A Quick Way to Check Which Apps Are Taking Up Too Much Battery on Windows 11

If you have a Windows laptop, preserving battery life is everything. The longer your battery can last in between charges, the more you can get done on the go, without needing to worry where the closest plug is. The problem is, sometimes your battery starts draining quicker than normal, without any rhyme or reason—forcing your back to your charger regardless.

When you notice your battery is draining faster than normal, don’t panic: Instead, pull up Windows 11’s built-in battery usage report. You’ll find this option in Settings -> System -> Power & battery. The first thing you’ll see is a battery levels graph, which you can adjust to see how much battery life has been consumed over the past few days or hours. This graph can be a good way to get an idea of your battery trends, and learn how to potentially eke out more time away from the charger.

But if you have sudden drops in battery levels, check underneath the graph. Below, you’ll find “Battery usage per app,” which lists all of the apps drawing power on your laptop. You can adjust the sorting options here, but if you keep it to “Overall usage,” you’ll see the worst offenders rise to the top.

Some programs power usage might make sense. If you’re editing high-resolution photos or video, for example, that will likely put a strain on your laptop’s battery. But if something like Word or Outlook is taking up way more battery usage than normal, there might be an issue under the hood. To check, you can quit the app or process in question, and relaunch it. That said, if it’s an app or process you never use to need, you can simply shut it down for good, and save your laptop some battery life in the process.