All batteries wear out over time, but they don’t wear out at the same speed. You and someone else, given the same brand-new laptop on the same day, could have quite different battery life after two years. It depends on charging levels, heat, how you store it, and avoiding the deadly zero-charge. What that means is that the way you use your laptop determines the lifespan of the battery.

At First Step Technologies, we don’t just sell and fix I.T. gadgets, we teach you how to get the most out of your gadgets. Here are our tips for keeping your laptop battery running as long as possible:

1. Prevent It from Dropping to Zero

The first and foremost thing you need to keep in mind to extend laptop battery life is that you shouldn’t let it drop to zero. Another question that many individuals ask is; Should I charge my laptop to 100? No! A full recharge can be as tragic as a standing zero.

The only time you should allow your battery to drain completely is when you want to install a new battery. For your information, this is done for the sake of your device, as draining the batteries completely will calibrate the battery gauge.

2. Keep your laptop cool

If your battery gets too hot, it won’t charge normally, which is why you should never leave your laptop in a hot car or sitting outside on a warm day. If your laptop does get too hot, try the following steps:

a) Take a break from using your device until it’s completely cooled down. Turn off your laptop, unplug the power cord, and remove the battery (if possible).

b) Inspect the vents and fan for dirt or other signs of blockage—you can find the fan and vents underneath or on the sides of your laptop. Use compressed air to clean your laptop’s vents.

If your fan continues to struggle, make noise, or run at high speed, you may need to take your device to a laptop repair expert to have it checked for other issues.

3. Lower the Screen Brightness

In most situations, for example, when you’re sitting in a dark room, you wouldn’t need your screen to be super bright. The brightness of your laptop’s screen is often a primary source of excessive battery drain on your device. Hence, it is advised that unless you are in a bright environment, you should lower your brightness to extend the laptop battery life.

In addition to lowering the brightness, you can also consider changing your display settings so that your display turns off when you’re not using your laptop. While you can manually make these adjustments, the power-saving mode may be able to carry out the job for you automatically.

4. Unplug Unused Peripherals

Oftentimes, people tend to connect several peripherals like external hard drives or webcams for their usage. While these things provide working benefits and ease to the users, they also tend to influence different types of laptop batteries.

Even when you are not transferring data from your laptop to your hard drive or vice versa, the cable would be drawing power from your laptop. This means that the battery is being drained. Hence, to maximize laptop battery life, you are advised to unplug all the peripherals when you’re not using them.

5. Close Any Apps and Programs You’re not Using

Running too many apps or programs at once can drain your battery. If you’re not using an app or a program, close it.

In addition, you might not be aware of this, but there are multiple apps on your system that tend to chew your battery life quickly, even when you’re not using them. These apps keep running in the background without you being aware of it.

To know about these apps, type “See which apps are affecting your battery life” in the search bar of Windows 10, and you will be shown the list of apps that consume the most power. You can easily identify and close the apps that are consuming more power even when you’re not using them.

6. Avoid Leaving Your Laptop Plugged In

It is advised by a lot of professionals to avoid leaving your laptop plugged in all the time. The laptops that remain plugged in constantly tend to have a smaller number of cycles as compared to those laptops whose batteries are kept between 20% and 80%.

Charging your laptop’s battery to 100% is not a necessity at all, so avoid doing that if you wish to preserve your laptop battery life.

7. Install the Latest Operating System

Upgrading your operating system doesn’t just bring new features to your laptop, but it also brings certain performance updates as well. It can help the programs in running more efficiently, hence conserving the battery power more efficiently.

In addition to that, new and more advanced power-saving modes may also be introduced that can help in saving the battery in more effective ways. Moreover, updating the operating system may also bring a smart charging mode that can increase the efficiency of the way your laptop charges.

8. Turn Off Your Laptop Daily

It may be convenient to keep your laptop on at all times, but this also weakens the battery over time. To help maintain your battery’s ability to hold a charge, turn off your device at the end of each day.

9. Always Use Manufacturer-Approved Batteries and Chargers

When you plug in your laptop, make sure to use the charger that came with your device. Other chargers may be cheaper, but they don’t always work as well and can even damage your battery. If you need to replace the battery or charging cable, you should always rely on models compactible with your computer and manufactured by the same brand.

10. Check your charging cycles

Depending on your computer’s operating system, you will be able to check information about your battery and its charging cycles. You can check it against the manufacturer’s features: if you notice a loss in performance, it’s time to consider changing your battery.