If you have a fairly modern laptop, chances are it already lasts for hours on a single charge. As hardware components, programs, and operating systems become more and more power efficient, we are seeing an era of relatively low battery consumption, at least in the default configuration. For example, the Windows operating system chooses the “Balanced” power plan by default because it provides an ideal balance between performance and battery life. But there is one setting that can easily extend your laptop’s battery life by more than an hour without affecting its performance: brightness level.
Your laptop’s screen is one of the most energy-consuming components. While other components adjust power consumption based on workload, the display continually consumes power when active. And as screen brightness increases, so does the extent of battery drain. Keep in mind that battery consumption also depends on active tasks, screen size and display technology. For example, a static wallpaper won’t consume as much power as playing a video. Tests analyzing the impact of brightness on battery life suggest that decreasing brightness by 30% can reduce the discharge rate by up to 30%. These numbers obviously vary from laptop to laptop, but they give a clear idea of the impact.
So, if you want to extend your laptop’s battery life, adjusting brightness levels is one of the easiest solutions. It’s quite simple, requires no major changes and the results are immediately visible.
Reduce screen brightness levels to improve battery life
Kazim Alvi/BGR
Most operating systems have an easy-to-access slider for adjusting brightness levels. On Windows, you’ll find it under Quick Settings in the bottom right corner. It can also be accessed using the keyboard shortcut “Windows + A”. Likewise, you can change the brightness in the Control Center, accessible via the “fn+C” shortcut, on macOS. On both systems, you can also find dedicated keyboard buttons to increase and decrease the screen brightness.
The optimal brightness levels for a laptop depend on where it is used. If you are using the laptop indoors, a value between 40% and 60% should be sufficient, while outdoor use may require higher brightness for better visibility. Reducing the brightness not only improves battery life, but also reduces eye strain during prolonged use. This is another reason to change the setting.
Additionally, if your laptop supports it, enable adaptive or automatic brightness. The feature, available on Windows and macOS, automatically adjusts the screen brightness based on the lighting conditions around the laptop. This way you won’t have to manually adjust levels when changing the laptop’s position. In Windows you can find the option under Settings > System > Display > Brightness > Automatically change brightness when lighting changes. On macOS, it’s under System Settings > Displays > Automatically adjust brightness. While there are many ways to increase your laptop’s battery life, lowering the brightness is clearly the first thing to do because it’s simple and doesn’t affect performance or usability.
