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Windows 11 Battery Drain: 6 Ways to Permanently Fix it

Screen brightness is the feature that drains battery life the most

4 min. read

Updated onFebruary 13, 2024

updated onFebruary 13, 2024

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Windows 11 comes up with plenty of new features and cool improvements. However, it seems like these require higher performance, and users encounter battery drain issues.

From what they say, after upgrading the OS to the newest version, their device went from casual use to barely half of the normal terms.

For example, if laptops were able to work around 3-4 hours before, this issue slows them to a maximum of 1.5-2 hours. Since you’ll need to always check your battery and charge your device, this issue can be pretty annoying.

If you want toimprove your battery life on Windows 11, check out our article.

Why do Windows 11 battery drain issues appear?

Why do Windows 11 battery drain issues appear?

The first one implies loading too many background apps that consume battery power even if they are not being used.

Incompatibilities between your device and the newest OS specifications might be another explanation for this issue. SinceWindows 11 requirements are official, we suggest checking if your laptop meets them.

Considering Windows 11 doesn’t support old devices, aged devices can be another reason for battery draining. Also, consider that some settings preferences can reduce its capacity.

How to fix the Windows 11 draining battery issue?

How to fix the Windows 11 draining battery issue?

1. Reduce the screen brightness

2. Enable the battery saver

3. Adjust Battery Video Playback

A great method to fix the battery drain issue on your Windows 11 device is to adjust your system settings to optimize the display when viewing HDR videos. When viewing HDR content on your device, your display’s brightness automatically turns up in order to show you bright and vibrant images. You can manually configure display settings to optimize for battery life instead.

  1. Press theWindows keyon your keyboard and typeSettingsin the search box.

  2. Click on the result to open the Settings app.

3.Go toApps, then click onVideo playback.

  1. Navigate to theBattery optionssectionand click on theOptimize battery for lifebutton.

5.Ensure that bothDon’t automatically process the video when on batteryandPlay the video at a lower resolution when on batteryare checked.

6.Go back toSystem > Display.

7.Navigate toHDR.

  1. Tap the drop-down menu besideBattery Optionsand selectOptimize for battery life.

  2. Click onApplyand tapOKafter you finish.

4. Optimize the Power Plan

5. Use the Dynamic Refresh Rate Mode

6. Prevent apps from running in the background

Since battery usage depends on how many apps are loading and running in the background, you should prevent this by closing unimportant ones. Additionally, you can tryBattery Optimizerthat will automatically perform a scan of your PC and make changes in order to extend battery life.

Certain apps drain your battery faster than others. Thus, you should take a look at thisguide on how to check battery usage & health in Windows 11.

Moreover, to make sure you won’t get viruses and to save your battery as much as possible readhow to block potentially unwanted apps on your Windows device.

What apps drain your Windows 11 battery the most?

For example, video games with medium and high requirements need a lot of computer power from the graphics card and also from the processor. And that’s why they can drain your battery really fast.

Using web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, or Opera, with a lot of tabs opened at once will also drain a lot of battery. Instead, you can try using Microsoft Edge, and this ishow to enable its Efficiency mode on Windows 11.

Moreover, running the new integrated Android apps may get Windows 11 into the battery drain issue.

As you can notice, there are plenty of methods you can try to stop your Windows 11 battery from draining. It’s not mandatory to use all of them but to get the best out of it, we recommend doing it.

Keeping your device on a high-performance plan can simplify your work, so checkinghow to use the ultimate power plan in Windowswill surely make a huge difference.

If yourlaptop battery drains when off, we have a special guide that addresses that issue.

If you have any additional questions, do not hesitate to leave a comment in the section below.

More about the topics:battery issues,Windows 11

Vladimir Popescu

Being an artist his entire life while also playing handball at a professional level, Vladimir has also developed a passion for all things computer-related.

With an innate fascination for research and analysis, and realizing many other people share his passion for this subject, he delved into writing Windows-related articles, so other people can also benefit from the acquired information.

When not writing kick-ass articles, Vladimir likes to spend his time doing Crossfit and creating art.

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Vladimir Popescu

Reviewed byVlad Turiceanu

Coming from a solid background in PC building and software development, he’s a Windows 11 Privacy & Security expert.More about Vlad ›