Why is my laptop battery draining so fast?

The one thing that we like the most about having a laptop is its portability, because of this, we can work almost anywhere. All we need is a fully charged laptop, a charger, and we are good to go.

However, for anyone who uses their laptop regularly, the last thing that they want to see is a drained battery. Imagine relaxing in a coffee shop and then your laptop suddenly shuts off. So annoying!

Battery health is one of the main issues that laptop owners face. The problem is that some batteries drain extremely fast, much faster than they should.

In this article, we will discuss why some laptop batteries drain so fast and will give you some tips on how to prevent it from happening.

So why do some laptop batteries drain so quickly? The most common reason why a laptop battery drains so fast is that the battery is already weak. This may be due to aging or heavy use.

As we use our laptop over and over, the time will come that the battery will not be able to perform anymore. It will slowly degrade and the time between charges will increase over time until it gets to the point where it wont hold a charge at all.

However, there are still some factors other than aging, that contribute to the battery draining faster than it should.

In this article, we will teach you how to get the most from each charge.

Reasons Why Your Laptop Battery May Be Running Out Faster Than it Should

Here are 9 commons causes of batteries running down faster than they should.

1. Your laptop is set to maximum performance. Setting it at maximum will obviously require more power.
2. Your screen is too bright. Monitors that are too bright will also consume more power from your laptop battery.
3. You may have active wireless or networking devices switched on that you are not currently using. Which could be things like, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Leaving them turned on will require more power.
4. You have unnecessary devices connected to your laptop, like external drives, flash drives, and optical drives.
5. For laptops that have a built-in optical drive, you may have forgotten to eject the disc inside. Having a spinning disc inside the drive will consume power.
6. You are using unnecessary features on your laptop, which may include RGB backlighting, usually installed on the keyboard.
7. You have too many devices attached to your laptop, like mobile phones, tablets, mice, and external keyboards.
8. Your sync settings and push notifications are turned on. This setting will enable your laptop to send notifications from programs such as email apps.
9. You have too many programs running in the background. Since these programs use your laptops resources, they will also consume more power from the battery.

These are the most common reason why a laptop loses its power quickly.

In the next section, we will discuss the solutions for each of these problems, and hopefully, it will help you to make your laptop battery last longer between charges.

What Can I Do If My Laptop Battery Is Draining Fast?

So we have discussed the different factors that may cause the battery to drain fast, in this section, we will try to find a solution to these factors and help your battery last longer.

1. Adjust the laptop battery performance setting according to your usage. Since laptops have a built-in battery power mode feature, you should adjust this setting depending on how you use your computer. You can select different settings in this feature from Best battery life settings to Best performance.

You can find this setting by double-clicking on the battery icon located on your system tray.

You can change the power mode settings by dragging the slider found on the screenshot above.

Tip: Only use the best performance setting if you are going to use some heavy applications that will require more power from your laptop. Otherwise, just set it to medium or best battery life, which will make it last longer.

2. Adjust your screen brightness. The brighter the screen the more power it will demand from the laptop battery. Therefore, it is recommended to set the brightness to a level you are comfortable with, but not super bright.

Not only will this save battery life, but you are also protecting your eyes from strain, from the bright light.

To adjust the brightness, all you have to do is to right-click on the desktop and click on Display Settings.

Right after clicking the Display Settings will appear, and from here, you can change the brightness accordingly.

Aside from screen brightness, you can also change different display settings such as resolution, size of apps, and many more.

Tip: Did you know that you can also save battery life by changing the display resolution? For example, if you have a 1080p display, you can downsize it to 720p. Although it will affect the overall display quality, this feature might come in handy in certain situations.

3. Disable all the wireless devices that are not in use, which may include your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. These two devices consume battery life even when not in use, so it is unwise to leave them open if you want to conserve power.

First, to disable the Bluetooth settings, right-click on the Bluetooth icon in the system tray, then choose Open Settings.

Once you have opened the Bluetooth settings, click on the Bluetooth slider, as seen on the screenshot below, to disable Bluetooth. You can also enable the Bluetooth back using the same process as above.

Next, to disable the wireless connection, click on the Internet access icon located in the system tray then click again on the Wi-Fi icon, as seen in the screenshot below. Here you simply disconnect the wireless connection by clicking on the Wi-Fi button.

