# Is there a way to darken non-active windows in Windows 7? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 9, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-darken-non-active-windows-in-windows-7/577749 "2011-04-09T02:48:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-darken-non-active-windows-in-windows-7/577749/1 "2011-04-09T02:48:57Z")
You know how when watching Hulu, you can “turn out the lights” and darken everything but the video on the page? Is there something similar for Windows 7, where non-active windows are darkened, leaving only the active one entirely visible? ---
**Author:** ![Hennessy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hennessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hennessy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-darken-non-active-windows-in-windows-7/577749/2 "2011-04-09T11:00:59Z")
Good thinking captain, you do the thinking and I’ll do the searching… I’ve found two programs [Ghoster](http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Skrommel/index.html#Ghoster) [Jedi Concentrate](http://www.anappaday.com/downloads/2006/09/day-10-jedi-concentrate.html) I chose Ghoster because it just works and I haven’t tried Jedi Concentrate but it might have other features. ETA: In the comments section of Jedi Concentrate you will find a modified version with more features. I didn’t read all the comments, there may be more ---
**Author:** ![Hennessy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hennessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hennessy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-darken-non-active-windows-in-windows-7/577749/3 "2011-04-09T11:15:48Z")
I have noticed for “Ghoster” that when prompts pop up that they don’t look active. For example, go to your browsers options. It’s not a real big deal for me but I thought I’d let you know. You may also like the program “Dim Screen” found on the same page as Ghoster. I’ve just tested it in Windows 7 and it works good. It just dims the full screen ranging from 0% to 100% in 10% increments, after you open it will be in the hidden icons by the clock. You can create hot keys in the settings, I chose Ctrl then numpad + and numpad - for increasing and decreasing. ETA: Oh boy, I’ve found another neat program on the same page again. This one is called “Gone in 60 seconds” It gives you 60 seconds to reopen a program that was closed. It basically keeps the program open for another 60 seconds, comes in handy if you accidentally close a program. ---
**Author:** ![Hennessy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hennessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hennessy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-darken-non-active-windows-in-windows-7/577749/4 "2011-04-09T11:24:25Z")
Check out “MoveInactiveWin” too, you can move a window without activating it. “Transother” makes the inactive windows transparent… Or does Windows 7 already do that? I’ll quit now… Geez, you wouldn’t think freeware were where the best programs are ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-darken-non-active-windows-in-windows-7/577749/5 "2011-04-09T18:04:38Z")
You rock Hennessy, Ghoster works great! I almost can’t imagine going back to having every part of the screen blinding me in the face now. Those other programs sound pretty interesting too actually…