System Change Power Plan in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to choose a power plan to be the current active power scheme used by default for your account in Windows 11.

A power plan is a collection of hardware and system settings that manages how your computer uses power. Power plans can help you save energymaximize system performanceor achieve a balance between the two. A power plan is also known as a power scheme.

Changes made to a power plan settings will affect all users that use the same power plan as their current active power plan.

Windows 11 includes the following power plans by default:

• Balanced = Offers full performance when you need it and saves power when you don't. This is the best power plan for most people. Allows you to change your Power Mode.
• Power saver = Saves power by reducing PC performance and screen brightness. If you're using a laptopthis plan can help you get the most from a single battery charge.
• High performance = Maximizes screen brightness and might increase PC performance. This plan uses a lot more energyso your laptop battery won't last as long between charges.
• Ultimate Performance = Only available in the Windows 11 Pro for Workstations edition by defaultbut can be added to any edition. Provides ultimate performance on higher end PCs. It builds on the current High-Performance policyand goes a step further to eliminate micro-latencies associated with fine grained power management techniques. As the power scheme is geared towards reducing micro-latencies it may directly impact hardware; and consume more power than the default balanced plan. The Ultimate Performance power policy is currently not available on battery powered systems.
• Custom = These are custom power plans created by a user on the PC and/or included by your PC manufacturer (OEM).

Reference:

Windows 11 devices that support Modern Standby will usually only have the Balanced power plan scheme available by defaultand can only add custom power plans.

The Power Plan setting is saved to the ActivePowerScheme string value (REG_SZ) in the protected registry key below:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\User\PowerSchemes

381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e = Balanced (default)
a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a = Power saver
8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c = High performance
e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61 = Ultimate performance

1 Open the Control Panel (icons view)and click/tap on the Power Options icon.

2 Select (dot) the power plan (ex: "Ultimate Performance") you want to use by default for your account. (see screenshot below)

3 You can now close the Control Panel if you like.








1 Open Windows Terminaland select either Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt.

2 Copy and paste powercfg /list into the terminaland press Enter. This will give you a list of all available power plans on the PC along with their GUID. Make note of the GUID of the power plan you want to choose. (see screenshot below)

The power plan scheme that has an asterisk (*) to the right of it is your current active power plan scheme.

3 Type or copy and paste the command below you want to use into the terminaland press Enter. (see screenshot below)

Substitute GUID in the command above with the actual GUID from step 2 above for the power plan you want to choose.

4 You can now close Windows Terminal if you like.




That's it,
Shawn Brink