Setting Up an Ideal Power Plan for Your Laptop Computer in Windows

The power plan on a laptop computer refers to the settings that your machine uses in relation to its battery. Certain default power plans are designed for different purposes. For example, a “Power Saver” plan might be designed to disregard your computer’s overall performance and instead focus on saving the battery. A “Performance” plan might strive for increased performance at the expense of overall power. You can customize and set up your own ideal power plan for your laptop computer in just a few basic steps.

Step 1

Click “Start.” Place your cursor inside the “Search” bar and type “Power Options.” Click the green icon labeled “Power Options” in the “Control Panel” section of the “Search” results. The Windows application that manages your laptop battery will open on screen.

Step 2

Click the blue hyperlink labeled “Create a power plan” from the left side of the screen.

Step 3

Pick one of the three power plans on screen that is close to your ideal settings but not exact. You will use the selected plan as a template to create your own. You can choose from a “Balanced” plan, a “Power Saver” plan and a “High Performance” plan. Type a name for your power plan into the “Plan Name” box and click the “Next” button.

Step 4

Use the drop down menus on screen to choose settings for your power plan. Both plans are separated into two columns – one labeled “On battery” and one labeled “Plugged in.” They control settings for when your laptop is using battery power or when it is plugged into a wall outlet, respectively.

Use the drop down menu to choose when your display dims after periods of idle. Also choose when to turn off your display automatically and put your computer to sleep during periods of idle.

Use the horizontal slider to adjust the overall brightness of your laptop screen. Keep in mind that brighter screens are easier to see, but they also use a dramatically larger amount of your laptop’s battery power.

Step 5

Click the button labeled “Create.” Your new power plan will be created and your laptop will immediately begin using it and stop using your existing power plan.