U-M Planet Blue
 
Sustainable Computing

Manage Your Power

You can automatically save power and money when using your computer by using the following settings for the power management features of your computer.

Computer Monitor

Recommended Settings

We recommend following the power management settings for your computer:

When your computer is in standby/sleep mode, all it takes is to press a key or wiggle the mouse to wake it back up in seconds, so you don't lose any valuable work or play time.

Change Power Management Settings

Modern computer operating systems come with power management set to conserve power. If you need to change those settings don't forget to change them back to the original power-save settings.

Instructions for Windows 7 and 8

  1. Click on Start.
  2. On the right hand side of the menu select Control Panel (Windows 8 users, type Control Panel into the search bar and click to open). Control Panel has two views.
    • If you are in Themed View double click on Hardware and Sound and select Power Options.
    • If using a standard view, select Power Options.
  3. Once you are in Power Options, you can choose the more efficient Power saver plan to save more energy.
  4. You can also customize one of the pre-configured plans by selecting the Change plan settings options and setting the amount of time before turn off display and put the computer to sleep actions are initiated. These can be set for when the computer is plugged in and when it is on battery (if you have a laptop).
  5. To change more settings click on Change advanced power settings. Here you will be able to enable or set values for a variety of power management options.

Instructions for Macs

  1. Click on the apple symbol (Apple Menu) in the upper left of your screen
  2. Go to System Preferences
  3. Click Show All (if necessary)
  4. Select Energy Saver from the Hardware row
  5. Set "Put the computer to sleep when it is inactive for:" to 30 minutes using the slider
  6. Set "Put the display to sleep when the computer is inactive for:" to 5 minutes using the slider

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR program recommends setting computers to enter standby or hibernate after 15 to 60 minutes of inactivity. To save even more energy, set monitor displays to enter sleep mode after 5 to 20 minutes of inactivity. The lower the setting, the more energy you save.

Other Operating Systems

For help with managing the power management settings for other computer operating systems, see the ENERGY STAR web page Activate Power Management on Your Computer.