5 Minute HelpDesk – Tips to Extend Laptop Battery Charge
Why is my laptop battery draining so fast? How can I improve my laptop battery charge? This is a common concern for laptop owners. In this article, our IT helpdesk lists out some simple tips to extend your laptop battery charge.
Reduce the brightness of your screen
One of the most power-consuming parts of a laptop is the screen. You can control this usage of the battery by reducing the brightness of the screen.
Use dark backgrounds
It’s best to use dark or black desktop backgrounds since bright ones will make your display pixels light up more.
Leave space for sufficient airflow
This is one of the most common battery-draining culprits. Laptops are not exactly built for that – putting them on pillows, laps, or beds closes any gap for ventilation. This causes them to heat up and put a strain on the battery. Place your laptop on firm surfaces that don’t flex and leave sufficient space between the surface and laptop bottom.
Turn off unnecessary apps
To check the battery usage by apps:
Go to Settings -> System -> Battery
You can learn how much each app is draining your battery from the ‘battery usage by apps’ section. Then you can disable the apps that are consuming too much battery.
Change Battery settings
In Windows 10 battery performance slider, adjust your battery consumption according to your performance requirements.
Best Performance
In this mode, performance is the primary preference. So, it won’t limit background apps from using up the battery.
Better Performance
This mode allows some background apps to use battery power, but the main priority is extended battery life than performance.
Better Battery
This mode gives longer battery life than the older version windows default settings.
Battery Saver
The main priority of this mode is battery charge and life. It reduces brightness by around 30%, stops most background apps and Windows update downloads, prevents the Mail app from syncing.
Disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Enabling wireless networking technologies make your laptop battery drain fast. Even when your Wi-Fi is not connected to any network, it will use up the battery by searching for a network.
To prevent this unnecessary drainage of the battery, disable both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when it’s not in use. You can disable both by clicking on the Wi-Fi icon on the taskbar and then enabling Airplane mode. You can also disable them individually by:
Wi-Fi
Go to the Wi-Fi button in the taskbar -> open Network & Internet settings -> Wi-Fi -> toggle off the Wi-Fi switch.
Bluetooth
Go to Settings -> Open Devices -> Bluetooth & other devices -> toggle off the Bluetooth switch
Unplug the peripherals
It’s best to unplug your peripherals to save power. USB peripherals like USB drives, mouse and webcams can use up battery power. Unplug USB drives after data transfer, turn off webcams and mute your speakers when not in use to prevent unnecessary power consumption.
Remove discs from your disc drives
Most modern laptops don’t have disc drives installed in them, but if your laptop has one, it’s wise to remove the disc from your disc drive. This is because some of the programs keep the disc spinning leading to battery draining.
These are some of the tips for extending your laptop battery charge. If you still have trouble with fast battery drainage or other IT related issues. Contact our IT specialists or email us at helpdesk@computingaustralia.group. Our IT HelpDesk in Perth is always available to help you with your IT problems.
Jargon Buster
USB – Universal Serial Bus is an interface that allows a computer to communicate with other devices and peripherals.
Peripherals – any device that connects to a computer via a USB. Examples – mouse, keyboards, loudspeakers, webcams etc.
Airplane mode – or offline mode disables all the wireless transmission functions of a device.