How to Make Your Laptop Battery Last Longer

IT Technician @ITBrother

September 5, 2025

DISCLAIMER: The information provided in this blog is based on personal experience and readily available public information. While I strive to ensure accuracy and clarity, some content may reflect my own opinions or practices and may not apply to every situation. Always do your own research or consult with a qualified professional when making decisions based on the topics discussed here. I am not responsible for any outcomes resulting from the use of the information provided.

Laptops have become essential tools for work, study, and entertainment—especially when you’re on the go without a nearby power source. That’s why knowing how to extend your laptop’s battery life is crucial.

When we talk about making your laptop last longer, there are two key aspects:

Maximizing battery usage per charge, and
Maintaining long-term battery health.

Below are several tips you can follow to ensure your laptop battery lasts as long as possible—both in the short term and over time.

How to Get the Most Battery Life Per Charge

If you’re looking to squeeze every minute out of your laptop’s current battery charge, here are some immediate steps you can take:

1. Switch to Power Saver Mode

The first thing you should do is change your power settings to Power Saver mode. By default, most laptops run on Balanced Mode, which uses battery power as it sees fit. Power Saver mode, on the other hand, limits performance and background processes to reduce battery consumption.

How to Enable It:
Click the battery icon in the bottom right corner of your screen and move the slider to Power Saver or Energy Saver. If you’re performing light tasks like web browsing or document editing, this change alone can give you an extra hour or two of usage.

2. Lower Your Screen Brightness

One of the biggest drains on battery life is your laptop’s display. Running your screen at full brightness consumes a lot of power. Try dimming the brightness to around 50%—you’ll still be able to see clearly, and you could gain up to a few extra hours of battery life depending on your laptop model.

3. Turn On Airplane Mode

Just like on smartphones, enabling Airplane Mode disables your laptop’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which prevents your device from constantly searching for networks or devices. This is especially useful when working offline in programs like Microsoft Office or Adobe apps.

Keep in mind that enabling Airplane Mode disconnects you from the internet, so only use this if you’re working locally.

Quality-of-Life Tradeoffs

While these methods are effective, they do come at a cost:

Performance may drop in Power Saver mode.
Lower brightness may affect visibility in bright environments.
No internet access in Airplane Mode can be inconvenient.

These tradeoffs are worth considering depending on your use case. However, if extending battery life is your top priority, these compromises may be necessary.

Advanced Battery-Saving Techniques

The following tips are for users with more experience, as they involve deeper control of your system and may come with certain risks.

1. Close Background Programs

Some applications—like messaging apps, launchers, or antivirus software—continue running in the background even after you’ve closed their windows. These background processes use system resources and can significantly drain your battery.

What to do:
Open Task Manager and check the Startup and Background Processes tabs. Disable or end unnecessary tasks that don’t need to run.

2. Debloat Windows 11

Windows 11 is more resource-intensive than previous versions, and many pre-installed apps and services can slow down your system and reduce battery life.

Debloating refers to the process of removing unnecessary apps and services. This usually requires third-party tools like O&O AppBuster, Bloatbox, or Windows10Debloater scripts.

⚠️ Warning: Only use trusted tools from reputable sources. Misuse can cause system instability.

3. Use Integrated Graphics (for Gaming Laptops)

If you’re using a high-end gaming laptop, your system likely has both integrated and discrete graphics (NVIDIA Optimus or AMD Enduro). Discrete graphics cards consume far more power, so for everyday use, switch to integrated graphics to extend battery life.

How to Preserve Long-Term Battery Health

Aside from daily usage habits, keeping your battery in good health over the long term is just as important.

Don’t Keep Your Laptop Plugged In All the Time

Leaving your laptop plugged in constantly can wear down the battery over time. While modern laptops do have battery management systems to prevent overcharging, heat buildup and constant charging cycles can still degrade battery health.

Best Practice:
Only plug in your laptop when the battery is low—ideally below 20–30%—and unplug it when it reaches around 80–90%. If you’re using your laptop as a desktop replacement, consider enabling a battery conservation mode (many manufacturers like Lenovo, Dell, and ASUS offer this) to limit charging to a safer percentage.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re trying to get through a full day of work on a single charge or just want your battery to last for years to come, these tips can help you get the most out of your laptop.

Windows has evolved significantly since Windows 7. Back then, it was a much simpler and more efficient operating system with fewer background services. But over the years, each new version has introduced more features—many of which run in the background—leading to increased battery consumption. Windows 11, in particular, is more demanding and bloated, requiring users to be more proactive in managing performance and power settings.

Understanding both the hardware and software aspects of battery management is key to making your laptop work for you—not the other way around.

Need Help with Your Computer?
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