I have an ASUS notebook from 2023 and since I did the latest Windows 11 update my battery lasts about half as long as before. I used to get 8-9 hours of work no problem, now with the same usage I barely make it to 4-5 hours. I've already tried closing unnecessary background programs, but nothing changes.
Try first to actually check what's running in the background. Go to Settings > System > Battery, see which app is using the most energy. Often Windows itself activates unnecessary stuff after an update: file indexing, Windows Search, automatic updates. Disable whatever you don't use. If you have visual effects enabled (animations, transparency), go to Settings > System > Display and turn them down to the minimum.
Then check your power plan. Press Win+X, go to Device Manager and look for your battery driver. If it's old or generic, it might not be managing power consumption well. Same goes for your CPU and GPU drivers - a recent Windows update sometimes brings less optimized drivers. Go to the ASUS website and download the specific drivers for your notebook model.
If none of that helps, consider a clean reinstall of Windows. A cumulative Windows 11 update often leaves behind residual files and broken services that drain your battery for no reason. Back up first, then wipe everything clean. It's a bit of a long process, but if your battery life was twice as good before the update, it's probably the only thing that'll fix it.
Was the Windows 11 update you did just a minor update or a completely new version? Because sometimes after major updates Windows turns on various indexing and maintenance functions in the background that consume a lot, especially in the first few days. Go to Settings > System > Battery and look at the detailed graph, not just which app uses the most, but also whether you see weird spikes in system activity. Keep in mind though: a lot of people only check there and don't actually turn off the really power-hungry things like Bluetooth constantly on, continuous cloud sync from OneDrive, or Spotlight search that reindexes everything. If the consumption has actually doubled, it might be worth doing a selective Windows reset without losing your files, because sometimes an update leaves corrupted stuff behind.
If the consumption really doubled after the update, check Settings > System > Battery and device usage history to see what process is running wild, but often the culprit is Windows Search reindexing itself after major updates - try disabling it temporarily (Services, search "Windows Search", disable) and see if your battery goes back to normal. Another thing a lot of people don't know is that certain GPU or chipset drivers might have bugs after the update, so if you've had an ASUS or Intel/AMD driver update recently, try rolling back to a previous version 🔋 Lastly, take a look at Settings > System > Battery saver and make sure all the power efficiency options are turned on, because sometimes the update resets them to less optimized settings.
What nobody mentioned is that Windows 11 updates sometimes activate indexing and background search way too aggressively, especially on new SSDs where the system thinks it has plenty of space. Try disabling Windows Search directly: go to Services (type services.msc in the search bar), find "Windows Search", right-click it and select "Disable". It's safe to do and won't change anything about file explorer search. If that doesn't fix it either, check Settings > System > Battery to see which specific app is eating up power - it's often something surprising like a driver update running badly or a cloud app that turned itself back on after the update.
Windows indexing is really the first suspect when battery consumption doubles after an update! But here's something the others didn't really point out: after major Windows 11 updates, the system automatically enables file scanning even if you've already disabled Windows Search from the normal settings. You need to go to Settings > Privacy and security > Windows Search and make sure indexing is completely turned off, not just hidden from the taskbar.
Another annoying thing is that Windows 11 re-enables indexing for quick search and file Spotlight after updates, regardless of what you'd set up before. Also check in Services (press Win+R, type services.msc) and completely disable "Windows Search" if you don't really need it. Meanwhile go to Settings > System > Battery > Battery usage per app and see if there's anything weird consuming a ton of power. Sometimes you'll find system processes like svchost.exe or searchindexer.exe that shouldn't be there!
If you did a major update and not just a minor patch, it could also be that your graphics driver was reset or updated badly. It's worth checking Device Manager and updating your GPU drivers directly from the ASUS website, don't wait for Windows Update!
Don't just start randomly disabling stuff in settings, you risk breaking something. One thing almost nobody tries: check in Task Manager if the "svchost.exe" process linked to Windows Update is running in the background eating CPU, because sometimes it stays active for hours after a major update even though the download is done. If you see it there pumping away, wait an hour or restart your computer and the power consumption should drop on its own. If the problem persists after the restart, then yeah it's worth looking at Windows Search and disabling indexing like others have said, but try a clean restart first because often the update just left "dirty" processes sitting in memory.
When it did the last update, did you notice if the notebook was running hotter than usual in the days after? Because often after Windows 11 updates it does a full disk reindexing that can last for days, and meanwhile it eats through your battery even when you think you have everything closed. The thing that others haven't mentioned is that this aggressive indexing sometimes stays active permanently if the system gets interrupted during the process - try going to Settings > Privacy and security > Windows Search and disable indexing completely, or at least exclude the folders you don't need. If after that your battery goes back to normal, you'll know that was the problem and you can re-enable it partially for the things you actually need.
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