What’s Killing the Battery Life on Your Laptop?

See What’s Killing the Battery on Your Laptop

Learn how to find out which programs are draining your battery life on your laptop. Use this simple tip to maximize the battery while you are out and about.  

If you own a laptop for very long, you are likely going to run into a situation where your battery seems to drain faster than expected. It can certainly be frustrating to find that your battery is low or dead altogether – especially if you have work that you need to take care of. Fortunately, Windows 10 makes it easy to see where your battery power is going.

What’s Killing Your Laptop Battery?

If your laptop battery seems to be draining faster than you expect, there is a quick way for you to see what programs are using the most power. Once you find out what is using up your battery, you can manage the applications that you keep running when you are away from an outlet. Keep in mind that older batteries or defective batteries are going to drain faster, even if you do everything you can to manage your power usage. But as long as you have a decent battery, using the right power management strategies should make it much easier to get things done without killing your battery.

Steps to Check Battery Usage

1. Click the Start button.

The standard settings on Windows 10 put the Start button on the bottom left of the screen. The button does not say ‘Start’, but is represented by a Windows icon instead.

2. Select Settings.

The Gear icon with ‘Settings’ next to it should be one of the options that pops up when you click the Start button. This will take you to your computer settings.

3. Select System.

The System icon looks like an open laptop, and says ‘Display, notifications, apps, power’ underneath.

4. Select Battery saver.

This will take you to the settings for your power usage when your laptop is using the battery. It will show you how much battery power you have left, as well as give you an option for saving battery power by clicking the Battery saver button.

5. Select Battery use.

Underneath the blue bar that represents your remaining battery life will be an option for ‘Battery use’. Selecting this will show you all the apps that have used your battery power and how much power each used.

6. Consider controlling which apps run in the background.

If you click on an app in the Battery use section, you will have the option to get more ‘Details’ about the app. One of the ways you can minimize how much battery each app uses is to turn off ‘Allow this app to run in the background’.

Be Strategic in Your Battery Usage

With the information provided by the Batter use option in Windows 10, you can find out which apps are using your battery and create a strategy to maximize your battery power for the things you need most. Avoid using battery eating apps that you do not need while you are away from a power source.