Windows 11 preview update adds new Power mode options

Windows 11 Build 27686 has a few noteworthy improvements, such as 2TB support for FAT32 storage. It also improves Windows Sandbox and offers greater control over HDR settings, but there’s an undocumented change – the ability to set power mode for different power states.

As shown in the screenshot below, Windows 11 will finally let you set different power modes for when your PC is plugged in and when it’s running on battery.

Previously, you could only choose one power mode that applied to all states.

While Windows did automatically adjust some power settings depending on whether the device was plugged in or on battery, the specific “Power Mode” setting itself (like “Best Performance,” “Balanced,” or “Best Power Efficiency”) didn’t have separate options for these two states.

After the update, you can set Power Mode for both when your PC is plugged in when it’s on battery in Settings highlighted above.

When plugged in, you might want maximum performance because battery life isn’t a concern. But when running on battery, you might prefer a power-saving mode to extend battery life.

With this update, you can automatically switch between these modes depending on whether your PC is plugged in or not.