The Power & Sleep menu, which can be accessed by going to Settings > System > Power > Sleep, isn't anything new. From this menu, you can choose how long your computer can be idle before it automatically shuts off the screen or goes into Sleep Mode. In addition to that, you can also customize it to do so when your computer is plugged in or running solely on battery power. There are also Additional Power Settings that you can click on, which opens up the Power Options menu in the Control Panel. From here you can edit your power plans, choose what happens when you close your laptop lid, or decide whether or not you need a password to unlock your computer when it wakes up from Sleep Mode.
A new feature with Windows 10 is Batter Saver. This is a battery-saving power mode that has been specifically optimized for Windows 10. This means that it can do things like limit background app activity and push notifications. This mode is very similar to ones that you would find on mobile devices, like smartphones or tablets. In addition to this, Batter Saver will automatically turn on when your laptop drops below 20% battery life though you can turn that off manually by going to Settings > System > Battery Saver and turning it off.
You can also tinker with Battery Saver mode. By going to the Battery Saver menu, click Battery Saver Settings to bring up the settings menu. From here you can adjust the point at which Batter Saver mode automatically kicks on from a range of 5% to 100% battery life. You can also choose whether or not to allow push notifications or lower screen brightness in Battery Saver mode or add app exceptions. Apps that you want to exclude from Battery Saver mode will be able to run in the background and send push notifications at all times.
The main Battery Saver menu allows you to see how much of your battery life is being used by different apps, simply click Battery Use to see. This will help you determine which apps to disable in Battery Saver mode, which is extremely useful. You can turn off the apps that drain the most battery life and not even worry about the ones that don't use any at all.
If you find yourself always needing to be connected when you're using your laptop and you can't figure out why your Windows 10 device is using so much power, consider going into some of these settings and tinkering around with things. You might be surprised at how much more efficient your battery usage will become and how much longer your laptop will last without having to be plugged in.
Content originally published here
