Taking care of your laptop and maintaining a healthy laptop battery may not be top of your list of priorities; but it is essential for ensuring you portable device can run for as long as possible. Unlike a majority of desktop computers, there doesn’t tend to be a one-size fits all fix for laptops. Which means knowing as much as you can about your machine is important.

Battery technology has evolved in the past few years, and so many of the past’s ‘best practices’ are now outdated. But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t still ways to promote a healthy laptop battery.

We’ve rounded up some top tips to help you care for your laptop’s battery; from how low you should allow the battery to get; how long you should leave your laptop plugged in; and which applications and settings you can close or change to keep your laptop lasting as long as possible.

Reduce your usage time!

This may sound like an obvious one but having your laptop running all day, over time, will reduce the quality of your battery. Try to only use your laptop when it’s needed and use the shut-down function rather than ‘sleep’.

Don’t put off those updates!

Windows and Microsoft are notorious for pushing out updates which will help your laptop to run more smoothly. It’s important to keep on top of these updates as an older version can put a strain on your device making it more laborious to run.

Use power-saving mode!

Most laptops will have a power-saving feature built in for those times that they aren’t on charge. Using this setting and keeping it on permanently can help to keep your laptop performing at its best, which can benefit you and help keep that healthy laptop battery.

Keep your drivers updated!

Drivers are functions that work behind the scenes to keep the laptop running. Updating these regularly can help your battery’s performance by running less exhausting drivers.

Close programs and applications that you aren’t using!

We know it’s often easier to keep open the apps that you use the most, but closing them down and stopping them from running in the background is one of the best ways to improve your battery’s performance. This can be mitigated in a couple of different ways, either disabling unnecessary apps from opening and running (nobody needs their Spotify to open immediately.) Or, you can utilise an external SSD to store large applications which you can then access as and when required.

Don’t let your laptop lose all of its charge!

Typically, you don’t want to let your laptop battery die entirely. Most laptops will let you know when your power is low; and it is around this time you should plug it in. It’s best to only leave a laptop plugged in until the battery is fully charged and not much longer to avoid the battery’s reliance on the additional power source.

Laptops generally have a lifespan of five to six years; and there can be a great cost in keeping them running at their peak performance. However, following the steps above is a great place to reduce those costs.

If you are worried about your laptop and think it may be time for a new one; you are welcome to pop us a message. We always strive to help you keep your devices running at their peak for as little cost to you as possible.