Compared to many other laptops, Mac computers enjoy longer battery life due to the optimized operating systems they use. If you’ve been using a Mac for a while, you may have noticed that you can work on it for hours without worrying about the battery running out.

To extend battery life even further, you can change some settings on your Mac. This will give you a few more minutes or even hours of extended battery life on your machine.

1. Adjust the brightness of the screen

Your Mac screen is one of the most battery-consuming elements on your machine. Therefore, you should make sure that the screen brightness is optimized correctly.

Enter System Preferences and click View. Drag the slider a little to the left and see if you can see everything on the screen. She keeps doing this until you find a balance.

You can also let your Mac automatically adjust it for you by enabling the Automatically adjusts the brightness option.

2. Quit running apps

If you’re a multitasker, you probably have multiple apps running at the same time. Many times you may not be using all the apps that are running. Killing those unused apps will help you save battery power.

Close the apps you don’t use and you’ll give your Mac some extra autonomy.

3. Turn off the keyboard backlight

You may not want to use the keyboard backlight during the day. Or you can enable an option that automatically turns off the keyboard backlight after a certain time has elapsed.

Enter System Preferences and select Keyboard. Enable the Turn off the keyboard backlight afterwards TIME of inactivity. TIME can be specified manually.

4. Disable Location Services

Unless you’re working on specific apps that require access to your location, it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever want to use Location Services on your Mac. Disabling them helps save battery.

To open System Preferences and select Security and privacy. Click on Privacy tab and uncheck the Enable Location Services option. Note that this will disable “Find My Mac”.

5. Disable WiFi and Bluetooth when not in use

If your Mac is connected to the internet via a cable, you can keep the Wi-Fi option disabled. You can also keep Bluetooth off until you need it. This helps to save battery enormously.

Click the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar and select Turn off Wi-Fi.

Click the Bluetooth icon and select Turn off Bluetooth.

6. Disconnect unused devices

As long as a device stays connected to your Mac, it uses power from your machine resulting in battery drain. If you don’t use these devices, it’s a good idea to keep them disconnected from your Mac.

This way your Mac won’t have to supply power to your devices and you’ll save battery.

7. Use energy-saving web browsers

Some of the well-known browsers are known to be resource hungry and drain battery drain quite quickly. Therefore, grab and stick to a browser that’s easy on your Mac’s battery.

Safari is good enough with this and requires less resources and battery for your web sessions.

8. Turn off the time machine

Time Machine automatically backs up your Mac to a connected hard drive. This backup procedure often uses a large part of the battery charge. If you do not need to back up your machine, you can disable this feature.

To do this, click on the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and select Open the time machine preferences. Uncheck the Automatic backup option in the following screen.

9. Use incognito mode in browsers

Your browser’s regular tabs load your cache and many other types of files when you launch a website. An incognito card does not and therefore consumes less battery.

Try to use Incognito modes for your browsing sessions whenever possible to save your Mac’s battery life.

10. Disable Spotlight Search

By default, Spotlight searches for files in all locations on your machine. However, if there are folders that you don’t want to include in the search results, you can exclude them and this will drain Spotlight less battery.

Launch System Preferences and click Reflector. Log in to Privacy tab and add in folders to exclude from search.

11. Turn off notifications

Each notification sent to you consumes a battery and you can turn off these notifications if you don’t want them.

Click the notifications icon in the upper right corner of the screen. Scroll down on the following screen to open the desired options. Then disable the Do not disturb option. You will not receive any notification until you disable this option.

12. Update the OS version

Older versions of macOS may not be as energy efficient as newer versions. Therefore, be sure to keep your Mac up to date with the latest OS versions.

Click the Apple logo in the upper left corner and select About this Mac. Click on Software update on the following screen to update your Mac.

13. Mute sounds

Some apps and websites play sounds even when you don’t want to hear them. These sounds cost you in terms of battery life.

Turning off these sounds will help you both get rid of that annoyance and save battery. Press the mute key on the keyboard to turn off the sounds.

14. Use dark mode

Dark mode makes the screen easier on the eyes and also helps save battery power. However, this option is only available in macOS Mojave and later.

To open System Preferences and click General. To select Dark from the Appearance menu and you’re good to go.

15. Configure the power saving function

Your Mac has a built-in power saver tool that helps you perform various tasks that help save battery.

You can access this function from System Preferences> Energy Saving. Once you are there, simply enable the options you are comfortable with and you will extend the battery life.

Conclusion

Extending the battery life of your Mac doesn’t mean compromising the look and functionality of the machine. With a few tweaks here and there, you can easily get a few extra hours of battery life on your Mac.