I've noticed that my laptop battery seems to be draining excessively even when it's fully shut down. Over the course of two weeks, it lost 31% of its charge while completely powered off (not in sleep or hibernate mode; I used the command line to shut it down). No devices were connected during this time. I've tried this with a clean installation of Windows and one with Linux, and I'm wondering if I have unreasonable expectations or if this level of battery drain is excessive. My laptop is an HP EliteBook 640 G10, and the BIOS version is from August 2025.
2 Answers
You might want to check your BIOS settings for any power options related to Thunderbolt ports. Sometimes, even when the laptop is off, these features can keep draining the battery. However, not all systems allow you to disable this feature, so it’s worth a look. Your laptop may be using power to keep certain functionalities ready, even if nothing is connected at the moment.
It's not uncommon for batteries to drain a bit even when powered off, especially with modern devices that might still draw a small amount of power to keep some components alive. I’ve seen laptops lose about 50% of their battery in a week when turned off! So, a 31% drain over two weeks might not be as ridiculous as it sounds. Just part of how some tech works these days.
Is there a specific reason this drain happens even without devices connected?