How to Increase Your Laptop’s Battery Life

Over the past few years, technology has reached new levels of advancement and plays a pivotal role in regulating the way society works. People comprising of a wide spectrum of age groups ranging from children to adults are exposed to various forms of technology and gadgets such the computer, telephones, laptops, television and video game consoles. The use of technology, especially the requirement of desktops and laptops, is inherent to any modern professional field and is a common sight in office spaces. The main aim of technology is to simplify the task at hand; hence, purchasing a laptop for work or school will prove to be beneficial. In terms of learning, almost every student is seen working on their laptops since it allows you to take notes and research. In a professional working environment which requires a considerable amount of traveling, a laptop allows an individual to stay connected with his or her co-workers via emails. It is also of service when it comes to preparing presentations and reports.

The functionality of a laptop is similar to that of a desktop although it is much more convenient considering its size and portable nature. It’s most advantageous feature is its portability since it allows a person to finish pending work while traveling from one place to another. Although, due to several technical limitations such as slow processors and power management issues, it results in the battery life to run out fairly quickly.

It is rather frustrating when your laptop runs out of charge, especially when you are facing a deadline or when you need to send an important mail. It serves as a barrier for people working on the go because the likelihood of finding a power source outlet everywhere is minimal. As your personal laptop goes through considerable use, its performance degenerates from the time it was purchased causing the battery to die out rapidly.

However, there are several hacks that allow you to get the most of your laptop battery life. They are as follows:

  • Reduce the screen brightness Reducing your screen’s brightness is an effective way to prolong the battery life of your laptop. The brightness of the display screen is one of the primary factors of power drainage. On any modern day laptop, you can lessen the brightness of your display by pressing the brightness buttons while holding the Fn key. By reducing the brightness of your display, you can prolong the battery life of your laptop by approximately 30 minutes.
  • Modify your power settings By visiting the control panel tab, you can monitor the amount of power that is consumed by altering the power saver plan. By default, it is usually set in the ‘balanced’ option setting. However, there may be other battery saver options available in the settings. It is usually automatically activated when the battery life of any Window’s laptop drops to 20 percent, but the user can choose to activate it manually at any point of time. If a user opts for the battery saver option, the setting consequently lowers the screen brightness and limits background activity in order to obtain longer battery life. You can choose the battery saver option by clicking on the battery icon in the notification portion of the screen, you may then proceed to drag the meter to the left to ensure the optimum amount of battery life that the laptop can generate.
  • Check which application drain the most amount of power and battery life Another hack which will help you consume less amount of power is to kill any application that uses up a lot of power. This hack is applicable to any electronic device such as phones and tablets. It is helpful to switch off power-hungry applications when you are low on battery life. In order to find out which applications consume the most power, click on the battery icon and then proceed to Power and Sleep settings.
  • Resist from connecting to the Wi-Fi and keep your Bluetooth off when it is not necessary It is not always required to be connected to the Wi-Fi connection or keep the Bluetooth setting on. It is advisable to disable your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when you are not using it because it consumes high volumes of battery life.
  • Don’t leave your laptop charging overnight Even though the batteries on which the laptop runs cannot be overcharged, it is recommendable to avoid charging your laptop overnight because it diminishes the performance of the laptop battery over time. It is beneficial if the battery is not fully charged because it depletes the chances of battery degradation. Once your laptop is charged to a 100 percent, unplug it from the main source to avoid damage to your battery.
  • Invest in a battery monitor A battery monitor provides precise data regarding the amount of battery life left as well as charges and cycles. It is helpful since it allows you to know how much longer your laptop can last, which allows you to be more prepared.
  • Keep your laptop cool Using your laptop for a long period of time can cause it to overheat. Overheating of the processor can lead to diminished battery life. It is essential to avoid restriction of air flow. It is advisable to use your laptop on an uplifted surface to ensure the circulation of air emitted by the fans inside your CPU.
  • Choose the option to hibernate oversleep When your laptop is left to stay on without any activity taking place, it results in the laptop in going into sleep mode which consumes minimal power and allows the user to continue his or her task where they left off. However, in case of hibernation, the system is completely shut down for a momentary span of time to ensure no power usage. Opting for hibernation mode instead of sleep allows you to save more battery life.

These were a couple of tips and tricks to prolong your laptop battery life and ensure usage to its full potential. Make them your habit and implement in your daily lifestyle. Using these laptop battery optimization tricks, you will not only able to keep your laptop’s battery charge last longer but also extend its lifetime.

Bradley Wood is a freelance writer who lives in Pomona, Los Angeles. He is pursuing graduation from the University of California (UC). Bradley frequently contributes his high-quality articles in Academics and Education to our site to help students in their day-to-day life.