You can manually terminate the background processes/apps and disable the animations to extend battery life. However, if the results are unsatisfactory, you will need to find other ways to save battery power and extend battery life.

On Windows 11, you have multiple options to conserve Battery Power and extend Battery life. For example, you can enable Battery Saver Mode or turn off the Hard Disk after a set time to conserve battery life.

If your PC has an SSD and HDD, you can turn off the hard disk after a set time to preserve battery life. So, let’s check out how to turn the hard disk off after idle time in Windows 11.

1. Turn off the Hard Disk after Idle time

In this method, we will use the RUN command to automatically turn the hard disk off after idle time in Windows 11. Here are some simple steps to follow.

1. First of all, press the Windows Key + R button on your keyboard. This will open the RUN dialog box on your computer.

2. On the RUN dialog box, enter powercfg.cpl and hit the Enter button.

3. This will open the Power Options on your PC. You need to click on the Change Plan Settings link, as shown in the screenshot below.

4. On the next screen, click on the Change advanced power settings link as shown below.

5. Now, on the Power Options menu, expand the Hard disk option. The default On Battery time is set to 10 Minutes.

6. Next, on the Turn off hard disk menu, set the new time limit for both On Battery and Plugged in. Make sure to enter the time in Minutes.

7. Once done, click the Apply button and then the Ok button.

2. Turn off Hard Disk via the Command Prompt

If, for any reason, you are unable to access the Power options, you need to try this method. In this method, we will use the Command Prompt utility to turn off the Hard disk after a set time. Here’s what you need to do.

1. Open the Windows 11 search and type in Command Prompt. Next, right-click on the Command Prompt and select the Run as administrator option.

2. On the Command Prompt Window, execute the command shared below and hit the Enter button.

powercfg -change -disk-timeout-dc 0

Important: Replace the 0 with the amount of time (in minutes) you like to disable the hard disk after idle time.

3. Next, copy & paste another command shared below and hit the Enter button.

powercfg -change-disk-timeout-ac-0

Important: Replace the 0 with the amount of time (in minutes) you like to disable the hard disk after idle time.

After implementing the above steps, restart your Windows 11 computer. This is how you can turn off the hard disk after idle time to save power in Windows 11. I hope this article helped you! Please share it with your friends. If you have any doubts related to this, let us know in the comment box below.