Windows 11 includes a feature called Energy Recommendations that analyses your current system settings and suggests specific changes to reduce power consumption and extend battery life on laptops. Unlike generic battery-saving advice, these recommendations are tailored to your actual device configuration, identifying specific settings on your computer that are currently using more power than necessary.
Where to Find Energy Recommendations
Energy Recommendations is built into the Settings app, but many users have never noticed it because it is tucked inside the Power & battery settings rather than displayed prominently.
1. Click the Start button and open Settings (or press Windows Key + I).
2. In the left-hand sidebar, click on System.
3. Click on Power & battery.
4. Scroll down to find the Energy recommendations section.
Windows displays a list of actionable recommendations, each with a brief explanation of the energy benefit and a button to apply the change immediately.
What Kind of Recommendations Does Windows Suggest?
The specific recommendations vary depending on your current settings and device type, but common suggestions include:
- Reduce screen brightness — the display is typically the largest single consumer of battery power. If your brightness is set above 60%, Windows may suggest lowering it.
- Turn off screen sooner — shortening the screen timeout from, say, 10 minutes to 3 minutes can save significant power during idle periods.
- Put the device to sleep sooner — similar to the screen timeout, this controls how quickly the entire computer enters a low-power sleep state.
- Stop USB devices from waking the computer — USB peripherals like mice and keyboards can accidentally wake your laptop from sleep, draining the battery.
- Enable dark mode — on OLED displays, dark backgrounds consume less power because individual pixels are dimmed or turned off entirely.
- Adjust video playback settings — Windows can optimise video playback to prioritise battery life over visual quality.
- Reduce display refresh rate — if your laptop has a high-refresh-rate display (120Hz or 144Hz), reducing it to 60Hz significantly decreases power consumption.
How to Apply Recommendations
Each recommendation includes an Apply button next to it. Clicking this button immediately changes the relevant setting without requiring you to navigate to a different settings page. This one-click approach makes it significantly faster to optimise your laptop compared to manually hunting for each individual setting.
If you want to apply all recommendations simultaneously, look for the Apply all button at the top of the recommendations list. This changes every suggested setting in a single action.
Are Energy Recommendations Permanent?
Yes. Any changes you apply through Energy Recommendations persist until you manually change the setting back. They are not temporary power-saving modes that expire or reset after a restart. This is different from Battery Saver mode, which is a temporary state that deactivates when you plug in your charger.
If you apply a recommendation and later decide you preferred the original setting, you will need to navigate to the relevant settings page and change it back manually. Energy Recommendations does not include an “undo” button.
Energy Recommendations vs Battery Saver Mode
Windows 11 provides two separate approaches to managing power consumption, and understanding the difference helps you use both effectively:
- Battery Saver is a temporary mode that activates when your battery drops below a certain percentage (typically 20%). It reduces background activity, dims the screen, disables push notifications, and limits other non-essential processes. Battery Saver deactivates automatically when you plug in your charger.
- Energy Recommendations are permanent setting changes that optimise your device for efficiency at all times. They do not temporarily throttle performance; they adjust specific configuration options to reduce unnecessary power draw.
For the best results, use both features together. Apply Energy Recommendations for long-term efficiency, and allow Battery Saver to provide emergency power conservation when your battery is critically low.
Desktop Computers and Energy Recommendations
Energy Recommendations are not exclusive to laptops. Desktop computers also display recommendations, although the suggestions focus on electricity consumption and environmental impact rather than battery life. On desktops, you may see recommendations to reduce screen brightness, shorten the screen timeout, and enable sleep mode to reduce standby power consumption.
While the battery life motivation does not apply to desktop users, the electricity savings can be meaningful over time, particularly in offices with many computers running continuously.