How to save laptop battery life

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The correct use and maintenance of a laptop battery can help it live a long life. Laptop batteries are built to handle a certain number of charge cycles [one full discharge to 0 percent, then a recharge up to 100 percent]. Each charge cycle decreases a batterys capacity, meaning that the fewer times you drain it, the longer the battery will last. The best way to do this is to make your laptop run longer on each battery charge by turning off or reducing all the things that expend power in your computer. If you are going on a long trip, or just taking your laptop to a local coffee shop, use these tips to help your laptop battery power last longer.

Steps

Part 1Part 1 of 7:Reducing Open Tasks

0 1  3 COMING SOON  1Learn to single-task. Memory that is in use takes more power. This results in using virtual memory on your laptop hard drive which drains on your battery.

• Use only what you need at any given time. If your laptop has plenty of memory, then keep necessary applications open to avoid loading repeatedly from the hard drive.
• Close all the applications that run in the background, like your syncing or backup software.
• Quit cloud storage services or video players that you arent using.

0 1  4 COMING SOON  2Manage your system memory.

• Run simple applications that don't use much RAM, disk drive, or processing power.
• Close unnecessary tabs you open in your browser.
• Use a basic text editor rather than the processor and RAM heavy Microsoft Word. Heavy applications like games or movie watching are especially hard on the battery.

Part 2Part 2 of 7:Using Power Management

0 1  9 COMING SOON  1Use the power management settings on your computer that come built in.

• Click "Power Options" in your control panel on Windows XP / Vista / 7.
• Click "Settings > System > Power & sleep" on Windows 8 / 8.1 / 10.
• Click on "Energy Saver" in System Preferences, on a Mac.

0 1  7 COMING SOON  2Switch off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when youre not using them.

• Turn off the wireless card if you do not plan to access your network or Internet connection. For Mac laptops, there is a button for powering on and off your wireless device is found on the toolbar at the top.
• Disable Bluetooth. If you don't use this feature, you can safely disable it to avoid draining your laptop battery.

0 1  1 COMING SOON  3Shut down or hibernate the laptop rather than using standby, if you plan on not using it for a while. Standby continues to drain energy to keep your laptop ready to go when you open the cover.

0 1  8 COMING SOON  4Turn off unused ports.

• Disable unused ports and components, such as VGA, Ethernet, PCMCIA, USB, and, your wireless, too.
• Use the "Device Manager" or configure a separate hardware profile [see next step].

0 1  7 COMING SOON  5Create Power-Saving Hardware Profiles.

• Configure your laptop for the various scenarios [on a plane, at the coffee shop, the office, etc.].
• Use "Hardware Profiles" menu by right-clicking on My Computer and selecting Preferences or by using a freeware utility such as SparkleXP.

0 1  4 COMING SOON  6Defrag your hard drive. The more fragmented your hard drive is the more your hard disk needs to work.

• You do not need to do this on a Mac & Windows 8 / 8.1 / 10, as they do this automatically by themselves when needed. Also, do not do this if your computer uses a solid-state drive, as it will slow and lower your hard drive's life!

Part 3Part 3 of 7:Adjusting the Display

0 1  4 COMING SOON  1Reduce the LCD's brightness level. If you use your laptop in a well lit area or outdoors on a sunny day, try setting it at two or three bars.

0 1  4 COMING SOON  2Turn down the screen resolution. The method for doing this will depend on your laptop make.

• Right-click on the desktop in Windows 7. Select the Screen Resolution. Turn down the resolution.

0 1  8 COMING SOON  3Avoid displaying white images, if your laptop has an OLED based display. OLED screens consume a lot less power displaying blank.

Part 4Part 4 of 7:Upgrading Your Hardware

0 1  5 COMING SOON  1Upgrade to an SSD.

• Replace mechanical hard disks if you can. They require higher power to work. An SSD uses less power as it has no moving parts.

0 1  6 COMING SOON  2Switch to internal graphics.

• Set up your settings to use the powerful graphics chip only for playing games or running demanding applications, but you should check whether it can be done.

Part 5Part 5 of 7:Adjusting the Environment

0 1  6 COMING SOON  1Avoid extreme temperatures. Batteries rely on basic chemistry and will die faster at extreme temperatures. Try to charge and use the battery at room temperatures.[1] X Research source Go to source

0 1  8 COMING SOON  2Use a cooling pad when using a notebook computer on your lap. But if it's a USB pad then don't use it as it will most likely use up more battery rather than to conserve it.

0 1  7 COMING SOON  3Avoid propping your laptop on a pillow, blanket, or other soft surface that can heat up.

Part 6Part 6 of 7:Optimizing Peripherals

0 1  7 COMING SOON  1Turn the volume level down, or mute it, if you do not plan to use it.

0 1  3 COMING SOON  2Unplug external devices such as a USB mouse or portable hard disks or USB webcams.

0 1  7 COMING SOON  3Avoid using a CD or DVD.

