Running out of laptop battery in the middle of important work or meetings always makes us run for the charger. However, while you are not near a socket or traveling outside, you may need extra juice for your battery to run a little longer. Even if you can carry a battery backup in your laptop bag, some simple settings can help to hold the operating life a little more. In this article, we will share some tweaks and tricks that you can do to expand your battery life.
Battery Settings
To save your battery charge, the first thing you should do is modify your battery settings. On Windows, you will quickly get those settings on the right side of your taskbar. Then, click on the Battery icon, and you will get a slider accessed for battery power mode. If you don’t have the slider on your Windows yet, then go to settings, click the System icon, search for Power & Battery, and you will find the Power Mode there.
Here you can choose the preferred mode for your laptop based on your workflow and running time. It’s best to use the battery saver mode by default to expand your battery life. It reduces the display brightness by 30%, stops Windows Update downloads, blocks the Mail app from syncing, and eliminates most background apps for times.
And if you have a MacBook on hand, the settings will be done through the battery and power settings. Just open the System Preferences app and click on battery. Here you will get some options to check, which eventually affect your battery level and performance. Thus to increase the battery life on Mac, check on the Slightly dim display while on battery power, and uncheck the Power Nap option to stop your device from waking up now and then to check updates.
Even depending on your version of MacBook and macOS, you will also discover some additional options for energy saving. For example, the “Optimize video streaming while on battery” option will disable HDR video playback and optimize battery charging. In addition to that, same as windows, you will also get Energy Mode settings on Mac to energize your battery performance.
Unnecessary Apps
Closing unnecessary apps and battery draining settings is a common yet useful trick that everyone should use for the sake of their laptop batteries. Keeping hundreds of apps open at one time while not using them eats an immense amount of your battery which you can use for some necessary work.
Keeping on the WIFI and Bluetooth settings constantly drain the battery life faster. Turning off the Wifi and Bluetooth while not using the web or data transfer can also buy you some extra juice.
Graphics & Display Settings
If you have a powerful graphics processor running on your laptop, then make sure to use them only when games or any graphics-intensive apps need them. For example, if you have NVIDIA GeForce graphics on your laptop, go to the GeForce control panel from the right side of your taskbar, click the Program Settings tab and assign the necessary app to a specific graphics-processing chip.
On Mac, the settings are far more straightforward. Go to the same battery settings pane and check the “Automatic graphics switching” option. It will allow your mac to use graphics only when the apps need a graphics accelerator.
Background Apps
Though you have turned off all unnecessary apps running on the taskbar, still some apps automatically keep accessing your laptop from the background. To identify those apps, you can search for the processes that automatically run when Windows starts or go to the “Task Manager App”. If you find something named “Download Assistant” or “Helper”, disable them to prevent background work.
Display Brightness
Keeping the brightness level to the max is another significant drain on battery lifespan. The brighter screen sucks the battery faster than any other apps or settings, so lowering the brightness level to visible is the wisest thing to do. Generally, you will get two function keys for brightness control on the keypad. But if you don’t, go for the Display option on the settings or the brightness slider in the Windows Mobility Center of Control Panel. And for Mac, the settings are almost identical. Just go to System Preferences from the Apple menu, click Displays and adjust the brightness.
Airflow
We mostly keep laptops on our laps or any smooth surface like a table, bed sheets or pillows. However, keeping laptops on a smooth surface blocks the airflow of the laptop and heats the interface causing severe short-term and long-term damage to the battery and other parts of your device. So it’s recommended to use a laptop airflow stand to prevent damage from airflow blockage.
Charging Habit
Most of us have a terrible habit of not plugging in the charger until the battery dies. It is an immense strain on battery when we work on a laptop having charge under 20%. So putting on the charger as fast as it comes near 20% is best to expand your battery operation and capacity.
Another big mistake we usually make is keeping the charger plugged in all the time. Constantly plugged in wires reduces the number of cycles the battery has. That’s why try to keep your battery cycle between 20% and 80% to have more battery cycles.
“To wrap things up, we can say there are various ways to maximize the operational life of your laptop battery. But from the recommended list Tweaking Your Battery Settings and closing unnecessary big apps during work time is the most important one as these facts drain the battery charge faster. So that was all about increasing your laptop’s battery life.“
