The grayscale phone trick: does a black-and-white screen cut screen time?

By Thumbpause · Published 2026-11-06

The grayscale trick is simple: turn your screen black and white. The idea is that bright colour is part of what makes apps feel rewarding, and a dull screen is less tempting. It costs nothing, takes under a minute and can be undone just as fast, which makes it one of the easiest experiments in this whole subject.

What the evidence says, and how much

Holte and Ferraro published a study in The Social Science Journal in 2020 with the title “True colors: Grayscale setting reduces screen time in college students”. The title is the finding: college students who used a grayscale setting reported lower screen time. It was a small study of a specific group over a short time, and it does not tell us how long the effect lasts or whether it holds for other people. So grayscale is a reasonable thing to try and a poor thing to bet on.

Why might it work? Colour makes things look vivid and urgent: red badges, bright thumbnails, saturated photos. In grayscale a feed looks flat. Nothing about this has been measured in a way we can cite for any one app, so it is a plausible idea, not an established mechanism.

How to turn it on

On many Android phones:

1. Open Settings, then Digital Wellbeing and parental controls.
2. Open Bedtime mode and look for the grayscale option. Google’s help page describes it as a screen option that turns the display black and white.
3. Set it to run on a schedule or while charging.

On some phones there is also a colour filter under Accessibility, in the display or colour correction settings, and a quick-settings tile. Names change by phone maker and Android version, so use the search box in Settings if you do not see it.

Ways to use it

At night only. The easiest start. Grayscale from 9pm until morning makes late scrolling duller and pairs well with a bedtime routine.

On weekdays only. Keep colour for the weekend, when you may want photos and videos.

Full-time for a week. More intense. You will notice maps, photos and charts are harder. Keep a shortcut to switch it off.

A “quick toggle”. Put the grayscale tile in quick settings and turn it on whenever you notice an unplanned scroll. That makes it a tool for the moment, not a permanent state.

What to expect

• Day 1: it feels odd and a bit annoying.
• Days 2 to 4: you may find some apps less pull-y, others unchanged.
• Day 5 on: the novelty fades. The effect, if any, is easy to lose when it becomes background. That is why we suggest pairing it with something else.

Pair it with something

Grayscale changes the look of the feed. It does not change the cue or the action. Combine it with:

• notifications off;
• the worst apps off the home screen;
• a timer or a pause before the app opens;
• a charger outside the bedroom.

Track it

Before you start, write down your average daily screen time. After a week of grayscale, compare. Android’s Digital Wellbeing shows both. If there is no drop, drop the trick and try something else. That is a fair result.

What not to claim

Do not expect grayscale to fix sleep, mood or focus. It is a nudge. If you are struggling with phone use, the phone addiction signs guide and a professional are better places to go.

A one-week test you can run

Day 1: note your average screen time. Days 2 to 6: grayscale on from 7pm to morning, nothing else changed. Day 7: compare the evening hours. If they fell, make it permanent for evenings and add a second change. If they did not, you have learned that colour is not your trigger, and your time is better spent on notifications or a pause. Either result is useful, and neither says anything about your willpower.

How Thumbpause helps

Thumbpause does not change your colours. It works on the first tap instead: on Android it holds a ten-second pause before the apps you choose, asks what you came for and lets you continue for 2, 5 or 10 minutes or close the app. Used together with grayscale, you get a duller screen and a pause. It is not in the stores yet, and the waitlist is open on the home page. Free to start for two apps. See Android Digital Wellbeing for the built-in tools.

Thumbpause is a self-help tool, not a medical service. This guide is general information, not medical advice.