Heated windscreen button
Switches on fine heating wires built into the windscreen glass to clear frost, ice and mist, for a limited time.
What pressing it does
With the engine running, press it once: the lamp on the button lights and wires in the glass heat the whole windscreen. It switches itself off after a time that depends on the outside temperature (Peugeot) or after "a period of time" (Nissan), to save the battery; press it again to stop sooner. Brush off heavy snow and ice first, as Nissan's manual asks: the wires help clear the glass, they do not melt a thick layer quickly.
Check your car's manual: makes and models differ in what a button does, which positions a switch has and whether it works with the engine off, and your owner's manual is the authority for your car.
- What it looks like
- A windscreen outline with a zigzag line across it (the heating wire), with no arrows
- Also labelled
- Windscreen heating; Heated windshield; Electrically heated front screen
- Standard
- None — a maker's symbol, described here from 2 makers' manuals: Peugeot, Nissan
What your car's handbook says
The handbook for your exact car is the authority: each row is one named handbook for one model and year, not proof for every model of that make, and the wording in the last column is ours. 3 of the 8 handbooks we checked show this button. The Hyundai, SEAT, Fiat, Mercedes-Benz and MINI handbooks do not.
| Make | Handbook's name | What that handbook says pressing it does |
|---|---|---|
| Peugeot | “Heated windscreen” | With the engine running, press the button to switch it on or off; an indicator lamp confirms it. How long it runs depends on the outside temperature, and it switches off by itself to save power.Source: Peugeot 3008 / 5008 handbook (UK English, 2024 edition, PDF), PDF page 63, checked 2026-10-16 |
| Renault | “Heated windscreen activation control” | A button on the climate control panel (control 5 on manual air conditioning, 6 on automatic) switches the heated windscreen on; the handbook names the control and says some buttons have an operating light, but does not describe it further.Source: Renault Captur user manual (UK English, NU 1466-1, edition 01/2024, PDF), PDF page 305, checked 2026-10-16 |
| Opel / Vauxhall | “Heated windscreen” | Pressing the heated rear window button (a rectangle with wavy arrows) also heats the windscreen, with the engine running; it switches off after six minutes, and pressing again in the same ignition cycle gives three more minutes.Source: Opel Corsa E owner's manual (UK English, edition August 2017, PDF), PDF page 36, checked 2026-10-16 |
What to check in your car's manual
Whether your windscreen is heated at all (the button is only fitted where the glass has the wires), how long one press lasts, and whether it also works the rear window.
Where makes differ
Peugeot's 3008/5008 and Nissan's X-Trail draw the same windscreen with a zigzag wire. Renault's Captur has a button for it on the climate panel, numbered 5 in its picture, but the handbook only names it. Opel's Corsa E is the exception: it marks its heated windscreen with the rectangle-and-wavy-arrows symbol of the heated rear window, and one press heats both. Do not confuse it with the windscreen demister, whose drawing has three wavy arrows inside the windscreen and which blows warm air at the glass instead of heating it.
In the other handbooks' own words:
- Opel / Vauxhall (Corsa E owner's manual, 2018 model year): “Windscreen heating works together with heated rear window and engine running. It is switched off automatically after six minutes.” PDF page 36
No regulation defines it
UN R121 (item 17) and FMVSS 101 list a windscreen defrosting and demisting control, drawn as a windscreen with three wavy arrows, which has its own page. Neither table has a separate row for an electrically heated windscreen, so the zigzag-wire drawing is the makers' own.
Good to know
- It draws a lot of current: Nissan says it may run at reduced power or switch off to preserve the battery, and that Stop/Start is unavailable while it is on; Peugeot says it switches off automatically to prevent excessive power consumption.
- The fine lines you can see in the glass are the heating wires. Nissan says to have the system checked by a dealer or qualified workshop if the windscreen is damaged.
Related dashboard pages
Other buttons under “Windows”
Windscreen wiper switchA windscreen outline with a wiper blade and the arc it sweeps
Windscreen washer (and wash-wipe) controlA windscreen with a dotted line rising to a fountain of spray…
Rear window wiper and washerA rectangular rear window with a wiper blade and its arc
Power window lock buttonA car window crossed outSources
No regulation defines this control, so it is described from 2 carmakers' own owner's manuals, each read on the date shown.
- Peugeot 3008 / 5008 handbook (UK English, 2024 edition, PDF): Heated windscreen, p. 63 — Button drawn as a windscreen with a zigzag wire under an orange indicator lamp; engine running; heats the entire windscreen; switches off automatically.
In cold weather, this function heats the entire windscreen and complements the Automatic Visibility programme to speed up the evacuation of elements that interfere with visibility (e.g. dew, mist, frost, snow), located on either side of the windscreen.
checked 2026-10-16 - Nissan 2024 X-Trail owner's manual (UK, Nissan UK online edition): 4.10. Heated windscreen (where fitted) — Button drawn as a windscreen with a zigzag wire beside indicator light A; engine running; turns off automatically; reduced performance to preserve the battery; Stop/Start unavailable.
To defog/defrost the windscreen, start the engine and push the heated windscreen button. The indicator light (A) will illuminate.
checked 2026-10-16
Written in our own words; the manuals cover their own models only.