The first thing I do when I notice my battery isn’t lasting as long as it used to is to check which apps are draining the most. It’s a bit ironic — some programs quietly chug away in the background without you realising. The simplest way I’ve found is to open the Settings app by pressing Windows key + I, then navigate to System > Power & Battery. Some folks recommend just typing battery usage
into the Start menu search bar — on certain Windows versions, it’ll open the battery overview straight away, which is pretty handy.
Once you’re in there, you’ll see a list of apps showing how much power they’ve used. Sometimes the culprits are apps running in the background that you might not even be aware of. Clicking the three dots (or right-clicking an app) usually presents an option called Manage background activity. This is where the magic begins — on Windows 11, you might see toggles like Let Windows decide or Always run in background. To save power, I turned off background activity for apps I wasn’t actively using. If an app has its own settings panel—like in Settings > Apps—you can often disable background processes there, too. It’s a good way to cut down on unnecessary activity that’s just gobbling your battery without any real benefit. The key is to be selective — don’t turn everything off, just disable what’s not needed and keep the essentials running.
This caught me a bit off guard — some apps automatically switch to the dedicated GPU to give better graphics performance, especially during gaming or video editing. Perfect if your battery’s got unlimited juice, but not ideal when you’re on the go. So, I looked into how to tell Windows to limit GPU usage for apps that don’t really need desktop-class visuals.
Open Settings with Windows + I, then go to System > Display. From there, find and click on Graphics; sometimes it’s under Advanced graphics settings. You’ll see a list of apps — pick the one you want to control. Then click Options and switch from Maximum Performance to Power Saving. If the app isn’t listed, hit Browse and locate the program’s executable file — usually in C:\Program Files
or C:\Program Files (x86)
. It sounds a bit technical, but it’s worth it — limiting GPU load for background apps can really give your battery a boost. Just be careful not to disable GPU acceleration for apps that need it — like games or creative software. For most everyday tasks, setting your apps to use the integrated GPU can save a fair bit of power.
Sometimes it’s the small things… I hadn’t realised how much power those tiny keyboard LEDs gobble up until I turned mine off. If your laptop has backlit keys, there’s usually a shortcut — often on the function keys like F5 or F6 — that toggles the backlight, sometimes marked with a keyboard glow icon. Otherwise, you can check in Settings > Devices > Typing > Keyboard Backlight or a similar menu, depending on your machine. If you have a dedicated button, just press it to switch the backlight off when you don’t need it.
This might seem trivial, but over several hours, dimming or switching off the backlit keyboard can save a noticeable amount of power. Some laptops even have BIOS settings for keyboard backlight — usually accessed during boot by hitting F2 or Del. If you’re comfortable exploring BIOS (and confident you won’t wreck anything), that can be another way to disable it permanently. Just a heads-up — fiddling in BIOS isn’t for the faint-hearted. On my older ASUS, it was tucked away in Advanced settings, but newer models often make it easier to turn off.
This was the most noticeable tweak for me. The default balanced mode is fine for everyday use, but if you want to squeeze every bit of juice out of your battery, switching to Power Saver or Best Power Efficiency can help. Open Settings with Windows + I, then go to System > Power & Battery. In the Power Mode dropdown, select Best Power Efficiency. You might also see options like Balanced or Better Performance. Choosing the power-saving profile tweaks background activity, processor speed, and other settings — often quite aggressively.
If you’re still using Windows 10, you might see a link labelled Additional Power Settings which takes you to Control Panel > Power Options. Here, you can select from preset plans or create your own. I usually kick things off with the Power Saver plan and tweak a few options — dimmer display, shorter sleep timers, disabling hybrid sleep, and turning off fast startup (if it’s causing issues). For even finer control, click on Change advanced power settings
— you can limit the Maximum processor state to around 50-70% and experiment from there. Windows 11 also offers Power Throttling, which reduces background activity on some apps; great if you’re into the tech side. Just remember, some changes may require a restart or re-login to take full effect.
Honestly, I spent quite a bit of time tweaking these settings — some hidden or requiring a bit of digging — but combining app management, limiting GPU usage, disabling keyboard backlight, and choosing power-efficient modes really gave my battery life a boost. It’s not magic, and hardware age definitely plays a part, but every little bit helps when you’re away from a power outlet.
Hope these tips help — it took me ages to figure them all out. Good luck, and I hope this saves someone else a whole lot of frustration!