# Does scrolling on your phone before bed affect sleep? Yes, often

> The best evidence points to the clock on your phone more than the light from it, and some nightly scrollers sleep perfectly well.

Source: https://ivehadit.app/blog/scrolling-phone-before-bed-affect-sleep · Sleep · Published: 2026-10-26

Scrolling on your phone before bed does affect sleep for a lot of people, mostly by eating into the time you'd otherwise spend asleep. In a study of 45,202 Norwegian students, each extra hour on screens after getting into bed went with 59% higher odds of insomnia symptoms and 24 minutes less sleep ([Frontiers in Psychiatry](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1548273/full)). The researchers suspect screens push sleep out simply by taking up time ([EurekAlert](https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1076717)). Blue light, the usual suspect, looks like a much smaller factor.

The answer isn't yes for everyone, though. A Canadian study found that some adults who use screens every single night sleep as well as people who rarely do. Below is what the biggest studies show, why an endless feed is the hard part, and a one-week test to find out where you land.

## Nearly 9 in 10 adults use a device in the hour before bed

**89.9%**: of US adults use an electronic device within an hour of bedtime ([Carlson et al., Sleep Health, 2026](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41991404/))

That figure comes from National Sleep Foundation data on 1,000 US adults with an average age of 52, so this is hardly a teenage habit. Three in four (76.5%) used devices in the bedroom itself. Younger and Hispanic adults reported more use.

A survey of 2,007 adults for the [American Academy of Sleep Medicine](https://aasm.org/americans-are-doomscrolling-at-bedtime-prioritizing-screen-time-over-sleep/), released in February 2026, found that half use a screen in bed every day, and another 33% do so most days or several days a week. More striking, 26% admitted they put phone time ahead of getting enough sleep. It's a self-reported survey, but people rarely flatter themselves when they admit that.

## Does scrolling on your phone before bed affect sleep? Two large studies say yes

The Norwegian study is the biggest. It surveyed students aged 18 to 28 and found the 59% higher insomnia odds and 24 lost minutes for each extra hour of screen use in bed. (I went through it in more detail in [the post on social media and sleep in college students](https://ivehadit.app/blog/social-media-and-sleep-in-college-students).)

**24 minutes**: less sleep for each extra hour of screen use after going to bed ([Hartley et al., Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2025](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1548273/full))

One detail stands out. Social media was no worse than other screen activities, and students who used only social media in bed had the lowest insomnia rates and the longest sleep. The hours mattered more than the app.

The NSF data points the same way for older adults: using any device near bedtime was associated with poorer sleep quality and bigger sleep deficits ([Sleep Health](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41991404/)).

Both studies share a weakness. They capture one moment in time and rely on what people report, so they show a link without proving the phone caused the bad night. The Norwegian survey also had a 35.1% response rate.

## Some people who scroll every night sleep just fine

A Canadian study of 1,342 adults, weighted to match the census, complicates the picture ([Sleep Health](https://www.sleephealthjournal.org/article/S2352-7218(25)00137-8/fulltext)). After adjusting for sex, age and income, the people with the best overall sleep health were the regular screen users and the occasional ones.

According to the [Toronto Metropolitan University release](https://www.torontomu.ca/media/releases/2025/11/using-your-phone-every-night-before-bed--researchers-say-that-s-/), near-nightly users had the best sleep timing and daytime alertness. People who used screens less than once a week had the best regularity and satisfaction. The worst sleep sat in the middle: more than once a week, but less than every night.

One plausible reading is that the phone is sometimes a symptom. If you only reach for it on nights you already can't sleep, scrolling and bad sleep will show up together without one causing the other. The study measured how often people used screens, so it can't say anything about how long they scrolled or what they looked at.

A small 2024 study of young adults with poor sleep adds another wrinkle. Bedtime device use was linked to shorter self-reported sleep the next night, but not to sleep measured by a Fitbit, and the two measures agreed poorly ([PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39455526/)). Some of the harm may live in how rested people feel, which still counts.

## The feed is the part that never tells you to stop

If time is the main cost, the next question is why scrolling runs so long. A study presented at SLEEP 2026 found that on nights when teens had 20 extra minutes of phone use in the hour before bed, they used their phones 8 to 9 more minutes after midnight ([Psychiatric Times](https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/no-screens-before-bed-teen-smartphone-use-at-bedtime-predicts-overnight-phone-activity)). The teens averaged about 46 minutes of late-night use.

This is a conference abstract on teenagers, so treat it as an early signal for adults. Still, it lines up with the Norwegian results: social media and other use showed similar links, and the researchers suspect interactivity and habit loops matter more than the content. The idea has been around a while. The NSF's 2011 poll of 1,508 Americans found interactive devices were most strongly tied to sleep complaints ([Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3836340/)).

If you know the 'one more video' feeling well, [why it's so hard to stop scrolling](https://ivehadit.app/blog/why-cant-i-stop-scrolling-research) goes into the mechanics.

### A show and a feed cost the same per hour, but a show ends

Hour for hour, the Norwegian data found no real difference between screen activities. The practical difference is that an episode finishes and a feed keeps going. A show hands you a natural moment to put the phone down, which makes it easier to keep half an hour at half an hour.

## Blue light is a smaller factor than you've been told

Most pages that come up for this question blame blue light suppressing melatonin. For adults, the evidence that this is the main problem is thin. A 2023 Cochrane review of 17 randomized trials found blue-light glasses probably make no difference to eye strain, and lead author Laura Downie said it's unclear whether they affect sleep at all ([AOP](https://www.aop.org.uk/ot/news/2023/08/18/cochrane-review-on-blue-light-filtering-spectacles-published)). There's no reliable evidence they improve it.

