The thrill of owning your own gadget, especially said gadget being a laptop is just simply amazing. Just like how most people juggle between multiple phones, it’s not a surprise to see people owning a laptop or two. While all that is comfortable and fun, maintenance of these devices is also equally a headache. One of the key aspects to look out for when managing a laptop is its Windows battery health.
Once that has taken a hit, then you are definitely going to face a lot of performance issues from your laptop. Not to mention that purchasing a new laptop is always more profitable than repairing a damaged one.
Here is an insight into this aspect of your life. Dive into this article to educate yourself about the health of laptops and windows battery health.
About your laptop windows battery health
- Charging laptops to 100% is not actually recommended.
- Temperatures that are not too cold nor too hot are what is apt for laptop batteries.
- Do not store your laptop without its battery charge at least up to 50%.
Battery life: charge cycles
First and foremost, you need to know about the laptop windows battery health. Laptop batteries can typically withstand 500 complete cycles; one cycle is a whole round of complete discharge and recharge. This means that, by reducing complete discharges, you can increase your laptop battery’s life.
Charged at all times
Heard of the 20%-80% rule? It is recommended to not go lower than 20% and try to keep charge up to 80%, if not at least 50%, because lithium-ion batteries do not have to be discharged or recharged fully. In fact, doing so can actually damage your battery health.
Modern gadgets are made in such a way that even if you plug in the charge for a long time, it will stop charging once it has reached 100%, so you don’t have to be worried about the fact that prolonged charging will damage the battery.
Remember that your battery health will decline over time, but these tips are to help prolong the battery’s life.
Say no to overheating
So what happens when the battery overheats is that the rapidly reacting internal produces more energy than it can utilize, and hence excess heat is released. This causes unwanted chemical reactions within the laptop’s battery, reducing its lifespan and the windows battery health.
When you come across an overheating laptop, quickly turn off the laptop if it has a sealed battery, and if it’s a battery that can be removed, then it is advised to do that. This will help with the cooling process, as the lithium-ion batteries in our laptops today are temperature-sensitive.
Storing the battery in a cool place is recommended, but at the same time, overcooling can also be dangerous to the laptop as it can reduce the battery’s lifespan and the windows battery health.
Blow on the back of your laptop to keep it cool
Since heating up the battery actually drains it quickly, weakening its capacity, it is advised to keep the battery condition between 32 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
Don’t keep your laptop in places where it can get heated easily
Stop charging when you notice your laptop getting overheated. You can also use cooling aids such as cooling pads for laptops to help it decrease the temperature.
Charge your laptop battery without interruptions
Do not keep disconnecting and then re-connecting your laptop charger. This does not improve anything. In fact, this only adds on to the reduction of your windows battery health.
Plugging in is fine
The key to controlling laptop windows battery health is to maintain its discharging cycle. One way to go about this is to not let the discharging happen by plugging in the laptop. It is safe to leave it plugged in. This can be done, especially when using the laptop for intensive work.
It is advised to keep the laptop between 40% and 50% of its capacity for a long period of time. In warm climates, even fully charged batteries tend to get depleted.
While it’s okay to work on the laptop when plugging it in, do not do the same when playing games, video players, graphic and audiovisual editors, etc.; these require a lot of energy, hence exposing the laptop windows battery health to more stress, increasing its chances of potential damage and efficacy.
Get battery health apps
For Windows users, there is a way to keep track of your battery health without having to download or use an extra tool. Open PowerShell and use the command “powercfg/batteryreport.” This creates detailed battery statistics or data for you.
For proper battery care, you need to be notified about the battery’s health. Although in-built battery health systems are available in our laptops, sometimes we need extra tools for the same purpose.
BatteryCare: This is for the Windows users. Temperature readings and discharge cycle tracking are its specialties.
Battery Monitor: this is for the macOS users. This tool provides data on temperature, cycles, battery health, and capacity.
Make your laptop battery conscious
In Windows 10 and macOS, there is a feature to keep the laptop in battery-saving mode. This helps your laptop by preventing it from being fully discharged. Saving your laptop from potential damage.
There are other side tips such as adaptive brightness and dark mode that are helpful in keeping your laptop windows battery health safe as much as it is in making you feel comfortable and adjusting the brightness according to your liking and matching your surrounding lighting.
There are some additional tips that can be done:
- Turn on technologies like Windows’ battery saver or macOS automatic graphics switching.
- Bluetooth and wifi should be turned off when not in use.
- Features like keyboard backlighting should also be minimized.
- Stop any background programs.
- Get your battery saver mode activated.
- Items such as hard drives, webcams, etc. are better unplugged if not used.
- Make sure to have enough RAM.
- It is better to have your screen brightness lowered.
Use your laptop frequently
It is advised to use your laptop frequently so that you do not leave the laptop battery unused. Unused laptop batteries drop low on their performance level.
Update – it always bringing out the better version
Have you experienced the displeasure of not being able to use the best version of apps like Instagram, WhatsApp, and Snapchat while others are able to use the upgraded features? This is exactly how it is when you don’t update your laptop and the windows battery health suffers the displeasure of experiencing its short lifespan.
By updating your software on a regular basis, applications, including manufacturer updates, are enhanced that help save laptop battery life. The benefit of this may not be visible to you, but in the background, such a step helps in reducing the energy consumption by the operating system in your laptop.
Frequently asked questions
How to increase your battery health?
It’s a known fact that batteries, without doubt, will experience wear and tear over time. The goal is to prolong this process with the help of simple steps such as keeping the charge to 50% when storing, avoiding overheating, following the 40%-80% rule, using cooling pads, updating, etc.
How do I check battery health in Windows?
Use the command “powercfg/batteryreport” after opening PowerShell in Windows.
Does overheating decrease battery health?
Overheating, just like overcooling, can reduce your battery capacity. It causes excess unwanted chemical reactions within the battery, which will slow your battery’s performance.
Conclusion
While maintaining your laptop is essential, taking care of your windows battery health isn’t that hard. There are simple steps to improve your battery’s health and prolong its life. While it is certain that batteries will lose their efficacy overtime, prolonging their life is the goal. Having knowledge about your lithium-containing batteries is the first step to a successful, healthy lifespan of a laptop battery.
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