Windows has several power options in order to deliver the best power management for your needs. Knowing how to change the power plan in Windows 10 will allow you to set it in a way that suits your requirements best.

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How to select various power plans

Different types of computers will have different power profile requirements. A laptop differs very much in terms of its power usage strategy compared to that of a desktop computer.

The reason for this is straight forward. Devices that mostly run off a battery need to only use power when your task requires it. If anything is not being utilized, it should be turned off after a certain length of time.

Choosing the correct plan can help with performance. Your CPU can perform better by decreasing the amount of power throttling for example.

How to select various power plans

Seeing as the settings app carries very little in terms of power plan adjustments at this stage in time, we will use the options in the Control Panel.

1. Open the Control Panel

To open the Control Panel, press and hold the Windows key on your keyboard, tap the ‘R’ key and release the Windows key. In the Run box, type in ‘control panel’ (without the quotes) and left-click on the ‘OK’ button.

2. Search and select Power Options

In the search box on the top right of the Control Panel, type in ‘power options’ (without the quotes).

Left-click on Power Options to open the power options window.

3. Select the new power plan

First off, you will see adjustments for turning off the display and putting your computer to sleep. Once you have adjusted the settings to how you would like it, left-click on ‘Change advanced power settings’.

A new window will appear with adjustments more specific to common components on your computer.

From here, you can adjust everything from the time it takes for your hard drive to be powered off, right the way to how your power button reacts when it gets pressed.

Left-click on the plus symbol on the left-hand side of each setting in order to open the various settings under it.

You can change the value of each setting, either by click on the plus and minus buttons or by entering the value from your keyboard directly.

How to change my power plan to high performance?

In step number three above, select the radio button next to High performance.

Does high performance make a difference?

Apart from the high-performance setting interfering less with various hardware components like WiFi, it will keep your CPU ramped up on power even when it’s not being used as much. The screen brightness will also be kept higher.

Conclusion

No matter which type of device you own, you now know how to change the power settings in Windows 10. It’s good to know this in order to get things running exactly how you would like. Experiment with various settings until you have it where you want.

This way you can have the best trade-off between usability and saving power that suits your particular habits.