Key Takeaways
- Leaving a laptop on 24/7 kills battery performance.
- People keep laptops open for convenience, servers, and functions.
- Shutting down PCs can save energy costs and extend battery life.
For as long as online chat has existed, there has been an important question surrounding device care: should you shut down your computer after using it? It’s a divisive question, of course, with many people suggesting giving the laptop a break from time to time, and others suggesting never turning it off.
Personally, I shut down my computer every day, but I also keep my computers on 24/7 in various areas of my life. In my experience, leaving the laptop on 24/7 is a surefire way to kill battery performance. Of course, things are a little different if you’re using a desktop PC, especially if you’re using it to host something like a NAS or Plex server.
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Why don’t people turn off their laptops?
It would be easier not to wait for the OS to start
There are various reasons why a person might not turn off their laptop. I’ve kept mine running for a long time due to large projects, and keeping the laptop powered was a way to keep my progress uninterrupted in Chrome, Adobe Lightroom, and Photoshop tabs. Usually, I would just close the lid and put my laptop into sleep mode, so everything was still there when I was ready to work again.
You can also refurbish an old laptop, or even better, an old desktop computer, to serve as a home server. Whether you’re using a NAS or an older Plex server, you’ll need to keep it turned on at all times so that the network is available to other devices in your home. You may also notice that your office’s IT department keeps their computers running most of the time, and that’s so they can be used for remote desktop applications or to back up important cloud software updates.
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Shutting down your computer every day means you are less likely to complete important tasks. Computers run many background services, such as virus scans and operating system updates that need to be turned on and running. These tasks are best handled when you don’t need to use the computer actively, which is why they are scheduled overnight.
How bad is keeping the computer running all the time?
It’s not too bad, but it’s also not the best for your hardware
As I just said, there are many cases where people keep their computer on all the time. In general, keeping the computer on most of the time won’t do much in the way of impact on day-to-day operations. However, some apps, especially creative apps and Google Chrome, can be very demanding on processing power. Although you can keep the computer running these applications continuously, it is still a best practice to close them when you are not using them.
At the end of the day, you won’t kill your computer by leaving it running all the time. However, you may experience intermittent downtime and increased fan usage. Overall, though, you shouldn’t experience any hardware failure because you’ve kept yours on.
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Why do I close my laptop sometimes
Battery life and power consumption
While you won’t kill a computer by keeping it on, I’ve found — in my experience — that it’s still a good idea to shut down your computer from time to time. One of the main reasons I shut down my desktop PC when I’m not using it is to save on energy costs — with the rising energy prices in my area of California, I realized I could save a few dollars each. a month on the energy bill by shutting down my desktop.
I also try to turn off my laptop if I know I won’t be using it for a long time, and I do this to try to extend its battery life. By keeping the laptop on, even if you’re not using it, your battery is still running cycles, even if it doesn’t lose power as quickly as it would if you were using it actively. Another way to keep your laptop battery in pristine condition is to give it a break and give it a good shutdown. Good for hardware in general.
Restarting the desktop or laptop can also help if you experience a performance slowdown.
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