Skip to main content
Sign Out

Welcome to Dell

My Account
  • Place orders quickly and easily
  • View orders and track your shipping status
  • Enjoy members-only rewards and discounts
  • Create and access a list of your products
  • Manage your Dell EMC sites, products, and product-level contacts using Company Administration.
Sign In Create an Account Dell Financial Services Premier Sign In Partner Program Sign In
Contact Us

Your Dell.com Carts

Me and My Dell For Inspiron, G-Series, XPS, and Alienware computers

PDF

Improving battery life

The operating time of a battery, which is the time the battery can hold a charge, varies depending on how you use your laptop computer.
The operating time of your battery significantly reduces if you use:
  • Optical drives
  • Wireless communication devices, ExpressCards, media cards, or USB devices.
  • High-brightness display settings, 3D screen savers, or other power‑intensive programs like complex 3D graphics applications and games.
You can improve the battery performance by:
  • Operating the computer on AC power when possible. Battery life reduces with the number of times the battery is discharged and recharged.
  • Configuring the power management settings using Microsoft Windows Power Options to optimize your computer’s power usage (see Power management).
  • Enabling the sleep/standby and hibernation features of your computer.
NOTE: The life of the battery decreases over time depending on how often the battery is used and the conditions under which it is used. You can configure the battery‑charging behavior to increase the battery life.

Dell longevity mode

Frequently connecting and disconnecting your computer from a power source without allowing the battery to fully discharge may reduce battery life. The longevity mode feature protects the battery health by moderating the extent to which your battery charges, and prevents your battery from frequent charge and discharge cycles.

Your Dell laptop automatically monitors the charging and discharging behavior of your battery, and if applicable, displays a message to enable longevity mode.

NOTE: Dell longevity mode may not be supported on all laptops. To configure Dell longevity mode:
  1. Right-click the battery icon on the Windows notification area and click or tap Dell Extended Battery Life Options.

    The Battery Meter dialog box appears.

  2. Click or tap the Longevity mode tab.
  3. Click or tap Enable to turn on, or Disable to turn off Dell longevity mode.
  4. Click or tap OK.
NOTE: When longevity mode is enabled, the battery charges only between 88% to 100% of its capacity.

Dell desktop mode

If you primarily use your computer with the power adapter connected, you can enable the desktop mode to moderate the extent to which your battery is charged. This reduces the number of charge/discharge cycles and improves battery life.

Your Dell laptop automatically monitors the charging and discharging behavior of your battery, and if applicable, displays a message to enable desktop mode.

NOTE: Dell desktop mode may not be supported on all computers.
To enable or disable desktop mode:
  1. Right-click the battery icon on the Windows notification area, and then click or tap Dell Extended Battery Life Options.

    The Battery Meter dialog box is displayed.

  2. Click or tap the Desktop mode tab.
  3. Click or tap Enable or Disable based on your preference.
  4. Click or tap OK.
NOTE: When desktop mode is enabled, the battery charges only between 50% to 100% percent of its capacity.

Rate this content

Accurate
Useful
Easy to understand
Was this article helpful?
0/3000 characters
  Please provide ratings (1-5 stars).
  Please provide ratings (1-5 stars).
  Please provide ratings (1-5 stars).
  Please select whether the article was helpful or not.
  Comments cannot contain these special characters: <>()\