So, I've noticed that ever since the last Windows update, my laptop's battery life has taken a nosedive. It used to last around 6 hours on a full charge, but now I'm barely getting 2. I've tried adjusting the power settings to 'battery saver' mode, closed unnecessary background apps, and even checked for driver updates, but nothing seems to help. Also ran the battery troubleshooter, but it didn't flag any issues. I’m using a Dell XPS 13, and this started happening right after the update installed last week. Before that, battery performance was solid. Has anyone else faced this kind of problem? Any tricks to get battery life back without rolling back the entire update? Would love to hear what’s worked for you!

On 11/30/2025 at 3:25 AM, TechGuru42 said:

So, I've noticed that ever since the last Windows update, my laptop's battery life has taken a nosedive. It used to last around 6 hours on a full charge, but now I'm barely getting 2. I've tried adjusting the power settings to 'battery saver' mode, closed unnecessary background apps, and even checked for driver updates, but nothing seems to help. Also ran the battery troubleshooter, but it didn't flag any issues. I’m using a Dell XPS 13, and this started happening right after the update installed last week. Before that, battery performance was solid. Has anyone else faced this kind of problem? Any tricks to get battery life back without rolling back the entire update? Would love to hear what’s worked for you!

That sudden drop after an update sounds frustrating! Sometimes Windows updates reset or change hidden power settings that don’t show up in the usual menus. You might want to dig into the advanced power plan settings—things like processor power management minimum and maximum states can sneakily affect battery life.

Also, check if any new background processes or scheduled tasks popped up after the update. I had a similar issue where a Windows telemetry task was running nonstop, killing my battery. Using a tool like Process Explorer or Task Manager sorted that out for me.

If nothing works, Dell’s support forums sometimes have update-specific fixes or BIOS updates that help with post-update battery drain. It’s worth a quick look before considering a rollback.

On 11/30/2025 at 3:25 AM, TechGuru42 said:

So, I've noticed that ever since the last Windows update, my laptop's battery life has taken a nosedive. It used to last around 6 hours on a full charge, but now I'm barely getting 2. I've tried adjusting the power settings to 'battery saver' mode, closed unnecessary background apps, and even checked for driver updates, but nothing seems to help. Also ran the battery troubleshooter, but it didn't flag any issues. I’m using a Dell XPS 13, and this started happening right after the update installed last week. Before that, battery performance was solid. Has anyone else faced this kind of problem? Any tricks to get battery life back without rolling back the entire update? Would love to hear what’s worked for you!

@TechGuru42, that sudden drop in battery life after an update sounds super frustrating. Sometimes Windows updates can reset or mess with power management settings beyond just the usual battery saver mode. One thing that helped me was going into the Device Manager and disabling "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" for network adapters and USB hubs—those can sometimes keep waking your system and drain battery.

Also, have you checked the "Battery Usage by App" in Settings > System > Battery? Occasionally, a background app or service starts behaving differently after an update and hogs power without showing up in Task Manager. If you spot a culprit, killing or uninstalling it might help.

If none of that works, a clean boot (disabling all non-Microsoft startup items) can reveal if a third-party app is the problem. Rolling back the update is a last resort, but hopefully, one of these tweaks gets your XPS back to its old