We report a back-cavity design to enhance the optical efficiency of a quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED) or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) for display and lighting applications. Our simulation results show that the back-cavity design exhibits two major advantages:(1) the transparent electrode helps to increase the transmittance of backward light despite using a semi-transparent metal electrode, and (2) the thickness of the low index optical buffer layer can be optimized to modify the proportion of each optical channel. The proposed back-cavity also helps to lower the refractive index of the high-index substrate from~ 2.0 to~ 1.8 for achieving high optical efficiency. Finally, the introduced back-cavity does not degrade the color performance of the QLED/OLED.