There are a variety of power-saving and features in Windows – some that could save you both time and valuable battery life (if working on a mobile device). Let’s dig into some of the features in Windows 10.

Glossary:

Sleep: puts any open documents and applications in memory and on your hard disk, and then puts your computer into a low-power state, allowing you to quickly wake the computer and resume your work.

Hibernate: is powering down (aka “shutting down”) a computer while retaining its state. In other words, your open windows, documents and applications are saved before powering down. Upon resumption, the computer is exactly as it was before entering hibernation.

Shutdown: the process of closing all software programs in preparation to turn off a computer’s power. Typically, no windows, documents and applications are saved to memory. This is considered a complete loss of power and Windows is closed / re-launched anew. All work must be saved.

Sleep Settings

Click Start > Settings

Click System

Click Power and Sleep on the left side.

On the right, you’ll see power options for the Screen, as well as the computer (Sleep), itself. The top two options determine how long the screen stays on before shutting off while running on battery or when plugged into an AC power adaptor.

The first option (on battery power) is important to consider as reducing the time the screen is on improves battery life dramatically. 

As for the second option (when plugged in) in each category, adjust to taste if saving electricity is what you’re after.

What happens when I close the lid on my laptop?

Great question! It depends on the appropriate setting.

1. Click the Additional power settings option circled in the previous image (above).

A Power Options window appears as below. On the left, click Choose what closing the lid does.

2. Change the settings according to desired behaviour.

Below, you’ll notice the following settings, but they may be greyed out. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable near the top of the window in order to modify them.

Why would we want to? Well, as you can see, Hibernate, for example, won’t be an option in the Start Menu’s power button unless explicitly enabled.

NOTE: While the Turn on fast startup is recommended, if your computer is ever giving you grief, we suggest disabling this as a troubleshooting measure.

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