With the Windows 10 operating system, Microsoft hoped to fix problems that have plagued Windows PCs for years. The operating system introduces new tricks to make laptops and tablets last longer between charges. You can use these tools to fix bad Windows 10 battery life.
Windows 10 is an ongoing free software update for laptops, desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Microsoft has started offering the upgrade completely free to anyone and everyone with the latest two versions of Windows installed. Most users don’t seem to notice a significant change in their system’s overall battery life when they don’t use the new power-saving tools. Few users are reporting that their Windows 10 battery life has seriously deteriorated. Here are some ways to fix these problems.
How to Fix Bad Windows 10 Battery Life: Before You Begin
Before fixing bad Windows 10 battery life, it’s important to understand what can cause bad battery life in the first place. You may be blaming the OS upgrade when something else is actually causing the problem.
The biggest drain on a battery is always a screen. Most Windows 10 devices use LCD technology, which requires backlighting so you can see what’s on the screen. It is this backlight that you change when you adjust your screen brightness. Another major contention with batteries is the processors. If your process is running a lot, you will see battery life shortened. Finally, accessories plugged into your laptop or tablet can consume battery life.
The first step in fixing bad Windows 10 battery life is to check if anything other than Windows 10 is affecting your battery life. Maybe your screen is brighter than usual or your smartphone is plugged in, feeding its battery? Try closing non-essential programs and disconnecting unnecessary accessories to see if that’s why your Windows 10 laptop or tablet is taking less time between charges. Reducing the screen brightness will also increase battery life.
How to Fix Bad Windows 10 Battery Life: Get Latest Drivers and Updates
Fixing bad Windows 10 battery life starts with checking that you have the latest drivers and software updates. Drivers are instructions that tell Windows how to interact with the hardware inside your laptop or tablet. Operating system upgrades often require users to refresh the drivers installed on their computers. This means you may have new drivers waiting for your PC after doing the Windows 10 Upgrade.
Click or tap the message bubble on the right side of the Taskbar to open it.
Tap or click .
Tap or click .
Now click or tap the button labeled
Windows 10 will reach Windows Update for the latest drivers and software upgrades. Note that your computer may have a special utility for this as well. Search the Start Menu/Start Screen for specific update utilities. They all have different names, but you’ll recognize them when you see the update utility. For example, Dell Update comes pre-installed on Dell’s machines.
How to Fix Bad Windows 10 Battery Life: Battery Analyzer
If updating to the latest software utilities and drivers still hasn’t done anything to reduce your battery life issues, it’s time to start investigating what’s running on your Windows 10 PC. You can increase battery life by turning off demanding programs downloaded from the web or utilities that came with your machine.
Take the Dell XPS 15 for example, it has an imaging program that allows users to adjust the settings on the 4K display. The problem is that the program sometimes seems to run amok, forcing the processor to work harder and reducing the expected battery life. It’s common for XPS 15 owners to go into the Task Manager and force the app to close.
To see which apps and programs have an impact on your device’s battery life, click or tap the search bar at the bottom of your screen and search for “battery life.” Choose the first setting that comes up.
The Battery Usage tool analyzes which apps and programs have a major impact on your machine’s battery performance. In our example, TuneIn and Microsoft’s own Edge web browser are huge losses in performance on our test machine. Users can choose to prevent an app accessible from the Windows Store from running in the background, which is responsible for the error.
Programs that shorten battery life should be closed or uninstalled. To uninstall a program, search in the search box you used in the Taskbar before. Don’t remove anything you need to get things done on a regular basis. If you see something you don’t recognize, try searching online for information about what it does before removing it.
How to Fix Bad Windows 10 Battery Life: Battery Saver
Windows 10 has a Battery Saver that kicks in when your battery reaches low. You can manually turn on Battery Saver from the Action Center and increase your device’s time between charges. Click or tap the Action Center button on the Taskbar, then click the text Expand. Keep in mind that it’s a bad idea to always leave this feature on, it keeps notifications for emails and stops most apps downloaded from the Windows Store from running in the background.
How to Fix Bad Windows 10 Battery Life – Go Back to Windows 7 and Windows 8
If you’ve tried everything and still don’t have the battery life you’re used to, it might be time to consider switching back to Windows 8 or Windows 7 from Windows 10. You can do this provided you have upgraded. Windows 10 in the past month.
Good luck with fixing bad Windows 10 battery life.
