can turn on by schedule (sunset to sunrise) and stay on into the day. You can turn it off, change when it runs, or dial back how warm it gets.

Fix 1: Turn Night Shift off now

Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Displays in the sidebar.
Click Night Shift (a button near the bottom of the Displays settings).
If a manual toggle like Turn on until tomorrow is on, turn it off to stop the warm tint immediately.

If the tint comes back later, it’s running on a schedule — change that in Fix 2.

Fix 2: Change or stop the schedule

In Displays > Night Shift, open the Schedule pop-up menu.
Choose Off to stop it running automatically, Sunset to Sunrise to limit it to evenings, or Custom to set your own start and end times.
With Custom, set the From and To times so it doesn’t bleed into your daytime hours.

Note: Sunset to Sunrise uses your Mac’s clock and location, so location services must be on for it to time correctly.

Fix 3: Make it less warm (instead of off)

If you like Night Shift but it’s too orange:

In Displays > Night Shift, drag the Color Temperature slider toward Less Warm.
Leave the schedule as you like it — only the intensity changes.

This keeps some blue-light reduction in the evening without the heavy yellow cast.

FAQ

It’s still warm even after I turned Night Shift off. Check True Tone in Displays too — that also shifts color to match the room. Turn it off if you want a fixed color.

The tint comes back every evening. It’s scheduled — set Schedule to Off or adjust the Custom times (Fix 2).

Why does Night Shift turn on at the wrong time? Sunset to Sunrise depends on your clock and location; check both, or switch to a Custom schedule with exact times (Fix 2).

Sources: Apple Support — Use Night Shift on your Mac, Apple Support — Change Night Shift settings on Mac