How to extend the life of your laptop battery
Are you often frustrated at how quickly your laptop’s battery runs out of juice? Laptop batteries work on the same principle as your phone, tablets and pretty much every other battery in the world. That is, when the battery is in use, it’ll run down – it’s inevitable really. We’ve already covered how to make your iPhone and iPad battery last longer, and best battery charging practices, but here are five tips that will help to extend the life of your laptop battery.
1. Turn off unnecessary functions
The first step in extending your battery life is to turn off all the functions that you don’t need at the time. If you’re not using the internet or any wireless accessories, then turning off wifi and Bluetooth will give you longer battery life. If you do need wifi and Bluetooth on, then try blocking online apps such as Dropbox, AirDrop, OneDrive and iCloud. It also pays to turn off any apps that may update in the background, such as back-up software and location services.
2. Do one thing at a time
Having multiple apps open at any one time will drain your battery power faster than only having one open. So, if you’re running out of juice, using one app at a time will help you get more out of your battery. If you’re really running low, then using text-editing software, such as Apple Notes or Windows TextPad, will sponge less power from your battery.
3. Check your energy-saving settings
Your Mac laptop comes with a fantastic function for efficient use of power called ‘Energy Saver’. You’ll find a similar feature on your PC called ‘Power Options’. Both have automatic settings that can help to extend your laptop’s battery life, and also allow you to manually input settings, such as when to put your computer to sleep if you’re not using it, and other options to improve battery efficiency. You can also dim your screen and backlit keyboard, and mute your speakers to save battery power. Sometimes, turning down your screen resolution can also help maintain battery charge for longer.
4. Keep cool
Laptops tend to become hot when in use, and when they get hot, the cooling fans kick in which, you guessed it, uses more battery power. Try to keep your laptop cool by followingRyan’s tips to stop your laptop overheating.
5. Turn it off
It probably goes without saying that your computer uses less power whilst it’s not switched on. So, if you don’t plan on using it for a while, why not turn it off? Sometimes things are just that simple.
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