How to Change Power Plan in Windows 11 – A Step-by-Step Guide

Want Windows 11 to squeeze more battery life or deliver maximum performance for gaming and heavy apps? Changing your power plan (also called a power scheme or power profile) is the fastest way to tune Windows’ behavior. Below you’ll find a friendly, step-by-step guide that shows multiple ways to change power plans — from the Settings app to the command line — plus tips, troubleshooting, and quick commands you can copy-paste.

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Key takeaways (TL;DR)

• A power plan controls how Windows manages CPU, display, sleep, and battery behavior.

• Use Settings > System > Power & battery for the easiest change.

• Use Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options for older, detailed views.

• Power users can use powercfg to list and set plans from the command line.

• There’s a hidden Ultimate Performance plan you can enable on high-end desktops.

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What is a power plan (power scheme) — and why change it?

Think of a power plan like a thermostat for your PC: it decides how aggressively the system uses resources vs. saves power. Do you want longer battery life while traveling? Choose a power-saving plan. Want every CPU cycle for video editing or games? Pick High Performance or Ultimate Performance. Changing the plan is fast and reversible — no risk if you want to experiment.

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When should you change your power plan?

• When you need more battery life (meetings, flights).

• When you want maximum performance (gaming, rendering).

• To reduce fan noise or heat on laptops during light work.

• When you want to customize sleep/display/processor behavior for a specific workflow.

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How do I change power plan in Windows 11? (Quick — Settings method)

This is the simplest and most beginner-friendly method.

Step-by-step (Settings)

1. Press Win + I to open Settings.

2. Go to System > Power & battery.

3. Under Power or Power mode, pick a plan such as Best power efficiency, Balanced, or Best performance.

4. Optionally click Screen and sleep to adjust timeouts for battery vs. plugged in.

Note: Windows 11 groups plans under “Power mode” in Settings; for full classic plans use Control Panel.

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How to change power plan via Control Panel (Power Options)

If you prefer the classic interface with full plan names and “Create a power plan” options, use Control Panel.

Step-by-step (Control Panel)

1. Open Control Panel (press Win, type control and press Enter).

2. Navigate to Hardware and Sound > Power Options.

3. Choose from the visible plans: Balanced, Power saver, High performance (or Ultimate Performance if available).

4. To tweak settings, click Change plan settings > Change advanced power settings.

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Switch power plan from the taskbar / Quick Settings

Want a fast toggle without opening Settings?

1. Click the battery icon in the taskbar (or press Win + A to open Quick Settings).

2. Click the caret (>) or look for Power mode or a quick control that shows Balanced / Better battery / Best performance.

3. Select the mode you want.

This is handy for quick switches (e.g., before a gaming session).

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Change power plan using Command Prompt (powercfg) — for power users

powercfg is a built-in command-line tool that lists, sets, and configures power schemes. Use an elevated terminal (Run as Administrator).

Common powercfg commands

• List plans (shows GUIDs):

• Set a plan active (use the GUID from /list):

• Show currently active plan:

Example (set Balanced if you know its GUID):

Tip: The active plan is usually shown with an asterisk in /list. powercfg docs and options are documented by Microsoft.

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Change power plan using PowerShell

PowerShell uses the same powercfg commands — just run them in an elevated PowerShell or Windows Terminal window (Admin).

Example:

You can script plan changes (e.g., switch to High Performance while a long job runs, then revert).

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Create a custom power plan (step-by-step)

Want a plan that blends battery life and performance specifically for your workflow?

1. Open Control Panel > Power Options.

2. Click Create a power plan in the left column.

3. Choose a base plan (Balanced, Power saver, or High performance).

4. Give it a name (e.g., “Evening Work”) and click Next.

5. Configure sleep and display timeouts, then click Create.

6. Click Change plan settings > Change advanced power settings to fine-tune CPU, USB, wireless adapter, and PCIe settings.

Advanced options let you set processor minimum/maximum states, disk timeout, and more.

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How to enable the hidden “Ultimate Performance” plan

Windows includes a hidden Ultimate Performance plan aimed at workstations and desktops. It’s usually not shown on battery-powered laptops.

