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Easy Ways to Increase the Battery Life of Your Laptop

Battery Life
Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

Let's face it, when you're working on something crucial, nothing is more aggravating than a depleting laptop battery. Running out of power is a productivity killer, whether you're studying at a café, working remotely, or binge-watching your favorite show. The good news? To extend the battery life of your laptop, you don't have to be a technology expert. The impact of a few little changes can be substantial. Let's go over the easy steps you can do right now to extend the life and improve the performance of your battery.

The Significance of Laptop Battery Life

The Distress of a Weak Battery

Imagine attending a Zoom meeting, revising a document, or sending an email, and presto! The screen turns black. It's annoying and upsetting, particularly when there's nowhere to go. Freedom, adaptability, and tranquility are all correlated with a robust battery.

Power Determines Productivity and Portability

The portability of laptops is one of their best features. To make such flexibility useful, though, the battery needs to be able to keep up. You can work (or play) for longer periods without needing a charger if your battery lasts longer.

Modify the Display Settings

Decrease Screen Brightness

One of the largest power consumers is your display. Battery life can be significantly impacted by lowering the brightness to the lowest level that is comfortable.

Turn Auto-Brightness on

The majority of contemporary laptops have adjustable brightness. It adapts to your surroundings to provide you with the best visibility possible without wasting energy.

Cut Down on Screen Timeout Settings

Reduce the amount of time it takes for your screen to shut off while you're not using it. For every second that the screen is left on when not in use, energy is wasted.

Control Background Processes and Apps

Close Any Irrelevant Apps

Using ten applications simultaneously? They are still using power even if you aren't actively using them. Anything you're not using should be shut down.

Turn off startup programs.

Certain applications launch automatically when your laptop boots up. Task Manager (Windows) or System Preferences (Mac) can be used to disable them.

Use Activity Monitor or Task Manager.

You can observe what's happening in the background and how much energy each operation is using with the help of these tools. Throw away anything that isn't needed.

Battery Life
Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash

Switch to Battery Saver Mode.

The Real Functions of Battery Saver

Battery saver mode helps you get greater battery life while you're not using your device by lowering system performance and limiting background activity.

When to Activate It

When your battery is low or you know you won't have access to a charger for some time, use it. It's a fantastic, low-effort method of increasing utilization.

When not in use, unplug peripheral devices.

Devices Outside That Use Power

Power can be drawn from external hard drives, USB devices, and even your keyboard and mouse. Unplug them if you're not using them.

Only use USB devices when absolutely necessary.

When trying to conserve battery life, refrain from using your laptop to charge phones or other devices. You won't believe how quickly these will drain your laptop.

Update your drivers and software.

Battery Efficiency and Firmware

Updates are released by manufacturers to improve efficiency, including how your system manages electricity, as well as adding new features.

How Updates Aid in Performance Optimization

Your battery may drain more quickly if you employ a buggy driver. Longer battery life and better performance are guaranteed when everything is kept up to date.

Manage the Use of Your Browser

Make Use of Lightweight Browsers

Despite its popularity, Chrome drains batteries. Try using an efficient browser, such as Microsoft Edge, Brave, or Safari.

Don't open too many tabs or extensions.

Memory and batteries are consumed by each tab and extension. Just what you require at this moment.

Battery Life
Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

Avoid Charging Your Battery Too Much

Don't Always Charge to 100%

Over time, keeping your laptop's battery at full charge can weaken it. Unplug at about 80–90% if you can.

When fully charged, unplug.

Although it might seem innocuous, leaving your laptop plugged up overnight might gradually weaken the battery.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth should be turned off when not in use.

Wireless Features Quietly Deplete Batteries

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are always looking for connections. To save battery life, turn them off when not in use.

Using Airplane Mode as a Fast Fix

Your best friend when working offline is airplane mode. With a simple click, all wireless communication is turned off.

Employ Hibernate Rather Than Sleep Mode

The distinction between sleep and hibernation

Sleep mode drains a small amount of battery life because it stores your session in memory. Hibernate turns off the power and stores it on the hard drive.

Why Battery Life Is Increased by Hibernation

It may take a bit longer to come back to life after hibernation, but it uses a lot less power, making it ideal for situations where you will be gone for several hours.

Control the Configurations of Your Power Plan

Select a Plan That Uses Less Power

Windows has power strategies such as "Power Saver" and "Balanced." Similar choices are available on Mac under Energy Saver.

Personalize Advanced Power Settings

You can extend battery life significantly by fine-tuning your settings to control things like processor utilization and USB sleep.

Maintain the Coolness of Your Laptop

Heat Shortens Battery Life

Battery health can be deteriorated by excessive heat. A hot laptop consumes power more quickly and operates less efficiently.

Ways to Stay Cool

Keep your laptop away from soft surfaces, use a cooling pad, and keep dust and obstructions out of the vents.

Battery Life
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Steer clear of using heavy software while using a battery.

Things Not to Do When Unplugged

Software for gaming, rendering, and video editing uses a lot of power. Put those chores off until you're connected.

Gaming, Video Editing, and Delay Updates

In addition to quickly draining your battery, these activities cause your system to overheat, further decreasing efficiency.

Turn Off Superfluous Visual Effects

Exquisite Animations Make Use of Extra Juice

Although those transitions and animations are visually appealing, they consume CPU and GPU cycles.

Simplify Your User Interface

For a battery-friendly experience, pick a simple theme, turn off transparency, and maintain a clean interface.

How to Properly Store Your Battery

Avoid Maintaining It at 0% or 100% for Too Long

Keep your laptop's battery at roughly 50% if you won't be using it for a while to prevent the cells from being overworked.

Optimal Battery Level for Storage

Keeping your device's battery between 40% and 60% is advised by experts if it will be inactive for several days or weeks.

It's not necessary for your laptop battery to feel like it's running out of time. You may increase the efficiency of each charge and prolong the life of your battery by making a few thoughtful adjustments and adopting more intelligent practices. You'll be shocked at how much longer your laptop will last between charges if you start with the simple adjustments.

FAQs

1. Does the battery last longer when using dark mode?

Indeed, particularly with OLED screens. Dark mode reduces power consumption by turning off pixels in black areas.

2. Is it harmful to always have your laptop plugged in?

Constantly charging a battery to 100% can reduce its lifespan over time, although it is not dangerous right away.

3. How long should a decent battery last?

Usually three to five years, though this varies based on charging and usage patterns.

4. Can I change a laptop's battery on my own?

Your model will determine this. While some laptops may be fixed by the owner, some need expert assistance.

5. What destroys battery health the quickest?

The main offenders are deep discharge (draining to 0%), high temperatures, and overcharging.

What are your thoughts? Which advice will you start with? Do you have any battery-saving tips of your own? I'd love to hear your recommendations, so please leave them in the comments section!