System Change Power Plan in Windows 11


Power_plan_banner.png

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 energy, maximize system performance, or 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 laptop, this 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 energy, so your laptop battery won't last as long between charges.
  • Ultimate Performance = Only available in the Windows 11 Pro for Workstations edition by default. Provides ultimate performance on higher end PCs. It builds on the current High-Performance policy, and 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 default, and can only add custom power plans.



Contents





Option One

Change Power Plan in Control Panel


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.

Power_plan_Control_Panel.png





Option Two

Change Power Plan using Command



1 Open Windows Terminal, and select either Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt.

2 Copy and paste powercfg /list into the terminal, and 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.


Power_plan_command-1.png

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

(Good for custom power plan)​
powercfg /setactive GUID

(Balanced)​
powercfg /setactive 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e

(High performance)​
powercfg /setactive 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c

(Power saver)​
powercfg /setactive a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a

(Ultimate Performance)​
powercfg /setactive e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61

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.

Power_plan_command-2.png



That's it,
Shawn Brink


 
Last edited:
ss.png


Set to Ultimate Performance (Windows 11 21H1 Build 22000.708 Enterprise) … :think:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 11 Enterprise
    Computer type
    Laptop
    CPU
    i7
    Hard Drives
    SSD
View attachment 30717

Set to Ultimate Performance (Windows 11 21H1 Build 22000.708 Enterprise) … :think:

Hello, :)

Usually, Ultimate Performance is only available in the Windows 11 Pro for Workstations edition by default.

If you don't have it available in your Enterprise edition, this would be why you see this error message.

 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Hello, :)

Usually, Ultimate Performance is only available in the Windows 11 Pro for Workstations edition by default.

If you don't have it available in your Enterprise edition, this would be why you see this error message.

Hello @Brink

Thanks. It works now.. :party:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 11 Enterprise
    Computer type
    Laptop
    CPU
    i7
    Hard Drives
    SSD

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC
    CPU
    Snapdragon X Elite (12 core) 3.42 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15" HDR
    Screen Resolution
    2496 x 1664
    Hard Drives
    1 TB SSD
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
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