Windows Help and Advice - USA (2019-06)

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Configure your

PC’s power options

“Windows 10 givesyoucontrolovera rangeof

powersettings.Thesecanbeusedtobalance

performanceandbatterylife,andimprovesecurity”

hinkaboutpowersettingsin

Windows,andyourmind

probablyturnstothevarious

waysinwhichyoucanreducepower

consumptioninordertoimprovethe

batterylifeofyourlaptop.Thisis

certainlypartofit,butit is farfrom

beingtheendofthestory.Withthe

correctpowersettingsinplace,you

cannotonlylookforwardtolonger

periodsbetweencharges,butyou

canalsohelptoimprovethesecurity

ofyourPC.Youdon’tevenneedto

owna laptopeither– somesettings

willworkonyourdesktop,too.

Havingyourscreenturnoffwhen

you’venotusedit fora whilehasdual

benefits.Aswellassavingprecious

battery,it alsohelpstoprotectyour

privacy– perhapsyou’vejustwalked

awayfromyourdeskfora few

minutesandyou’dratherpassers-by

didn’tseewhatyouwereworkingon.

Therearemanymoreoptionsto

explore,solet’sgetstarted.

1 Accessingpowersettings

Go toStart> Settings> System> ‘Power& sleep’.Hereyou’ll

see a numberofsettingrelatingtoyourscreenandcomputer

going to sleep.If you’renotusingyourPC,it makeslittlesenseto

have the screenon,wastingbattery– sousethetwodrop-down

menus in theScreensectiontochoosehowlongyouneedtobe

inactive forbeforeWindowsturnsit off.

2 Basic sleep options

Just as you can have Windows automatically turn off your

screen when you’re not using it, you can also opt to have your PC

enter sleep mode after a period of inactivity. There are drop-down

menus in the Sleep section and, just as in the Screen section, you

can opt to have different settings in place depending on whether

your laptop is plugged into power or it’s running from its battery.

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Step-by-step Customise power settings in Windows 10

Anyonecandoit

Straightforward

Trickyin parts

Windows 10

Windows8.1

Windows^7

At a glance

Skill level...

Suitable for...

Image credit: Microsoft

32 |^ |^ June 2019