Putting the Tweaks to the Test. In its unmodified state, the laptop delivered a respectable 3 hours, 16 minutes of battery life, according to PowerMark. After we performed a few simple software tweaks, the tested battery life rose to 3 hours, 28 minutes. But the biggest gains came after we fully tweaked the notebook and disabled unneeded hardware. How to Prolong the Battery Life of Your Smartphone, Tablet, and Laptop. The battery completes one charge cycle when you charge it to 100 percent and drain it to 0. If you charge it to 50 percent and then drain it completely, you only complete half a charge cycle. The reality is a little more complicated than that.
Does your laptop have you singing the short-battery-life blues? If you've updated to Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, then you've got a new tool to help extend your laptop's running time. I'll cover this new tool along with some tried-and-true battery-saving tips.
Turn down display brightness
Powering all of those pixels in the display is the single greatest drain on battery resources. The first item to check when you are experiencing troublingly short battery life is your display brightness. If you've got it turned up all the way or near the max, then lower the brightness; you might also find it a more comfortable computing experience to your eyes.
Your laptop likely has two Function keys mapped to display brightness. If not, you can find a brightness slider by going to Settings > System > Display. You'll also find a slider for display brightness in the Windows Mobility Center, which is buried in the Control Panel; the easiest way to find it is just to search for it.
Paint it black
A bright desktop background requires your display's pixels to light up more, when requires more juice. Choose a dark picture or color by going to Settings > Personalization > Background.
Turn off keyboard backlights
Like the display, keyboard backlighting also drains your laptop's battery. Turn them off when they aren't needed. Your laptop likely has a Function key that lets you toggle the keyboard backlights on and off. If not, you'll find a control for it in the Windows Mobility Center.
Introducing the new battery slider
OK, now here's the new battery tool. Fall Creators Update has made it easier to switch between power modes. Instead of digging into the battery page in settings to switch from high performance to battery saver mode or vice versa, you now can just click or tap the battery icon in the taskbar. You'll be able to move a slider from Best battery life to best performance or a balanced mode in between.
Check power and sleep settings
Dig into Power & sleep settings by clicking its link in the battery menu from the taskbar (or by going to Settings > System > Power & sleep), and you can shorten the time before the display turns off or your laptop goes into sleep mode when it's running on battery power. The shorter you set these times, the longer your battery will last.
Use Battery Saver
Windows 10's built-in Battery Saver mode activates when your remaining battery dips below 20 percent. It disables email and calendar syncing, push notifications, and apps from running in the background. It should be enabled by default, but check to make sure it is by going to Settings > System > Battery. If you find that Battery Saver doesn't disrupt your regular Windows habits, then you can raise the threshold for when it activates above 20 percent.
Check Battery usage by app
You can see which apps are using the most battery resources by Settings > System > Battery and click Battery usage by app. The list will show you the percentage of battery your apps have used in the past 6 or 24 hours or the past week. If you find an app that you think it using more than its fair share, click on it and toggle off the switch for Managed by Windows and then make sure the box remains unchecked for Allow app to run background tasks.
Turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when not needed
These wireless networking technologies consume battery power. You can disable both by using Airplane mode. Click the Wi-Fi icon in the taskbar and then click the Airplane mode button. You can also disable only Wi-Fi by clicking the Wi-Fi button on the taskbar Wi-Fi menu. To disable Bluetooth, go to Settings > Devices > Bluetooth & other devices and toggle off the switch for Bluetooth.
Sync email less
Constantly checking for new email messages can drain your battery. So, tell Windows to check less frequently to extend the life of your battery. Go to Settings > Accounts > Email & app accounts. Click on your account, click the Manage button and then for Download new content, switch it from as items arrive to every 30 minutes, hourly or manually and then click Done.
Try Edge
Microsoft claims its Edge browser lets your battery run 36 to 53 percent longer than Chrome, Firefox or Opera. CNET hasn't put these claims to the test, but give Edge a whirl to see if you get better battery performance with it. Here are 10 tips to get started with Edge.
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (OEM)
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Short Bytes: Windows 10 is one of the most polished operating systems which finds its place on modern computers. However, the problem of Windows 10 battery life is a big headache. You can adapt different habits on a daily basis and easily get some extra minutes out your dying battery, helping it reach somewhat closer to its full potential.
Windows is known for poor battery life — irrespective of the Windows version you are using. People often wonder how to maximize battery life on Windows 10. However, optimizing battery life on a machine running Windows 10 isn’t as hard as one might assume. It all about knowing some inbuilt options and using the OS diligently to avoid unnecessary battery drain on the machine.How to Maximize the Windows 10 battery life?
1. Windows 10 battery saver mode
Windows 10 comes with two power modes: Battery saver mode and the default mode. Well, the battery saver mode prevents your Windows from sucking too much power the machine not plugged to a power source. It reduces the battery usage by 20& in comparison to the normal mode.
Also Read: POWERCFG: How To Check Battery Capacity And Battery Health Report In Windows Using CMD
2. Uninstall or close unnecessary apps and software
Windows 10 comes with a plethora of apps. I, personally, don’t use many of the inbuilt apps. Thanks to the live tiles feature in the Windows Start Menu, some of these apps might connect to the internet and display updated information in the tiles.
