Windows PCs have greatly improved in the battery department, especially the latest laptops. However, not everyone owns the latest and greatest; over time, any electronic device’s battery performance degrades. I have a 3-year-old Windows laptop that used to easily offer 6–7 hours of screen time during its prime, but now it can’t even last three hours without needing to be plugged in. That’s the case for many portable Windows 11 PCs, whether new or old. While you can’t control hardware limitations, you can make plenty of software tweaks to get the most out of a single charge, and I’ll show you how.

7 Lower brightness

The lower the better

You might have seen this one coming, but the brightness of your PC’s screen has an enormous impact on its battery life. The brighter the screen, the more power it uses, which drains the battery faster. Lowering the screen brightness is one of the easiest and most effective ways to extend battery life on your Windows PC.

I recommend keeping the brightness at 30 to 40 percent. This way, it’s not too bright or too dim. You can adjust the brightness by clicking the notification icon on the taskbar and using the brightness slider or by using the dedicated brightness keys on your keyboard.

6 Turn on Battery Saver

You don't have to wait for the battery to drop below 20%

Windows 11 includes a Battery Saver option, which instantly disables activities that drain battery life, such as push notifications, background apps, and email syncing. By default, Battery Saver is set to turn on automatically when your battery level drops below 20%.

You can raise the threshold for activating the Battery Saver if it doesn’t interfere with your normal activities. To do this, go to Settings -> System -> Power & Battery and click the down arrow next to Energy Saver to expand its options.

If you want to turn on Battery Saver manually without opening Settings, click the battery icon in the notification area and select the Battery Saver option. You’ll know it’s active when a leaf icon appears over the battery icon. The laptop automatically turns off Battery Saver when you plug it into an external power source.

5 Adjust sleep settings

Put the PC to sleep if you're not using it

The display is one of the most power-intensive parts of a modern PC, so turning it off quickly is a smart way to save energy. Reducing the display and sleep timeout settings can help extend your battery life. The shorter the time intervals, the better it is for your battery health.

1. Open Settings.
2. Click System.
3. Select Power & Battery.
4. Use the drop-down menu under Screen and sleep to shorten the display and sleep time out when running on battery power.

4 Disable apps at startup

They can waste battery power

Applications that launch at startup and run in the background can waste battery power. To stop them from launching at startup, use Task Manager. First, open it by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc. Then, click the Startup tab. Review the list of applications and disable any that you don’t use or need by right-clicking them and selecting Disable. If unsure what an application does, right-click it and select Search online for more information.

3 Disable animation effects

You don't need them anyway

Animations and shadows don’t serve a significant purpose apart from making your laptop look cool. If you have a powerful PC with decent battery life, disabling animations won’t make much of a difference. However, if you’re using an older device, disabling it can help improve both battery life and performance.

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Accessibility, then Visual effects.
3. Toggle the Animation effects button to turn the animation effects off.

2 Shut down your laptop

Closing the lid doesn't count

This isn’t a setting you change, but more of a habit. Many of us don’t bother shutting down our laptops — myself included. But just closing the lid or putting your PC to sleep can drain the battery more than you’d think. By default, Windows 11 uses a feature called Modern Standby, which keeps the PC connected to Wi-Fi in a low-power state while it’s asleep. This lets Windows wake up quickly and even download updates while the computer is idle. However, this feature can eat into your battery life.

If shutting down manually feels like too much effort, you can set your laptop to shut down automatically when you close the lid.

1. Open Control Panel.
2. Click Hardware and Sound.
3. Select Power Options.
4. In the left pane, click on Choose what closing the lid does.
5. Under the On battery section, find the When I close the lid setting and choose Shut down.
6. Click Save changes.

1 Change power mode

Don't settle for the default mode

Windows 11 comes with three modes: Balanced, Best performance, and Best power efficiency. Windows sets all PCs to a Balanced power plan by default, but as the names suggest, this one’s not the most power-efficient mode. Set your PC’s mode to Best power efficiency to save battery.

Wake up to a more efficient Windows PC

You don’t have to buy a new laptop to improve battery life. You can make plenty of software tweaks to get more time away from the outlet. There are plenty of tips and tricks to further boost your Windows PC’s battery.