MacBook Battery Draining Fast? Try These 8 Best Fixes

At some point, many MacBook users experience their battery draining too fast. The good news is, with a few easy adjustments, you can quickly boost your MacBook’s battery life and performance.

Monitor Your MacBook’s Battery Health

Before attempting any fixes, monitoring your MacBook’s battery health regularly is important. Over time, batteries naturally degrade, so knowing your battery’s condition can help you decide whether it’s time for a replacement or if other optimizations might help:

1. Click the Apple logo and select System Settings.

2. Click the Battery tab.

3. On the right side, you should see the Battery Health status.

It will show one of these four statuses:

• Normal: Your battery is functioning properly. Since my MacBook Air is pretty new, my battery health is Normal.
• Replace Soon: Your battery is still functioning but holds less charge than it did when it was new. You may want to consider replacing it soon.
• Replace Now: Your battery is functioning but holds significantly less charge than it did when it was new. You should replace the battery as soon as possible.
• Service Battery: Your battery is not functioning properly and needs to be serviced.

How to Fix MacBook Battery Draining Fast

Now, I am going to share 8 tips that you can follow to optimize battery consumption:

1. Use Low Power Mode

Enable Low Power Mode to adjust settings and save battery life automatically. Here’s how to use Low Power Mode on Mac:

1. Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen and select System Settings.

2. Click Battery in System Settings.

3. In the Battery tab, click the drop-down menu button next to Low Power Mode. Select Only on Battery from the option.

2. Adjust Display Brightness

Lowering your screen brightness significantly reduces battery consumption. To change the display brightness on your Mac, follow these steps:

1. Click the Apple icon and select System Settings from the drop-down menu.

2. Click Displays in the left pane. Drag the Brightness slider to the left to decrease the brightness or right to increase the brightness.

3. Close the Displays window once you have adjusted the brightness to your desired level.

3. Change Battery Settings

Changing the battery settings on a Mac can help optimize its performance and extend its battery life. Here’s how to adjust these settings:

1. Click the battery icon in the menu bar.
2. A dropdown will appear, showing which applications are consuming the most power.

3. In the dropdown menu, select Battery Settings.

4. In the Battery Settings window, click the drop-down next to Low Power Mode and select Only on Battery to reduce energy usage.

5. Scroll down and click the Options button.

6. Click the drop-down menu next to Wake for network access and select Only on Power Adapter.
7. Toggle on Optimize video streaming while on battery to save battery while streaming videos.

4. Quit Unnecessary Background Apps

Follow these steps to kill background processes on your Mac:

1. Open the Spotlight search from the menu bar, type Activity Monitor, and press Enter to launch the application.

5. Change Your Mac’s Energy Settings

Here’s how to optimize your Mac’s settings to reduce the load on your battery life:

a. Adjust Idle Power Usage

1. Navigate to Apple menu > System Settings.

2. Click Lock Screen.

3. Modify the Turn display off on battery when inactive setting to 1 or 2 minutes.

b. Modify Keyboard Brightness

1. Navigate to Apple menu > System Settings.
2. Click Keyboard and drag the Keyboard brightness slider to adjust the brightness level.

c. Turn Off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

1. Access the Control Center in your menu bar.
2. Turn off Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and AirPlay when not in use to conserve battery power

6. Update macOS

Keeping macOS updated ensures optimal battery performance and bug fixes. Here’s how to update macOS on your Mac:

1. Click the Apple logo and select System Settings.

2. Click General and select Software Update.

3. If an update is available, click Update Now and follow the on-screen instructions.

7. Remove Login Items

Disabling unnecessary startup programs prevents them from draining your battery. You can follow these steps to change startup programs on your MacBook:

1. Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen and select System Settings.

2. Click General and select the Login Items tab.

3. You’ll see a list of apps that start automatically when you log in. To remove an app from this list, click to highlight it, and tap the – button below the list.

Alternatively, you can also use MacKeeper to remove login items from your Mac. Here’s how:

1. Download MacKeeper and install it on your Mac.
2. Click Login Items under Performance in MacKeeper.

3. Click Start Scan.

4. Select unnecessary items from the list and click Remove Selected Items.

5. Tap the Remove button on the pop-up.

6. It will remove your selected items from the system startup list. You can click Rescan to repeat the process.

8. Disconnect Unused Accessories

By disconnecting idle accessories from your MacBook, you can reduce the load on your battery and extend its overall life. This simple habit can help you get the most out of your MacBook’s battery and prevent unnecessary energy consumption.

Optimize Your MacBook’s Battery Life

Now that you know the reasons behind your Mac battery draining fast and how to stop it, let’s explore some tips to maximize its battery life:

• Keep your MacBook’s battery healthy by using an Apple original charger, not leaving the charger plugged in, and never fully draining the battery.
• If your Macbook battery is not charging, check the charging cable, charging port, and power adapter. Then, reset the SMC or PRAM/NVRAM.
• If you’re getting the “Service Recommended” for Battery on Mac notification, it may be time to replace the battery.

Frequently Asked Questions