So, it is better to uninstall these apps as contributes to reduced life on your computer.
Various software are designed to monitor real-time activity on your computer. For instance, PC Suite applications waiting for a device to be connected. You can’t get rid of such applications, but you can close them when they’re not needed.
3. Have a look at the apps in the startup
Windows user have the privilege to automatically start any application when Windows boots. The latest Windows 10 also includes this functionality. But the startup section can invoke various applications that you might not require every time your turn on your computer. Often, the software you install on your computer creates entries in the startup. You can disable such applications from the loading when Windows boots. The startup option in Windows 10 is present as a tab in the Task Manager.
4. Throttle the processor
It’s not every time that you want to harness the full potential of the processor. You can reduce the maximum performance capacity of the processor. I was able to get an extra 30 min backup on my old Dell Inspiron using this method. Here are the steps you can follow:
- Open Power Options on Windows 10.
- Click Change plan settings for any of the power plans. I would suggest you choose the power saver plan.
- Now click Change advanced power settings.
- Under the Advanced Settings tab, scroll down to find Processor power management.
- Now, expand (click on +) Processor power management.
- Expand Maximum processor state.
- Click the On-battery option and reduce the processor state to 20%. You can choose any other value.
- Click Ok. The settings are saved, you can close the Power Options window.
The reduced processing power will only come into effect when you’ve selected the Power saver plan and your Windows 10 computer is running on battery power.
Note: Reducing the processing power of the CPU will affect its performance. For instance, when running resource heavy software. Increase the percentage if you feel any negative effects on your computer.
5. Always keep your laptop neat and clean
For electronic devices, the dust has been a long time foe. The story of laptops and other portable computers is no different. It easily enters the hardware through the vents which are meant to release the heat generated from various computer components. The dust then blocks the vents preventing the outflow of the heat. This damages the computer parts including the battery.
In the case of the Li-ion batteries, heat increases the speed of the chemical reactions inside the battery. Over the span of time, it reduces the overall capacity of the battery, even making it completely unusable.
6. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other settings
You might feel the need of the WiFi adapter most of the time, but the case isn’t the same for Bluetooth. Also, you don’t need the WiFi adapter if your primary connection mode is ethernet. Even if you’re not connected, the WiFi and Bluetooth hardware keep on running and suck the battery out of your PC.
You should keep the Bluetooth and WiFi off when you’re watching movies or doing other things which don’t require network connectivity. This can help your computer save precious battery life.
7. Update Windows while charging
Well, you do not have much control over Windows update on Windows 10. There are though certain ways to stop the Windows 10 upgrade but Windows keeps on popping out unnecessary notifications, almost bugging you to the core of your heart to update it. Well, you never know how long the Windows 10 takes. Sometimes, updating Windows 10 takes until eternity. It is advised that you keep your PC on charge while updating the Windows.
8. Keep the volume down
We often leave the volume higher even though we are just typing or doing some work which doesn’t actually need the volume to be up. Moreover, most of the laptops, these days, come with powerful speaker inbuilt. Though these speakers give you the soothing sound but they also suck the hell out of your battery life. So reduce the volume level on your Windows 10 while chatting or typing or doing something which does not need the higher volume.
Also read: How to Fix Audio Issues in Windows 10 PCs
9. Unplug unnecessary peripherals
We often leave our mobile phones connected to the USB cables to our PC. Even though they consume the smallest amount of battery out of your PC but it still counts. It would be wise not charge your phone from your laptop while it itself is running on the battery. Keep a watch over USB cables, external display, Bluetooth-powered mouse, SD card and external keyboard, and much more.
Also read: How to Sync Your Android Phone and iPhone With Windows 10
10. Keep your desktop and system drive clean
A cluttered desktop might contribute to the battery drain on your machine. Though it doesn’t have any direct effects but a desktop filled with tons of icons puts extra load on the system while the things on the screen. The computer has to extra work while displaying an unnecessary set of icons every time. It degrades the performance and eventually the battery. If you want to put stuff on the desktop, keep it in a single folder.
Also Read: How to Regain Up To 20GB Disk Space After Windows 10 Upgrade
11. Brightness levels count a lot
When it comes to having a battery feast, the display just behind the CPU. Keeping the brightness levels high have adverse effects on your machine’s battery backup. You can dim the display when you’re watching movies in a dark room or leave your computer without putting it to sleep or shutting it down. Keeping the brightness low in Windows 10 will save a lot of battery.
12. Enable Adaptive Brightness
Windows 10 can automatically control the brightness of the display with the help of an inbuilt feature. It’ll dim the display when you’re in the dark. You can turn on the functionality in the Power Options. Just go to the Change advanced power settings (see point 4).
Go to the Change advanced power settings (see point 4). Expand Display> expand Enable Adaptive Brightness. Now, turn on Adaptive Brightness for On-battery and Plugged in options (whichever you like. Click Ok to save the settings.
Note: This feature will only work if your computer has the ambient light sensor installed.
So, these were some of the ways using which you can get the most out of our battery on Windows 10.
Did you find this helpful? Drop your thoughts and feedback.
Also read: How to Fix Windows 10 Brightness Control Not Working Issue