How to Save Battery Life Using Energy Saver in Windows
Energy Saver in Windows is a built-in power feature that boosts battery life by up to 30% when you work away from a wall outlet. It stretches your charge time by dimming the screen and slowing down background tasks that drain power.
You can turn on Energy Saver by hand using the Quick Settings menu near the clock in the bottom-right corner of your screen. Click the group of network, volume and battery icons there and you will see the Energy saver tile. You can also set it to turn on by itself when your battery drops to a set percentage, so your laptop keeps running longer without extra effort.
Energy Saver is the current name in recent Windows 11 builds. Older builds call the same feature Battery saver, and the menus can look slightly different. The steps below describe current Windows 11.
Open Settings System Power & battery, find the Energy saver section, and select your preferred battery percentage from the Turn energy saver on automatically dropdown. Energy Saver will then activate at that threshold without restarting your PC.
How to Set Energy Saver to Turn On Automatically
You can configure Windows energy saver battery settings to turn on automatically at a specific battery percentage so your laptop lasts longer between charges. Open Settings , go to System, and choose your preferred activation threshold to stop your device from running out of power unexpectedly while you work.
If the option is missing or greyed out, your PC may not have a battery (some desktops only show a Power page), or your work or school may manage the setting through policy. In that case, ask your IT admin.
- Open Settings : Click the Start menu button (Windows icon) and select Settings, or press Windows key + I on your keyboard. The Settings window opens.
- In the Settings window, click System on the left side. The System pages (Display, Sound, Notifications and so on) appear on the right.
- Click on Power & battery (or just Power) on the right. You will see the battery level, and below it the power and battery options. A PC with no battery shows the shorter Power name.
- Find the Energy saver section and click it to expand the options. If you do not see it, check that Windows is fully updated, because older builds label it Battery saver.
- Under Turn energy saver on automatically when battery level is at, pick the battery percentage you want from the dropdown menu. The list offers these choices:
- Never (Energy saver won’t turn on automatically)
- 10%
- 20%
- 30% (default)
- 40%
- 50%
- Always (Energy saver is always on)
- Close the Settings window. Your choice will save automatically! You do not need to restart the PC.
A higher percentage means Energy Saver starts earlier and you trade some screen brightness and background activity for more battery time. A lower percentage keeps your PC at full speed for longer, but leaves less charge when the savings kick in. On a laptop you use mostly unplugged, 30% (the default) or 40% is a reasonable starting point.
To undo the change, return to the same dropdown and pick Never or another percentage. You can also switch Energy Saver on or off by hand from Quick Settings at any time, whatever threshold you chose.
Bonus: Use PowerShell to Set Energy Saver Automatically
This method lets you set the exact percentage where power saving kicks in by running a single command in the terminal.
It is handy if you set up several PCs or just prefer the keyboard. The result is the same setting you see on the Power & battery page, so you can check it there afterwards.
- Open PowerShell on your computer. A window opens with a prompt where you can type commands.
- Type this command and press Enter. Use the command shown below these steps, with your chosen percentage in place of the placeholder.
powercfg /setdcvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_ENERGYSAVER ESBATTTHRESHOLD <percentage>
Replace <percentage> with the desired battery percentage. These values matter most:
- 0 means Energy Saver will never turn on automatically.
- 30 is the default setting.
- 100 means Energy Saver is always on.
For example, to have Energy Saver turn on at 20%, enter the following command with 20 as the percentage:
powercfg /setdcvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_ENERGYSAVER ESBATTTHRESHOLD 20
Configuration finishes immediately. You do not need to restart the PC. To confirm it worked, open Settings, go to System and then Power & battery, and look at the Energy saver dropdown. To undo the change, run the same command again with 30 to restore the default, or 0 to turn off automatic activation.
Summary
- Energy Saver helps your laptop use less power and keep your battery going longer.
- You can set it to turn on automatically when your battery hits a certain level, so you don’t have to remember to do it yourself.
- You can change this setting easily from Windows Settings or by using PowerShell commands if you prefer. Either way, no restart is needed, and you can reverse it at any time.
Using the Windows energy saver battery feature helps your laptop use less power and keeps your hardware running longer without needing constant manual adjustments. You can set it to turn on automatically through the main settings menu or by using a quick command in PowerShell. Pick a threshold that fits how you work, and adjust it if you find the screen dims too early or the battery runs low too soon.
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About the Author
Richard
Tech Writer, IT Professional
Richard is a writer at Geek Rewind who turns complex IT tasks into clear, step-by-step guides. He draws on years of hands-on experience in system administration and enterprise IT operations, focusing on Windows, Linux and WordPress: the problems people actually run into, and the fixes that work. His server and WordPress guides come from systems he runs himself. Richard builds and maintains the platform behind Geek Rewind, from its Ubuntu servers and Nginx configuration to its custom WordPress plugins. Many new tutorials start with readers' questions, and he's always glad to answer them in the comments.
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