How to get more usage from your laptop battery
Below are suggestions and tips that can be followed to help extend or make your laptop battery last longer after each charge.
Use power saver or recommended setting
Open the power settings by clicking the battery icon in the Systray. Make sure your laptop is set to either Power saver or xxxx Recommended, where "xxxx" is the name of the laptop manufacturer (e.g., HP (Hewlett-Packard) Recommended).
Decrease brightness
Decrease the brightness of your screen as much as possible by adjusting the power options, as mentioned above.
Disconnect any accessories
Any external accessory such as a USB (universal serial bus) device, external backup, etc. is going to draw power from the computer. Make sure to unplug any of these devices when on battery. Using the touchpad instead of a USB computer mouse can also help battery life.
Keep your computer running fast
Make sure your computer is running at its peak performance by following the below suggestions. A computer that is running more efficiently is going to take less power.
- If you're running Windows with a non-SSD make sure to defrag the drive frequently.
- If you have an antivirus scanner on the computer, make sure its scheduled scans are not running while it's running from the battery.
- When working on a laptop, try to limit how much you multitasking you do. The more programs that are open, the more processing it's going to take.
- Lower the screen resolution.
Use hibernate instead of using standby
When closing the lid or pressing the power button, make sure it's set to go into hibernation instead of standby. When in standby, the laptop is still using some power.
Don't use or if available disable hardware peripherals
Try to avoid using the CD (compact disc), DVD (digital versatile disc), or Blu-ray disc drive in the computer while running off the battery. To listen to a CD, rip the audio from that CD to the computer and play the MP3 files.
Also, make sure to disable wi-fi if you're not planning on using it.
Third-party battery utilities
Consider third-party battery utilities such as BatteryCare that can give you additional status and information on your battery.
Battery slice or extra battery
If your battery life is still insufficient after following the above steps, you may want to consider getting an extra battery or battery slice.
Keep the battery healthy
Replace the battery
If your battery still doesn't hold a charge, it may be dead. We suggest replacing the battery.