Why Your Windows PC Battery Drains Fast
There are various reasons behind battery drain issues on Windows. The most common are:
Multiple apps running in the backgroundPC in fast startup modeHigh screen brightness on your PCPC’s display is set for a high refresh rateHigh-performance graphics for apps
How to Check Your Battery Health
A PC’s battery backup largely depends on the health of its battery, which is why you should check your system’s battery health first to assess whether it’s actually the cause of the poor backup. For the purposes of this tutorial, we’re using Windows 11.
1. Run Power Troubleshooter
You can use Windows’s built-in power troubleshooter tool to find and resolve battery-related issues that might be affecting your system.
2. Choose the Right Power Plan
Your Windows 11 PC has three power modes: “Best performance,” “Balanced,” and “Best power efficiency.” You’ll need to switch to the last one if you want to conserve the most battery life. “Best power efficiency” mode works by lowering the system’s performance. (In Windows 10, it might be called “Best battery life.”) On the other hand, if you want your PC to automatically adjust energy for optimal performance according to the tasks you’re doing, you can choose the “Balanced” mode.
3. Configure Battery Saver
The “Battery Saver” feature conserves power as your laptop battery reaches critical levels. By default, your device will turn “Battery Saver” on automatically when the battery hits 20%. However, you can change when you want “Battery Saver” to kick in using the instructions below.
4. Customize Display Settings
You can also tweak your PC’s display settings to prevent it from consuming a lot of power and draining your computer’s battery.
Dim Screen Brightness
Lower Resolution
Change the default screen resolution of your laptop in the “Display” section and opt for a lower resolution.
Reduce Screen Refresh Rate
A higher refresh rate offers smoother-looking motion but consumes more battery power. Fortunately, you can reduce your screen’s refresh rate.
5. Adjust Video Playback Settings
The quality of videos you’re playing also impacts battery power, but Windows offers the option to optimize video playback for power saving,
Optimize HDR
Also adjust your system’s settings to optimize the display while viewing HDR video. This will prevent your Windows 11 laptop display’s brightness from automatically turning up when playing this type of video.
6. Close Background Apps
Apps running in the background may be another cause of battery drain in Windows. Make sure you close them properly to save battery power.
7. Disable Fast Startup
Windows comes with a default Fast Startup feature designed to lower system boot time. Unfortunately, it ends up consuming quite a lot of battery power, but you can disable it. Image credit: Panos Sakalakis via Unsplash. All screenshots by Sandeep Babu.
