If you want to take a break from your laptop, Windows 10 offers various options for saving energy and battery. But what is the difference between standby and hibernation? And when should you shut down the computer completely? We explain how you should act in which situation.
Have you finished work or finished a meeting and then just close your laptop? Or do you always shut down the computer completely? In fact, your behavior affects the power consumption of the device and, if done wisely, can ensure that you can use the computer longer without a power cable.
We explain what is actually behind the different modes standby, hibernation and shutdown and which mode makes sense under which circumstances.
Windows 10: The different energy modes at a glance
Standby
If you simply close the laptop in between, many models automatically activate the standby mode . In this setting, the device consumes less power and is immediately ready for use again when you want to use it.
If the device battery is almost empty while it is in standby mode, Microsoft automatically saves your data and shuts down the computer. So you don’t have to worry about losing data.
Standby is primarily suitable for short breaks when you are not at work. In this setting, however, only the hard drives and fans are usually switched off, which means that the battery is quickly drained.
Hibernation
In hibernation mode, your computer uses even less energy than in standby mode. A battery lasts even longer, but at the same time it takes more time when it reactivates.
This option is particularly suitable if you are away from the laptop for a longer period of time, for example for a meeting, a longer telephone call or the lunch break, and want to save battery.
Note : Not every Windows PC has this option. You can also use the PC settings to specify which mode the device should switch to as soon as it is closed.
Shut down
Of course, you save the most energy when the computer is switched off completely . This option makes sense if you don’t use the laptop for several hours or longer; less, however, if you want to use the device again very quickly, since the complete booting of the system can be quite performance-intensive and consumes a relatively large amount of energy.
