How to make Windows 11 more energy efficient

In the current cost-of-living crisis, many of us are trying to save money wherever we can.

Energy bills get a lot of attention, and some of the most popular tips include ditching the dryer, turning off the heat, and cutting back on shower time.

But what about your computer? Heatable estimates that in the UK this costs an average of 56p for eight hours on a desktop PC or 24p on a laptop, which means significant savings can be made.

Improving your device’s power efficiency is also good news for battery life and the environment. Here are nine ways to achieve this in Windows 11.

Decrease screen brightness

You probably already knew this, but the brightness of your display can have a big impact on power consumption. Try to keep it as low as you feel comfortable using it.

On most devices, the F key pair should be used to control brightness. But if you prefer, go to Settings > System > Display and adjust the Brightness slider.

Some monitors and laptops can also be set to automatically adjust brightness based on ambient light. This is a good energy-saving option for most people, but you can get away with lower brightness than the setting.

To manage it manually, click the small down arrow next to the brightness slider (if it has one) and uncheck Help improve battery life by optimizing display content and brightness.

Reduce screen refresh rate (if possible)

In Windows 11, the default screen refresh rate is 60Hz. But some displays can go as high as 360Hz, with plenty of options in between.

Refreshing up to 360 times per second has an obvious impact on power consumption, so it’s worth lowering this if you can live without the extra smoothness.

Go to Settings > System > Display > Advanced Display and click the dropdown next to “Select Refresh Rate”.

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Use a dark background and theme

Darker colors do not require as much energy to illuminate as lighter ones, so this is a good opportunity to reduce energy consumption. Under Settings > Personalization, there are two options worth tweaking.

First go to “Background” and select “Image” or “Solid Color”, then choose something with darker shades. In themes, this can be combined with certain accent colors, cursor design, and system sounds.

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Then go to “Colors” and select “Dark” from the “Choose Mode” dropdown.

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Change power and battery settings

Windows 11 has a section in settings dedicated to power and battery, and this is probably the most effective way to improve energy efficiency.

Go to Settings > System > Power & Battery, then tap and apply any “power recommendations” you like.

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Click the Power Mode drop-down list and select Best Power Efficiency. Keep an eye on it to make sure performance doesn’t suffer much.

Then tap Screen & Sleep and choose the shortest amount of inactivity you’re comfortable with before the screen turns off or your device goes to sleep. The default values ​​below are generally acceptable for most people.

You can also set up Battery Saver mode, which lets you decide when to turn it on (20% by default) and dim the screen at the same time.

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Disable animation effects

Every time you open, close, or minimize an app in Windows 11, a short animation plays. It looks nice, but it consumes additional power, which is simply not necessary. In addition to reducing the resources consumed, disabling them will also make your device feel a bit faster.

To do this, simply go to Settings > Accessibility > Visual Effects and turn off the switch next to Animation Effects.

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Stop apps that are unnecessarily running in the background

Many apps run in the background by default, but only a few are needed. Others will consume energy without doing you any good.

Remember, if you’re unsure about an app, just leave it or do a little research first. Apps that seem unimportant can be important to the efficient operation of your device.

To see if you can disable any of them, go to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps and click on the three dots next to the app’s name. Click “Advanced Options” if you see it – otherwise the feature will not be available.

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Under Allow this app to run in the background, select Never.

It’s also worth opening the task manager and checking for unnecessary “background processes” that are consuming a lot of power. Right-click on whatever you’re sure of and click End Task.

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Stop charging when the battery is full

If you use a laptop or tablet as your main computer, you can keep it connected to the network at all times. Some modern devices cut off the power when it reaches 100% (sometimes even earlier), but others keep trying to charge.

Dropping to 99% and immediately charging back to 100% is bad for your battery and shortens its life. Try to connect the device only when it is really running low – at least below 50%.

Turn on airplane mode where possible

Most tasks in Windows 11 depend on an Internet or Bluetooth connection. But if you don’t need them for a particular reason, turning on Airplane mode is an easy way to save power.

Just click the Wi-Fi, sound, or battery icons on the taskbar to open Notification Center, then click the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth icons to make sure they’re off, then the plan icon to turn on Airplane Mode. To turn everything back on, just follow these steps in reverse order.

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Use Microsoft Edge efficiency mode

There is no consensus on the most energy efficient web browser, but that will change if you use the efficiency mode built into Microsoft Edge. It reduces CPU usage by reducing activity on inactive tabs and putting background tabs to sleep after a few minutes.

By default, efficiency mode turns on every time you use Edge with battery saver mode turned on. But this can be adjusted by clicking on the three dots and selecting “Performance”. From there, you can decide when it will be activated.

Eniron Koopman / Foundry

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