For many years, Windows has included built-in tools to help users manage their computer’s energy consumption. While these features were once mainly associated with laptops, recent updates to Windows 11 have expanded their usefulness to desktop PCs as well.
Originally, these power options allowed laptop users to reduce energy consumption and extend battery life. When power-saving mode was activated, Windows lowered the CPU clock speed, reduced screen brightness, and limited certain background activities. On laptops, users could even enable the energy-saving mode permanently to maximize battery life.
With one of the latest Windows 11 updates, Microsoft has extended this feature to desktop PCs without batteries. These systems can now also be configured to permanently reduce energy consumption. You can find the corresponding option in the Settings menu via Start > Settings > System > Performance. Under Power Saving Mode, simply set the switch for “Always use power saving mode” to On.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC-WELT and was translated and localized from German.
Author: Roland Freist, Contributor, PCWorld
Roland Freist is a freelance IT journalist covering topics related to Windows, applications, networks, security and the Internet.