If you ever want to change how long it takes for your PC to go to sleep or optimize your laptop’s battery performance so that it lasts longer, you can do so from Windows 10’s Power Options menu. Here, we’ll look at five unique ways to quickly open the Power Options in Windows 10.
What Is the Power Options Utility in Windows?
Power Options is a Control Panel system utility in Windows that gives you all the control over your PC’s power or battery usage. You can use this panel to switch between various power plans or create a custom plan to fine-tune your system’s power usage. Within minutes, you will be able to adjust your CPU’s maximum/minimum power states, adjust your GPU’s power management, and so on from the advanced power settings.
Most users access the Power Options menu simply to change the power plan since Windows 10 PCs use the Balanced power plan by default. However, you can switch to the High-Performance plan if you want your PC to fully utilize hardware resources or the Power Saver plan to prolong the battery life.
1. Use the Search Tool to Open Power Options in Windows
This is the most straightforward way to access Power Options on a Windows computer. All you need to do is use the Start menu search bar. However, it’s worth noting that you can’t directly reach Power Options using this search feature. So, here’s what you need to do:
If you type Power in the Start menu search bar, you’ll find a result called Edit Power Plan. Click on it. This will open the settings for your current power plan in a new window. Here, click on Power Options located in the address bar.
That’s it. You’ll now see all the available power plans and switch between them, or create a custom plan if necessary.
2. Use Quick Access Menu to Launch the Power Options in Windows
This method is actually faster than using the Start menu search bar to open Power Options. No, we aren’t talking about Quick Access in File Explorer. This is a dedicated context menu you can access by right-clicking on the Start menu. But, you can use a keyboard shortcut to bring it up even faster.
Follow these simple instructions to open Power Options from Quick Access:
Use the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + X to bring up the context menu above the Start menu. Here, click on Power Options which is second on the list.
It really is that easy. This keyboard shortcut is why many Windows users call it the “WinX menu” rather than Quick Access to avoid confusion.
3. Open the Power Options via the Battery Icon
If you have a laptop, the battery icon is another quick and easy way to access the Power Options menu. The battery indicator is typically located at the bottom-right corner of your taskbar. All you need to do is right-click on it to bring up the context menu and choose Power Options.
This is as quick as the WinX or Quick Access method. So, desktop users shouldn’t worry about feeling left out.
4. Open the Power Options Using the Run Dialog Box
The Run dialog is an underused tool in Windows 10 that lets you quickly open any program on your computer, as long as you know the full file path. You can access this tool from the Start menu search bar or, better yet, use a keyboard shortcut, which is what power users do.
To open the Run Dialog box, press the Windows Key + R simultaneously. Once it shows up at the bottom-left corner, type powercfg.cpl in the Open field and hit the Enter key.
The Power Options utility will open in a new Control Panel window on your screen. Likewise, you can use similar Run commands to run any executable stored in the C:\Windows directory.
5. Open Power Options Using Command Prompt
Are you a programmer? Then, you can use this handy command line to quickly launch Power Options when you’re typing away lines of code in Command Prompt. For others, this wouldn’t be ideal at all since we’ve already discussed far easier methods
Open CMD on your PC and then type in the following command line:
%windir%\system32\control.exe /name Microsoft.PowerOptions
Hit the Enter key to execute it. Power Options will open up in a new Control Panel window. Also, you can use the same command line if you’re someone who uses Windows PowerShell instead of Command Prompt.
6. Launch Power Options from the Control Panel in Windows
Since Power Options is a system utility, you will find it in the Windows 10 Control Panel. Sure, it’s not the easiest method to open it, but you can use it if you want to learn exactly where this setting is located. All the other methods we just discussed serves as a shortcut to this section within the Control Panel.
Follow these simple instructions to find the Power Options section in the Control Panel:
Launch Control Panel on your Windows 10 PC to get started. You can use the Start menu search bar to find it easily. In the main menu, click on Hardware and Sound, but you can skip this step if you can see all the Control Panel items. Now, click on Power Options from the right pane, and you’ll see all the different power plans.
Depending on what you intend to do, you can also select from the choices below Power Options to get to that particular section quicker.
So Many Ways to Access Power Options in Windows 10
Of course, you just need one of these methods to open the Power Options panel on your Windows 10 PC. However, it’s always better to know one or more alternate methods that may better suit some situations.
For example, launching Power Options from the battery indicator seems more natural than anything else, but we discussed equally quick ways to open the same for desktop users too.
No matter which route you take, you’ll still access the same Power Options section in the Control Panel. But it’s up to you to try these methods and find what works best for your use case.