• Store a copy of data you need to your laptop hard drive or a thumb drive before traveling. Optical drives consume large amounts of power to spin up CDs and DVDs.
• Don't leave a disc in your DVD drive, as it might spin up whenever you launch Windows Explorer or access the Save option in an application. Avoid applications that keep your hard drive or optical drive spinning.
• Use your phone or a handheld MP3 player, rather than playing songs on your computer. They will keep the hard drive working which uses energy.
• Turn off the autosave feature on MS Word or Excel. Constant saving will keep your hard drive turning and using energy.

0 1  1 COMING SOON  4Eject external devices such as pen drives, DVDs, hard disks, etc., if not in use.

Part 7Part 7 of 7:Maintaining the Battery

0 1  2 COMING SOON  1Clean the battery contacts. Clean the battery's metal contacts with rubbing alcohol on a damp cloth. Clean contacts increase energy efficiency.

0 1  3 COMING SOON  2Keep the battery fresh. Batteries leak power if they aren't used fairly soon after charging.  If you use your "full" battery 2 weeks after you last charged it, you may discover it is empty.

0 1  5 COMING SOON  3Do not charge all of the way. Instead of charging the battery to 100% each time, fix the maximum charge limit to 80-85%. This will help in the long run by reducing battery degradation with time. Sony VAIO has a built-in option to set this.

0 1  7 COMING SOON  4Avoid charging your laptop constantly or leaving it on power continuously.

• Lithium-ion batteries cant be overcharged, but in the long-term, your battery will develop problems if you keep it plugged in all the time.
• Avoid letting it discharge below 20%.

Community Q&A

• Question Should you always charge your battery when it reaches 40%?

Community Answer You can charge it whenever you like. You could wait until you get a warning that the battery's getting low [usually around 10% or so], or you could charge it earlier than that. This has no effect on the life of the battery, unless you're using the computer while charging it, which will shorten it a little bit.

• Question If I charge my laptop while using it, will it reduce battery life?

Community Answer No, but if it is fully charged and you are charging it and using it, it will affect the battery.

• Question My laptop's battery was working fine until I reinstalled Windows. Now it drains after 30 minutes.  What happened?

Community Answer Your laptop's battery is damaged. Replace your battery. This might have happened because of charging your laptop all the time even when it's fully charged.

• Question Can I keep my computer charged at all times?

Community Answer You can keep the PC plugged in at all times, but over time, the battery will lose its charge.

• Question Can I leave the power cord in after charging?

Community Answer Yes, but do not leave it in all the time.

• Question How "low" should I go before charging? Is 20% good?

Community Answer It would be better to plug your laptop in when your battery is at 25%. If you are at home, consider keeping your laptop plugged in; it saves a lot of trouble of low battery life.

• Question How can I make "Just Cause 3" [or other cpu-intensive game] use less power?

Community Answer You can end every other task, then check if it's running smoothly. If this does not work, then download contig.exe and learn how to use it. You can find the tutorials on Google.

• Question How do I extend battery life when using Windows 10?

Community Answer Turn on the battery saver mode and create a battery management plan.

• Question How do I calibrate an acer laptop battery?

Community Answer You can do it through your device manager. First open device manager. Then, go to the batteries section. Click the Microsoft ACPI battery driver, uninstall it, then restart. Finally, open your device manger again. You should be calibrated.

• Question Is it safe to remove the battery from the laptop when using it?

Community Answer As long as the laptop is plugged in, yes. See more answers

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Tips

• Use the battery until you charge it. When it's fully charged unplug it and your battery will last longer, and, give better performance.
• Clean your desk. It sounds strange, but if you have a dusty, dirty desk, that dust will get into the vents and clog the cooling fan. Once the dust is inside your laptop, it is much harder to remove. You can try blasting it out with canned air, but you run the risk of damaging internal components. You can also remove the vent and clean out the grit, but remember that taking apart your laptop can void the warranty. So clean your desk at least once a week, if not daily.
• Be sure to charge up completely before you leave the house if there is no place to charge it where you are going.
• Mac laptops offer Expose to switch off the display temporarily. Use that whenever you are playing music and not using the display, or going out for a short duration.
• Take a break if your battery is running low.
• Don't run games if the computer's already hot.
• Turn off your WiFi connection when not using it.

Warnings

• If you use your computer for too long, it could overheat and slowly damage components, shortening their lifespan.
• Be careful when charging your battery. Never hook it up to charge it when you're not around. With the plethora of battery recalls due to exploding and combustible Li-Ion cells, the process of charging your laptop battery shouldn't be taken lightly.
• Be careful when cleaning the contacts. Always clean them when the battery is fully drained, and use a very slightly damp cloth, so as to avoid electric shock and short-circuits.
• If you are working on the Internet and using the laptop, do not turn anything off or you will lose your work.

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References

1. Microsoft.com - 4 tips to extend life of your laptop battery

About This Article   Tested by: wikiHow Technology Team wikiHow is a wiki, similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 54 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time.  This article has been viewed 556,239 times.   Co-authors:  54 Updated: December 21, 2019 Views:556,239 Categories: Laptop Batteries In other languagesItaliano:Allungare la Vita della Batteria di un Portatile Русский:продлить срок работы батареи ноутбука Français:augmenter la durée de vie d'une batterie d'ordinateur portable

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