How To Keep a Gaming Laptop’s Battery Healthy

If you’re an avid online gamer, you probably rely on your laptop’s longevity to get you through your intense games. But what if your gaming laptop’s battery begins to die, or runs out quicker than you expected? Is there any way you can keep a gaming laptop’s battery healthy? 

1. Use headphones instead of built-in speakers.
2. Change your power modes.
3. Stop background programs.
4. Keep your battery charged consistently. 
5. Lower the screen brightness.
6. Shut your computer down instead of using sleep mode.
7. Blow out the systems regularly.
8. Avoid overheating.
9. Use the charging cable that came with your device.
10. Run games at a lower level.

All of these will make sure your gaming computer’s battery is more reliable and will save you money in the long run.

1. Use Headphones Instead of Built-In Speakers

While this might not initially sound like a way to keep your computer’s battery healthy, it’s a little thing that counts. These little things can add up over time and be very effective.

Your computer’s built-in speakers can take extra power from the central power supply and put additional stress on the system itself. Using headphones will cut down on this stress since the sound is coming through your headphones and doesn’t need to be projected. 

You can also cut down on power consumption by not changing the power levels too much throughout use. Adjusting the volume output can rapidly drop power, especially if the system is already under a lot of stress. 

Headphones make this even more efficient and don’t require your computer operating speakers. 

2. Change Your Power Modes

Another great way to keep your laptop battery healthy is to use a power-saving mode.

These modes are specifically designed to streamline battery use. Over time, this can also reduce stress on your battery. They are also built into your computer and can be switched on anytime.

Setting Up Different Power Plans

Power plans come in a couple of different forms. Some are as simple as switching on a button, whereas others are more complicated. 

You can find the most basic battery-saving options by going into your computer’s settings. Different power modes are located under the Systems section, and there should be a tab labeled ‘Battery.’

If you don’t find the settings there, check under any other power settings and verify that your computer does come with a power-saving mode. 

Once there, there should be a battery saver button that you can switch on. This is the most basic and straightforward thing you can do to improve your battery’s usage and lifespan. 

3. Stop Background Programs

An easy way to lower your battery usage is to shut down the background programs. 

Many programs run in the background of a personal computer. These include things like firewalls, anti-virus programs, or even apps like Skype. They run in the background while not open but can be draining the battery at any time. 

Most of the time, this is important if you need to open these programs or if they perform a specific, consistent function like your anti-virus programs. However, many of them are not necessary and are leftover from previous program use.

You can close these programs and reduce the strain on your battery and GPU. The process is relatively simple, and you should see an impact in seconds.

Go into your task manager and right-click on an open program. You should see an end task option, and it’s as easy as clicking on it. 

Before clicking, you should always double-check to make sure that you are ending the correct program. Nothing is worse than losing a program window that you’ve been working on for the last six hours.

4. Keep Your Battery Charged Consistently

Keeping your battery constantly charged will also keep the battery alive for longer. You should plug your computer in between uses and make sure that it is charging.

The best range to operate your computer between is 80% and 30%. This means your computer isn’t all the way full and isn’t going to burn through more power, but it is low enough to start focusing on conservation. 

Not only that but letting your battery consistently run out or stay at 100% can ruin your battery’s health. You should give your battery the chance to run down and operate at normal parameters as much as possible. 

5. Lower the Screen Brightness

Lowering your screen brightness is another way to improve your battery efficiency and get longer battery life.

If your laptop doesn’t have to project very bright pixels onto your screen, it can use that power elsewhere or store it for later. It can also be better for your eyes and the screen itself. 

Like the headphones, you shouldn’t turn your brightness up and down dramatically. That can defeat the purpose and lower your battery percentages. 

Operating a computer at full brightness for extended periods can cause severe issues, including overheating and screen burn. These can impact your computer in the long term and also be unpleasant to deal with.

Screen burn is when images displayed on your computer at full brightness are burned into the screen. They can form a layer over other programs and sites. 

For example, if you watch a lot of YouTube, imagine having the ghostly image of the YouTube logo burned into your screen and over every other website. Yikes!

Fixing Screen Burn

Screen burn sounds more intimidating than it is, and there are a couple of easy ways you can try and fix it. 

The first thing you can do is turn off your display for a long time. This should be somewhere around 48 hours, and the longer you can let it wait, the better. Sometimes, all your screen needs is a break.

Next, you can run a pure white video at full brightness for an extended time. Sometimes, this can help reset the pixels and remove the burn effect.  

You could also run a video that is fast-moving and has a lot of flashing pictures and colors. These may shock the pixels back in and fix the problem. Sometimes, all that your computer needs is a varied display. 