Just like the Bluetooth settings, you can turn on the wireless connection again by following the same process.

4. Remove all unused external devices such as your flash drives and external hard drives. These devices will consume power even at an idle state, so dont forget to disconnect them when not in use.

5. If your laptop has a built-in optical drive, make sure to eject the disc inside as this device will also consume power.

6. RGB backlighting is a great feature that looks awesome. But if you think this feature is unnecessary to the task at hand, you can turn it off to save battery. The most common backlit feature is installed on the keyboard. If your workplace is bright enough that you can see the characters on your keyboard, you can turn it off.

7. One of the cool benefits of our laptops is that we can connect other devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and even an external mouse and keyboard. We attach these devices for charging and transferring files. But remove these devices as soon as possible as they will drain the battery.

8. One feature in Windows 10 is the Sync settings option which can either be turned on or off. The sync settings option can be found by typing sync your settings in the search bar. By switching this feature, it enables us to use the built-in apps installed in Windows 10, such as email apps. You can sync your email account, such as Gmail or Yahoo Mail, in the Windows built-in Mail app. In addition to that, it will also send us notifications on our desktop as we receive emails. If you think you do not need these features, you can turn them off to save battery.

To change sync settings, type in the Windows search bar sync and look for sync your settings option to open the system settings.

You can turn the sync settings off and on by clicking on the switch, as shown below.

Note: This feature is only available if you are connected to a Microsoft account on your desktop. If you are using an offline account, like in my case, this is disabled by default.

Next to disable notifications, go to the Windows search bar and type notifications and look for Notifications & actions settings.

Once you have opened the Notifications & actions settings, click on the Notifications slider to turn notifications off, as seen below.

9. Each program that runs in the background is using your laptops resources. So to save battery life, close these unneeded programs when not in use.

Some applications that are set to auto-start will automatically run whenever you turn on your computer. These are called your Startup programs.

Fortunately, you can set which programs will auto-start when you turn on your computer.

You can do this by right-clicking on the taskbar, then choose Task Manager. If you only see a few details in your Task Manager, like in the screenshot below, click on More Details to see more options.

In the task manager window, click on the Startup tab to see which applications are set to auto-start.

In the startup tab, click on your desired program, then click on the disable button (seen below), to either enable or disable its auto-start feature.

How to Correctly Charge a Laptop Battery

When it comes to charging a battery, there are too many things that we are led to believe. Some of these are based on facts, while some are just fantasy.

Below, we will discuss how to properly care for and charge your laptop battery.

1. When you are charging a laptop for the first time, make sure to charge it for at least 24 hours. The same goes for a newly purchased laptop battery.
2. Do not wait until your laptop battery fully drains before charging it again. For most people, its not a bad idea to start charging your laptop as soon as the battery drops below 30%.
3. Using your laptop while charging is safe, but it is not ideal. Charging your laptop without even using it produces heat. Even more heat is generated if you decide to use it as well as charging. This can lead to some overheating issues in some cases.
4. Always use the charger that comes with the laptop. If you must replace this charger in the future make sure to buy a charger that is fully compatible with your laptop.

Note: Contrary to popular belief, leaving your laptop plugged into your outlet for long periods will not cause overheating. Modern laptops are smart enough that they will automatically stop receiving energy, as soon as it reaches 100% even if it still plugged in. And at the same time, it will charge again as soon as the battery drops to 99%.

One very common question is can you charge a laptop without a charger? the answer is yes you can. If you follow the link you will find 5 possible ways to do this.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How long should a laptop battery last before it needs replacing?

A laptop battery will last between 2 to 4 years on average in most cases. But these numbers are not set in stone because it also comes down to how often it is charged.

If the laptop owner is a heavy user and is needing to charge their laptop more often than the average user, then you should expect this laptop to need replacing sooner. You can read much more on this topic here www.gizmofusion.com/laptop-battery-lifespan.

If you are finding your laptop to be failing and slowing down alongside its battery, maybe you need a new device. Here are reviews of the top laptops for less than $900. If you do choose a laptop from this list you will be getting a quality device.

James Cosgrove has been the lead writer at GizmoFusion since 2019. He has a huge passion for the latest technology and gadgets. He loves to talk and write about this interest. He hopes that visitors to the website will find his reports informative and helpful when it comes to making the best choices for their needs.

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