7 laptop habits that coax the most out of your battery

Don't send your laptop into an early grave.

- ASHLEY BIANCUZZO

I’ll be the first one to admit to not practicing the best battery habits, especially where my laptop is concerned. Most days I leave my laptop plugged in for far too long, which can deteriorate the battery over time, especially if it’s fully charged. I’ll find myself cranking up the brightness as well, even when I’m just browsing social media and doing day-to-day tasks. That’s because I’m a mutant. Don’t be a mutant.

That said, I’m willing to turn over a new leaf and start practicing better battery life habits—and if you’re anything like me, it’s not too late to change your ways either. Here are a few simple tweaks you can make to extend the life of your laptop.

1. TURN DOWN THE BRIGHTNESS

Lowering the screen brightness is the easiest thing you can do to help preserve the battery inside your laptop, as it reduces the power usage. Unless you’re watching a movie in which dark scenes are prevalent, you probably don’t need the brightness set to 100 percent, especially if you’re just using the laptop for everyday activities like posting on social media or browsing the web. I’d recommend setting the brightness anywhere from 50 to 70 percent. The sweet spot will likely depend on your comfort level, the environment, and the room brightness.

2. SWITCH OFF KEYBOARD BACKLIGHTING

Personally, I love the look of a keyboard backlight. Whether it’s an undulating rainbow of colors or a clean white hue against dark keys, I find it has a calming effect on me. However, it’s not a necessary feature and if you’re using a gaming laptop with adjustable backlighting, it might be negatively impacting the battery life. If you’ve set the backlighting to the highest level, you may want to scale things back or turn it off completely.

3. DON’T KEEP THE LAPTOP PLUGGED IN ALL THE TIME