How can I reduce digital eye strain?
The measures that help most are taking regular breaks that involve looking at something distant, positioning the screen slightly below eye level at roughly arm’s length, increasing the text size so you are not straining, and treating any underlying dryness.
- Subject
- Screens
- Topic
- Digital eye strain
- Kind of question
- Where & how
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
The 20-20-20 rule is the version most people remember: every twenty minutes, look at something about twenty feet away for twenty seconds. The specific numbers matter less than the interruption itself.
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Where this answer sits
It is one of 483 answers in the vision and eye health knowledge base, filed under Screens & digital eye strain in Digital eye strain . The subject page carries the answers either side of it, and the hub is searchable.
This information is for educational purposes and does not replace an examination by a qualified eye-care professional.
General answers cannot tell you what is happening in your own eyes. Only an examination by a qualified ophthalmologist can do that.
Sources & further reading
We prefer primary sources. Where a claim comes from a manufacturer, a single study or a regulator, it is labelled as such below.
- EyeSmart: eye health information for the public
Patient-facing material from the largest ophthalmology professional body, covering conditions, tests and treatments outside refractive surgery.
Used for Cross-checking patient-facing explanations of non-refractive eye conditions; Describing what tests such as dilation and OCT involve.
Link checked 23 September 2026