How to Enable Efficiency Mode for Apps in Windows 11
Windows 11 22H2 updates and improves efficiency mode for applications. Strategic application of this feature could reduce power consumption and improve battery performance.
With the release of Windows 11 22H2, Microsoft has redesigned and expanded the capabilities of the Task Manager. One of these improved features is called Efficiency Mode and is part of Microsoft’s Sustainable Software initiative. Efficiency mode in Task Manager reduces CPU load, lowers fan noise, improves thermal performance, and provides longer battery life on Windows 11 systems.
The listed advantages of efficiency mode may sound familiar to you, since in Windows 10 similar features were known as eco mode. For this new 22H2 version of Windows 11, Microsoft has changed the way the feature is activated and made several additional improvements.
How to enable efficiency mode for apps in Windows 11
Efficiency mode restricts background applications and tasks to prevent them from interfering with foreground processes. This is achieved by first lowering the process priority of background tasks and then providing a Quality of Service package that reduces the clock speed for efficient tasks. By reducing the use of resources for certain applications, you may be able to increase the overall battery performance of your device with each charge.
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To enable efficiency mode for a specific application, you must first run Task Manager. There are several common ways to launch Task Manager: right-click the Start menu icon and select Task Manager from the context menu, press Windows + X and do the same, or press the Ctrl+Alt key combination +Del and select Task Manager from the results. Any of these methods should result in a similar screen Figure A.
Figure A
Select an application from the list and then click the Efficiency Mode button in the top-right corner of the Task Manager menu. Click the Enable Efficiency Mode button to enable the feature. In our example, shown in Figure Blet’s put Microsoft OneNote into efficiency mode.
Figure B
To disable Efficiency Mode, select the application in Task Manager and press the Efficiency Mode button again to turn off the feature.
You may also notice that Microsoft Edge is already in efficiency mode by default – note the leaf icon. It is also important to note that some of your running applications may be considered core of Windows 11 operating system and efficiency mode is not available for them.
If you normally have multiple applications open and running simultaneously on your Windows 11 device, it may be worth putting some of them in efficiency mode to reduce energy consumption. For some applications, you may not even notice a significant change in their performance, and you’ll have to decide what works best for you. Reducing processes and resource consumption could add hours of charge to our device battery depending on how you use it.