Professor Colleen Carney, who worked on the Canadian study, notes that people become less sensitive to light with age, while teens going through puberty are more sensitive ([TMU](https://www.torontomu.ca/media/releases/2025/11/using-your-phone-every-night-before-bed--researchers-say-that-s-/)). The light argument may carry more weight for a 15-year-old than for a 45-year-old.

To be fair to the other view, the AASM still advises turning off electronics 30 to 60 minutes before bed and avoiding blue light in that window. That advice works whichever explanation is right, since switching off early also protects your sleep time.

### News is the worst thing to read last thing at night

What you scroll does seem to matter in one case. In the AASM survey, 38% of adults said scrolling news before bed made their sleep slightly or significantly worse, rising to 46% of 18 to 24-year-olds. That's people's own judgement rather than lab data. Still, it's a lot of people reporting the same thing, and there's more on this in [whether doomscrolling is bad for your brain](https://ivehadit.app/blog/is-doomscrolling-bad-for-your-brain).

## Run a one-week test, then keep what works

Since some nightly scrollers sleep fine, Carney suggests finding out rather than assuming. Here's her test, with a few additions from the AASM's advice.

1. Pick a cutoff: Stop using devices at least an hour before bed, every night for seven nights.
2. Fix your wake time: Get up at the same time each day, weekends included, so lie-ins don't muddy the result.
3. Move the phone: Charge it outside the bedroom and use a cheap alarm clock instead.
4. Write two lines each morning: Note roughly when you fell asleep and how alert you felt by mid-afternoon.
5. Compare and decide: If the week felt clearly better, keep the habit, and if nothing changed, a little evening scrolling may be fine for you.

> **If the phone has to stay in the room** Silence notifications, as the AASM recommends, and set a stop time for the feed specifically. A podcast or an episode has an ending built in. A feed won't give you one, so you have to bring your own.

Watch for one more pattern. If you only scroll on bad nights, the phone may be the symptom. In the Canadian data the in-between users slept worst, and for them the more useful target is probably whatever is keeping them awake, which is worth raising with a doctor if it keeps up.

If your late-night scrolling happens on a laptop, I've had it closes social media feeds in the browser and leaves the rest of the internet open, so the endless part is simply gone. ([How it works](https://ivehadit.app/start))

- In a study of 45,202 young adults, each extra hour on screens in bed went with about 24 minutes less sleep and 59% higher odds of insomnia symptoms.
- Lost time looks like the main cost, and an endless feed makes it easy to blow past bedtime.
- There's no reliable evidence that blue-light glasses improve sleep.
- Some adults scroll every night and sleep fine, and a week with a phone-free hour before bed tells you which group you're in.
- Skip the news last thing at night: 38% of US adults say it makes their sleep worse.

## Questions people ask

### Is it bad to use your phone before bed?

For many people it costs sleep, mostly by pushing bedtime later and running past the point they meant to stop. It isn't harmful for everyone: a Canadian study of 1,342 adults found some people who use screens nightly sleep well.

### How long before bed should you stop using your phone?

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends turning off electronics 30 to 60 minutes before bed. Sleep researcher Colleen Carney suggests trying at least an hour for a week and tracking whether you sleep and feel better.

### Does blue light affect sleep, and do blue-light glasses help?

A 2023 Cochrane review of 17 randomized trials found no reliable evidence that blue-light glasses improve sleep. Adults also become less sensitive to light with age, so time spent on the phone looks like the bigger issue.

### Is doomscrolling news before bed worse than other scrolling?

It may be. In an AASM survey, 38% of US adults said scrolling news before bed made their sleep worse, though that's self-reported. Across general screen activities, a large Norwegian study found social media no worse per hour than anything else.

### Should I keep my phone out of the bedroom?

The AASM recommends charging your phone in another room and using a regular alarm clock. If it has to stay in the bedroom, silence notifications.

## Sources

1. [How and when screens are used: comparing different screen activities and sleep in Norwegian university students](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1548273/full), Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2025-02-10
2. [Press release on screen use and sleep in Norwegian students](https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1076717), EurekAlert, 2025-03
3. [Technology use and sleep: An examination of population data from the National Sleep Foundation](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41991404/), Sleep Health, 2026-04-15
4. [The complex association between bedtime screen use and adult sleep health](https://www.sleephealthjournal.org/article/S2352-7218(25)00137-8/fulltext), Sleep Health, 2025-10
5. [Using your phone every night before bed? Researchers say that's...](https://www.torontomu.ca/media/releases/2025/11/using-your-phone-every-night-before-bed--researchers-say-that-s-/), Toronto Metropolitan University, 2025-11
6. [Americans are 'doomscrolling' at bedtime, prioritizing screen time over sleep](https://aasm.org/americans-are-doomscrolling-at-bedtime-prioritizing-screen-time-over-sleep/), American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2026-02-23
7. [No Screens Before Bed: Teen Smartphone Use at Bedtime Predicts Overnight Phone Activity](https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/no-screens-before-bed-teen-smartphone-use-at-bedtime-predicts-overnight-phone-activity), Psychiatric Times, 2026-06-15
8. [Cochrane Review on blue-light filtering spectacles published](https://www.aop.org.uk/ot/news/2023/08/18/cochrane-review-on-blue-light-filtering-spectacles-published), Association of Optometrists, 2023-08-18
9. [Scrolling Your Sleep Away: The Effects of Bedtime Device Use on Sleep Among Young Adults with Poor Sleep](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39455526/), PubMed, 2024
10. [The Sleep and Technology Use of Americans: Findings from the National Sleep Foundation's 2011 Sleep in America Poll](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3836340/), Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2013-12-15