Have an old laptop that drains battery so fast it concerns you? That happens, but it’s dealable to some extent. Follow the guide to learn some ways that can help you breathe new life into your existing battery and make it last longer. So, let’s jump in.
Ways to extend the life of a laptop battery
If you want to improve the life of your laptop battery, then these are the steps that you need to follow.
- The first quick thing you can do is to enable battery conservation mode. Most modern laptops have software from the manufacturer that lets you cap the maximum charge at 55 percent to 80 percent. If your laptop is usually plugged in and stays stable, keeping it capped at a partial charge prevents the high-voltage stress of sitting at 100 percent constantly.
- You may have heard some fans suddenly starting up in your laptops. This is the next thing. Keep the air flowing. Laptops generate a lot of internal heat, and heat degrades the battery rapidly. Therefore, always try to use your laptop on a hard, flat surface like a desk or a laptop stand so the cooling vents are not blocked. Avoid using it on soft surfaces like a bed, blanket, or your lap, which trap heat.
- You should also manage your brightness and keyboard backlights. The display panel drains energy faster than most people understand. Lowering your brightness by just a few notches can drastically reduce the energy demanded from the battery per minute. Turning off the keyboard backlight also helps the battery last longer without a charge.
- Only focus on what you’re working on. Close heavy background programs. Web browsers with dozens of open tabs and apps running in the system keep your processor active, thereby draining the energy. The harder your processor works, the more power it draws and the hotter the laptop gets.
- Unplug external stuff when not in use. It just makes things heavier and draining for the laptop to deal with. External hard drives, mice, keyboards, and even USB flash drives draw power directly from your laptop battery to stay operational. If you are running on battery power, disconnect any accessories you are not actively using.
- As bizarre as it may sound right now, you can choose to avoid deep discharges. Try not to let your laptop drain completely to zero percent. Shallow discharges, like plugging it back in when it reaches 15-20%, are much easier on lithium-ion batteries than when they drop to a complete 0. It is a healthier way to charge in the long run and keeps the battery healthy.
