How to Maintain Battery Life on Nintendo Switch

This updated guide examines How to Maintain Battery Life on Nintendo Switch and organizes the essential facts, background, and practical takeaways in clear American English.

Turn on Airplane Mode

If you fly occasionally, you might know about Airplane Mode. Enabling this feature disables all wireless communication capabilities of the device. Things like WiFi and Bluetooth consume a bit of power when enabled. By activating Airplane Mode on the Nintendo Switch, you can slightly increase battery life.

Turning off WiFi by activating Airplane Mode is undeniable if you're playing one-player games. You can do so by selecting 'System Settings' from the Home menu . In the next menu, select 'Airplane Mode' from the left column. Finally, select 'Airplane Mode' on the right side of the menu, and press the A button to activate it. Please note that when Airplane Mode is enabled, you will not be able to use Joy-Cons if they are separated from the console. However, Joy-Cons will still work if attached.

Reduce screen brightness

Like any electronic device with a screen, battery life will be affected when the screen's brightness is increased. Fortunately, reducing the screen brightness on the Nintendo Switch is extremely simple and is one of the easiest ways to extend the Switch console's battery life. You can access the screen brightness setting in either of the following ways.

From the main screen, go to System Settings by clicking the gear icon. In the System Settings menu , click 'Screen Brightness' in the left column. Next, turn off 'Auto Brightness Adjustment' . This step allows the Switch to automatically change the brightness of the screen based on the ambient light sensor. To save battery power as much as possible, you need to control the screen brightness manually. To do so, adjust the slider to reduce or increase the screen brightness.

Turn off the vibration feature of Joy-Con

The Nintendo Switch's Joy-Con controller has a feature called HD Rumble, which allows the Joy-Cons to shake and vibrate in combination with on-screen action. Many games available for Switch use this feature. Inside the Joy-Con handle are small 'motors' that are responsible for generating vibrations. Of course, the battery provides the power needed to operate the HD Rumble feature. To save some power, you can choose to turn off this feature.

In the Nintendo Switch's Home menu, access System Settings by clicking the gear icon. From there, touch the option labeled 'Controllers and Sensors' in the menu on the left. Next, you can enable or disable 'Controller Vibration' to enable or disable the HD Rumble feature.

Set the Sleep mode

Nintendo Switch has a Sleep feature that helps consoles enter hibernation when not in use to save battery power. Sleep mode turns off most console functions, including screen and game pause. Just pressing a button will 'wake' Nintendo Switch and let you continue playing. Unfortunately, the Sleep mode does not start until the console stops working for 30 minutes. Luckily, you can change this amount of time to save even more battery.

From the Home menu, select System Settings by clicking the gear icon. In the following menu, touch the 'Sleep Mode' option on the left. Next, look for the 'Auto-Sleep' option. Here, you can change the amount of time it takes the Switch to sleep: 1, 3, 5, 10 or 30 minutes. Choosing a shorter time will prompt the Switch to switch to sleep mode to save energy earlier, which saves battery power.

Buy a portable charger

If you're out for a long time, you might want to invest in a portable charger. A large capacity mobile charger can be a bit bulky.

There are several portable chargers available for Nintendo Switch. However, the Anker PowerCore 13400 is a highly rated, affordable option, officially licensed by Nintendo.

If you choose a different charger, you want to make sure it's a USB-C charger. Also, you should find a charger with a minimum capacity of 10,000 mAh. Exactly portable charger is not a way to save battery in Switch. However, if you want to avoid running out of battery while gaming on the go, that's a good idea.