If none of these work, your computer may also be coming to the end of its natural life. It would be best if you were ready to replace the display or the entire device. 

6. Shut Your Computer Down Instead of Using Sleep Mode

Sleep mode means that your computer has to stay ready to turn entirely on at any given moment. This saps your battery and can seriously affect its lifespan.

Instead, you should completely shut down your computer and boot it up. This way, your battery can get a break, and everything can reset.

Not only that, but shutting down can improve charging, raise the power level quicker, and be energy efficient. Shutting down can also enhance other program performance, clear caches, and they can also keep your computer safe from power surges.

No one wants to spend a lot of money on a good gaming laptop and then have to replace it because of a power surge.

7. Blow Out the Systems Regularly

Keeping your systems clean and removing dust is perfect for keeping your battery from overheating. 

Blowing out your computer is when you use compressed air of some kind to get all the dust out of your computer’s internal systems. This is great to use because it doesn’t require water and won’t damage your computer’s internal parts. 

Ideally, you should use an electronics blower or a container of compressed air. These can be found at many office supply stores, but the Falcon Dust-Off is an excellent choice from Amazon.com. It’s an affordable option and easy to use, so you can keep your gaming laptop free from build-up at all times. 

Overheating can lead to all kinds of issues, and it’s crucial to prevent it.

8. Avoid Overheating

Another way you can keep your computer healthy is to avoid overheating.

Overheating can be caused by any number of things. There could be too many programs running at full speed, your computer might not have property ventilation, and you might have a battery under a lot of stress.

If you’ve followed the other suggestions on this list, you should not have any issues with overheating. However, there are some situations where overheating is unavoidable. In those cases, you can make changes to minimize the risk.

The best thing you can do is to change the working environment and adjust where your computer sits.

For example, if the base of your laptop gets hot consistently, you could use a laptop stand. This will lift your computer off the desk and allow air to circulate under it. Circulation is vital to prevent overheating.

An excellent laptop stand is the Soundance Laptop Stand on Amazon.com. There are colors to complement any aesthetic, and these stands are made out of sturdy aluminum. You can even organize things underneath the frame to save space.

9. Use the Charging Cable That Came With Your Device

Another great way to keep your laptop’s battery healthy is to use the manufacturer-approved charging cable for your device consistently.

These cables are specifically designed to work with the battery your computer works with. They are guaranteed to work for and with your device, assuming the wires aren’t damaged. 

While competitors are often more affordable, you can end up sacrificing quality and losing battery health. 

These inferior charging cables may not even work over an extended period. It’s best to do a lot of research before you get a new charging cable.

Some cables may be recommended as alternatives by your computer’s manufacturer, but you need to research them first. Carefully read through the customer reviews and make sure that this computer charger has what you need. 

10. Run Games at a Lower Level

Finally, if you want to ensure that all aspects of your computer are designed to assist your battery, you should go into each of your games’ settings and modify them for future use.

These modes are meant to stabilize your computer’s power and GPU usage. You can change the settings around for different purposes and adjust them as needed.

For example, if you want to prioritize performance over graphics, you can change the settings, and your computer will run smoother, but the graphics will be worse. You can apply this to battery life as well. 

These are most commonly found under the settings section and audio and graphics. Many games have a sliding scale to completely customize the level you want each effect to be, whereas others may come with pre-programmed settings for different purposes. 

Sometimes, game mods you can find and install will help your computer’s performance. Making these small changes, as potentially inconvenient as they may be, will help you in the long run.

Why Does Battery Health Matter?

Battery health matters because it determines how long a device can function without charging and can affect performance. An unhealthy battery can be very inconvenient, expensive to fix and cause other issues.

If your battery is unhealthy, you may end up only getting an hour at most out of your computer off-cable. Compare that to a very healthy gaming laptop that can last for upwards of eight hours during light use. 

Ideally, you should keep your computer plugged in while gaming, but there are other things you can do to keep your computer happy and healthy. Your pocketbook will thank you!

Laptop batteries are, in general, pretty expensive. This changes from computer to computer, but the rarer or more extensive your laptop is, the harder replacement batteries could be to find. You’ll pay for this rarity with your dollars when you finally find a vendor. Ouch!

No need to fear! There are plenty of things you can do to keep your gaming laptop’s battery healthy.

Final Thoughts

There are many ways you can keep your gaming laptop’s battery healthy. These are small changes you can make to your computer habits, which won’t affect your overall experience. However, in the long term, you can keep your laptop battery healthy and long-lived.