How to enable (Command Prompt / PowerShell, admin)

1. Open Windows Terminal (Admin) or Command Prompt (Admin).

2. Run:

3. The command will add the plan; then select it either in Control Panel > Power Options or with:

Note: the duplicate command generates a new GUID for your copy; use the GUID shown after the command to set it active. Use Ultimate Performance only on plugged-in desktops — it increases power usage.

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Edit advanced power settings (processor, sleep, display, USB)

Want granular control? The advanced dialog exposes dozens of settings.

Step-by-step

1. Open Control Panel > Power Options.

2. Click Change plan settings next to the active plan.

3. Click Change advanced power settings.

4. Expand sections like Processor power management, Hard disk, Sleep, USB settings, PCI Express.

5. Adjust the AC/DC values separately (so the plan acts differently when plugged in vs on battery).

6. Click Apply and OK.

Want to set the processor max to 99% to disable turbo boost? You can, but test for stability and temperature changes.

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Export, import, and reset power plans (backup & restore)

Good practice: export custom plans before making big changes.

• Export a plan:

• Import a plan:

• Restore default Microsoft plans (use with caution):

Note: /restoredefaultschemes may behave differently on systems using Modern Standby; see troubleshooting if it does nothing.

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Quick comparison: Standard Windows power plans

Standard GUIDs (for reference): Balanced 381b4222-..., High Performance 8c5e7fda-..., Power Saver a1841308-.... These are system GUIDs used by powercfg.

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Best plan by scenario (short)

• Traveling / battery saving → Power saver or Balanced with low screen brightness.

• Gaming or video editing → High performance (or Ultimate on desktop).

• Everyday work → Balanced (good tradeoff).

• Presentations / demos → Balanced but set sleep to never or use custom plan.

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Troubleshooting: plan won’t change or keeps reverting

• Make sure you have Administrator rights when using powercfg commands.

• Some OEM utilities (Dell Power Manager, Lenovo Vantage) override Windows plans — check or disable them.

• If a plan disappears, run powercfg /list to verify available schemes.

• If plans look corrupted, you can export custom ones and run powercfg -restoredefaultschemes to restore defaults (note caveats with Modern Standby).

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Handy commands cheat sheet (copy/paste)

(Sources: Microsoft powercfg docs and community guides.)

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Quick tips & safety (so you don’t break anything)

• Backup custom plans before editing (use /export).

• Test CPU-heavy changes while monitoring temps — performance plans can make fans louder and CPU hotter.

• On laptops, set different AC/DC values so battery behavior remains friendly.

• Don’t run powercfg commands unless you’re comfortable with admin tasks; copy–paste the exact GUIDs shown by /list.

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Conclusion — what to do next

If you want a quick win: open Settings > System > Power & battery and choose Balanced or Best performance. If you like tinkering, use Control Panel to create a custom plan and tweak advanced options. And if you’re comfortable with the command line, powercfg /list + powercfg /setactive <GUID> gives fast, scriptable control.

Try this small experiment: create a custom plan called “Work” that reduces display timeout to 5 minutes and sets the processor max to 80% on battery. See how battery and thermals improve — then revert if you don’t like it.

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FAQs (5 short answers)

Q1 — How do I quickly check which power plan is active?
Run powercfg /getactivescheme in an elevated Command Prompt or PowerShell — it prints the active plan’s GUID and name.

Q2 — Can I schedule switching power plans automatically?
Yes — you can script powercfg /setactive <GUID> and run it via Task Scheduler at certain times or triggers.

Q3 — Is Ultimate Performance safe to use on laptops?
It’s intended for desktops/workstations. On laptops it may not appear or may drain battery very fast; avoid using it on battery.

Q4 — Why did my custom power plan disappear?
OEM utilities or Windows updates can hide or reset plans. Check powercfg /list and re-import a saved .pow file if needed.

Q5 — Will changing the power plan affect Windows updates or background tasks?
Generally no — but some power saver modes reduce background activity, which could postpone background tasks. If an update needs full performance, use a higher-performance plan temporarily.