A brand-new laptop battery should allow you to work for a relatively long time with no problem. Although, occasionally, a new laptop battery can still experience issues that cause it to drain much faster than it should. Why does this happen, and how can you lengthen the lifespan of your laptop battery once again?

Your new laptop battery might be draining fast because it might be in high-performance mode or too many programs are running. Other causes include too many peripherals connected to the computer or corrupted firmware. To fix it, you can try adjusting settings and removing peripherals.

It makes no sense for a new laptop battery to run out fast, but it can sometimes happen because of the wrong settings or overburdening. Several different factors can drain your laptop battery in different ways.

6 Fixes for Your New Laptop Battery Draining Fast

1. Change the Power Settings

Your laptop offers you a few different modes for the performance of your battery, depending on what you’re doing.

For instance, you can choose a power-saving mode when your battery is running low, which would reduce the power your laptop uses for background apps or brightness.

On the other hand, the high-performance mode does the opposite of power saving. Its purpose is to make your laptop run fast and smoothly, but it uses a lot of power. As a result, your laptop battery doesn’t last long, even though it’s new.

If you suspect this is the case, you can easily check and change it. Your laptop may even be in high-performance mode, and you might not know it.

Follow these instructions to change the battery mode on your laptop:

Go to the Start Menu.
Select Settings; a new window will open.
Find System and then choose Power and Battery.
Go to Power Mode and check if High-Performance mode is selected.
Select the Power-Saving mode instead.

Once you change the power settings, watch your battery and see if it lasts longer. Only choose High-Performance mode if you need a fast and powerful performance for a specific purpose. Make sure to disable it once you don’t need it anymore.

2. Check the Background Programs and Network Connections

Your laptop uses a certain amount of power to keep every program running. When too many programs are running simultaneously, your laptop works harder, requiring more energy to drain the battery.

You may overlook this issue because there are a lot of programs that run in the background. As you’re aware, you only use one application when several others work “behind the scenes,” downloading and sending data, giving notifications, scanning information, and more.

While some background applications are necessary, others are not and could be stopped at any time without consequences.

To stop background apps, follow these steps:

Press the Ctrl, Alt, and Del or Ctrl, Shift, and Esc buttons on your keyboard.
The Task Manager will pop up.
Find Processes.
Check the list of applications and processes running in the background.
Select any apps or processes that are unnecessary.
Click End Task.

Once you remove the background apps, you should see an improvement in your battery life. Remember that some background apps are essential, so they should not be removed even if they drain the battery. You can also remove any active network connections draining your battery.

Like programs, network connections also require much power to function properly. Typically, one network connection should be enough to work or browse, but multiple connections are possible and sometimes necessary for specific purposes.

Every connection requires power to send and receive signals. A laptop with no connection to the internet will run out of battery much more slowly than a laptop with a connection. Imagine multiple connections depending on one battery; your laptop would need recharging much sooner.

To remove certain network connections, take the following steps:

Go to the Search bar and find Network and Sharing Center.
Select Manage wireless networks on the new window that will appear.
A list of connections will appear; select the one you want to remove.

Alternatively, you can choose another method that removes all network connections, not only wireless ones.

Find the Control Panel using the Start menu or the Search bar.
Go to Network and Internet and then choose Network Connections.
Find the connection that you want to remove and right-click on it.
A list of options will appear; select Disable or Forget Network Connection.

3. Turn the Keyboard Backlight Off

It might sound insignificant, but the light behind the keyboard, making it visible in the dark, uses quite a lot of power.

It may contribute to your battery running out fast, even though your laptop is brand new. While it’s very useful for writing in low light, there’s not much use in brighter environments.

Even though it might seem insignificant, the keyboard backlight may be one of the reasons why your new laptop battery doesn’t last long. If you’re in a well-lit room, turn the keyboard light off to save battery power. Typically, you can find a button or a combination of buttons on your keyboard that you can press to turn the keyboard light off.

In some cases, it’s the F5 button, while in others, it’s the F9 or F11. Make sure to turn the light on again when it’s dark.

4. Remove Peripherals

A laptop with plenty USB peripherals plugged into it.

Your laptop allows you to connect several devices to have an optimal experience. These devices you connect to are called peripheral devices, and they work using the energy from your laptop battery.

As you can guess by now, too many peripheral devices connected to your laptop can make the battery run out faster. For instance, if you have an external memory device, speakers, a drawing pad, and a printer connected to your laptop, your battery won’t last as long as before, even if it’s brand new.

For some devices like speakers, simply disconnecting them works. However, to ensure all the information is saved, you must remove them safely.

To safely remove a peripheral device, follow these instructions:

Go to Settings and then choose System.
Find Devices, where a list of all peripheral devices will appear.
Right-click on the device you want to remove and select Safely Remove.
Disconnect the device once you confirm it’s been safely removed.

5. Lower the Screen Brightness

Screen brightness can affect the laptop battery more than you know. The power modes described in the Power Settings part above have different brightness levels, which should tell you how important this aspect is.

If you can’t find any other issue draining the battery, check out the screen brightness of your laptop and lower it if it’s too high. To reduce the screen brightness, you can use the designated buttons on the keyboard, which are usually F1 or F2 and have a sun icon.

Remember that you may need to press a function key simultaneously for them to work. However, some laptops might not have designated buttons for brightness.

In that case, follow these steps:

Find Settings in the Start menu or search it on the Search bar.
Go to System and then find Display.
Find the Brightness Level slider and slide it to test how it works; you should be able to see the brightness change in real time.
Adjust the brightness to your liking.

6. Repair Corrupted Firmware

The firmware is the most basic software on your laptop, which makes the hardware work and helps the communication between the hardware and other software.

Sometimes, the firmware may get corrupted because of malware in your computer or a failed update. As a result, you will see error messages and have trouble with specific functions, but you may also notice the battery draining much faster than before.

Corrupted firmware is a serious issue. Its solutions aren’t always straightforward. One solution will be to access the BIOS recovery page if your laptop has one.

It usually requires you to press a couple of buttons on the keyboard simultaneously. Some users recommend opening the laptop and replacing the motherboard battery.

Understandably, both these solutions require knowledge about how computers work and how they are built. If you’re not sure what to do, contact a specialist.