How to adjust a laptop's brightness when on battery

By default, all laptops dim their display when running on battery power. Decreasing the brightness often helps conserve battery power, allowing you to use your laptop longer when it's unplugged. However, to increase the brightness when on battery power, you can adjust those settings.

Power settings

In Microsoft Windows, you can adjust the settings for brightness when the laptop is running on battery power.

Windows 8 and Windows 10

1. Open the Windows power settings by right-clicking the power or battery icon in the Systray and selecting Power Options.
2. In the Power Options window, select the High performance power plan, if available.

If you do not see a High performance power plan in Power Options, you can create one to use by following the steps below.

1. In the Power Options window, in the left navigation pane, click the Create a power plan link.
2. Under Create a power plan, select the High performance option.
3. In the Plan name text field, enter a name for the new power plan, then click Next.

4. Under Change settings for the plan, select an option for Turn off the display and Put computer to sleep. You can choose to leave both set to Venver, or select the number of minutes or hours from the drop-down list for each option.

5. Click Create to create the new power plan.

After creating the new power plan, it is automatically selected as your current power plan.

Windows Vista and Windows 7

If you have Windows Vista or Windows 7, try one of the options below to increase screen brightness while on battery power.

1. Click the power or battery icon in the Systray.
2. Select the High performance option to increase screen brightness.

or

1. Right-click the power or battery icon in the Systray.
2. Select Power Options or similar entry in the pop-up menu.
3. In the Power Options window, select the High performance power plan and click OK.

• Missing laptop battery icon in Windows.

Older computers or BIOS setup

Older computers or those not running Windows often can adjust the brightness settings through BIOS setup.

• How to enter and exit the BIOS or CMOS setup.

Once in the BIOS setup, look under the power, display, or video setting menu, depending on the make and model of your laptop. Check for brightness setting options under those possible menus.