There's nothing more frustrating than your laptop dying in the middle of an important task. Whether you're working from a cafe in Melbourne, studying at the university library, or travelling across the country, laptop battery life matters.
The good news is that with a few simple adjustments, you can significantly extend how long your laptop lasts on a single charge—and even preserve your battery's long-term health. Here are 15 proven tips that actually work.
Immediate Battery Savers
These tips will help you squeeze more life out of your current charge right now.
1. Lower Your Screen Brightness
Your laptop's display is one of the biggest power consumers. Reducing brightness from 100% to 50% can add an hour or more to your battery life. Most laptops have brightness controls on the function keys (usually F1/F2 or F5/F6 with a sun icon).
When indoors, you rarely need full brightness. Start at 50% and adjust up only if needed. Your eyes will adapt quickly, and your battery will thank you.
2. Use the Built-in Power Saving Mode
Both Windows and macOS have power-saving modes that automatically optimise settings for battery life:
- Windows 11: Click the battery icon in the taskbar, then select "Best power efficiency" or "Battery saver"
- macOS: Go to System Preferences > Battery and enable "Low Power Mode"
These modes reduce background activity, lower performance slightly, and dim the screen—often adding 20-30% more battery life.
Quick Tip
Set your laptop to automatically enable power saving mode when battery drops below 30%. This happens automatically on most modern systems, but it's worth checking your settings.
3. Close Unnecessary Browser Tabs and Applications
Every open application consumes memory and processor power, which drains your battery. Those 47 browser tabs you've been meaning to read? They're silently draining your battery.
Close applications you're not actively using. If you need to keep tabs for later, use a browser extension like OneTab to save them without keeping them active.
4. Turn Off WiFi and Bluetooth When Not Needed
Wireless radios constantly scan for connections, consuming power even when you're not actively using them. If you're working on a document offline, switch to airplane mode.
On Windows, click the WiFi icon and select Airplane Mode. On Mac, use the Control Centre to toggle these off individually.
5. Disable Keyboard Backlighting
If your laptop has a backlit keyboard, turning it off can save noticeable battery power. You'll typically find this control on your function keys (look for a keyboard icon with light rays).
In well-lit environments, you don't need keyboard backlighting anyway. Save it for dimly lit situations when you actually need it.
Settings Optimisation
6. Reduce Display Timeout and Sleep Settings
Configure your laptop to turn off the screen quickly when you step away:
- Set display to turn off after 2-3 minutes of inactivity
- Set computer to sleep after 5-10 minutes when on battery
These settings are found in Windows Settings > System > Power & Battery, or Mac System Preferences > Battery.
7. Disable Automatic Updates on Battery
System updates running in the background consume significant resources. Configure your laptop to only download and install updates when plugged in.
On Windows 11, go to Settings > Windows Update > Advanced Options and enable "Download updates over metered connections" to off. This gives you more control over when updates happen.
8. Turn Off Location Services
Many applications constantly track your location, which requires GPS, WiFi scanning, and processor activity. Unless you specifically need location services, disable them.
Windows: Settings > Privacy & Security > Location. Mac: System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Location Services.
Long-Term Battery Health
These practices help preserve your battery's capacity over months and years.
9. Avoid Extreme Temperatures
Batteries are sensitive to temperature. Operating your laptop in very hot or cold conditions can permanently reduce battery capacity. Ideal operating temperature is 10-35°C.
Never leave your laptop in a hot car, and avoid using it on soft surfaces like beds that can block ventilation and cause overheating. If your laptop feels hot, give it a break.
10. Don't Always Charge to 100%
Modern lithium-ion batteries experience more stress when kept at full charge or completely drained. For maximum longevity, try to keep your battery between 20% and 80%.
Some laptops have built-in battery health features:
- Lenovo: Conservation Mode limits charging to 60%
- ASUS: Battery Health Charging offers 60%, 80%, or 100% limits
- Apple: "Optimized Battery Charging" learns your routine and delays charging past 80%
Important
If you're about to be away from power for an extended period, charging to 100% is absolutely fine. These recommendations are for daily use patterns when you have regular access to charging.
11. Unplug When Fully Charged (Sometimes)
Keeping your laptop plugged in 24/7 at 100% can stress the battery over time. If you primarily use your laptop at a desk, try unplugging occasionally and letting it discharge to 40-50% before plugging back in.
Modern laptops are smart about managing this, but giving your battery some exercise helps maintain its chemistry.
12. Update Your Operating System and Drivers
Software updates often include power management improvements. An updated graphics driver might reduce power consumption by 10-15%. Keep your system current for the best battery optimisation.
Hardware Considerations
13. Use Integrated Graphics When Possible
If your laptop has both integrated and dedicated graphics (common in gaming laptops), make sure it's using integrated graphics for everyday tasks. Dedicated GPUs consume significantly more power.
On Windows with an NVIDIA GPU, right-click the desktop > NVIDIA Control Panel > Manage 3D settings, and set "Preferred graphics processor" to "Auto-select" or "Integrated graphics" for non-gaming applications.
14. Consider External Storage for Large Files
If you frequently work with large files (videos, photo libraries), accessing them from an external SSD connected via USB-C can be more efficient than your laptop's internal drive constantly spinning up.
This also frees up internal storage, which can improve overall system performance and indirectly benefit battery life.
15. Calibrate Your Battery Occasionally
About once every few months, let your battery drain to around 5% (you'll get a low battery warning), then charge it fully to 100% without interruption. This helps the battery's internal meter stay accurate.
Note: This is about calibration, not regular practice. For daily use, keeping the battery between 20-80% is still better for long-term health.
When to Replace Your Battery
Even with perfect care, laptop batteries degrade over time. Signs it's time for a replacement:
- Battery life has dropped to less than half of original capacity
- Your laptop shuts down suddenly even with charge remaining
- The battery is physically swelling (replace immediately—this is a safety issue)
- Windows or macOS shows a "Replace Battery" warning
Many laptops allow user battery replacement, while others require professional service. Check your manufacturer's warranty—batteries that fail within the warranty period are often covered.
Check Your Battery Health
On Windows, open Command Prompt and type powercfg /batteryreport to generate a detailed battery health report. On Mac, hold Option and click the battery icon to see condition status.
Putting It All Together
You don't need to implement all 15 tips at once. Start with the easy wins: lower brightness, enable power saving mode, and close unused applications. These three changes alone can add an hour or more to your battery life.
For long-term battery health, focus on avoiding temperature extremes and not keeping your laptop perpetually charged to 100%. Your battery will maintain its capacity much longer.
Remember, a laptop battery is a consumable part that will eventually wear out—but with good habits, you can delay that day significantly and get the most out of every charge in the meantime.