Key insights
- Leaving your PC on all the time won't have as much of a negative impact on performance or battery life as expected.
- Shut down your PC occasionally to prevent performance degradation and to ensure software updates are installed properly.
- Shutting down your PC can protect your data from cyberattacks, especially if you have sensitive information on your device.
I've often been told that you should shut down your PC every now and then if you want it to keep running smoothly. But let's be honest: Shutting down and restarting a PC every time is a hassle. That's why many of us, myself included, just leave it on all the time. I used to still shut down my Windows 11 laptop every now and then, but a few months ago I decided to let it run continuously for scientific reasons. It didn't go as badly as I expected and I actually saved some time in the process. However, I ran into a few problems along the way that almost made me turn it off.
I ran this test on a 2-year-old Windows 11 laptop with an AMD Ryzen 7 series processor.
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Why shouldn't you shut down your PC?
It's convenient and I'm lazy
Call me lazy if you want, but not having to turn on my PC every time I need to work is just a lot more convenient. I often work on projects that take several days to complete. That's why I keep a bunch of tabs open, my notes app handy, Photoshop running, and Spotify playing my favorite playlist. Imagine if I had to shut down my PC and reopen all of these things every time – it would take forever. Plus, I would probably forget which Chrome tab contained which information. I just close the lid or put it in sleep mode instead.
Also, I recently turned one of my Windows PCs into a streaming server using Plex, so I have to keep it on to access content. When a PC is turned off or in sleep mode, the server software stops running and media cannot be streamed. You may have your own reasons for leaving your PC on all the time. For example, if you use remote desktop or cloud backup software, your computer needs to be available at all times. Leaving the feature enabled allows you to remotely access files, perform tasks, or troubleshoot errors even when you're away from your desk. And if you use your PC as part of a smart home hub, it needs to stay on to keep everything connected. It can be set up to control lights, cameras and other IoT devices, which works best when the PC is always accessible.
Many people use their PC constantly and are probably wondering how unhealthy the “always on” state really is for their hardware.
How did it go?
Better than you would expect
When I started this little experiment, I expected to encounter a lot of problems and random errors on my PC, but I was wrong. My laptop running Windows 11 was surprisingly stable, even after not shutting down for three months.
Sure, there were a few quirks here and there. Sometimes it would hang for a second or the fan would start out of nowhere, but overall it held up much better than I expected. The only real problem I encountered was with Google Chrome. I usually keep a lot of tabs open, and after a while without shutting down the PC, Chrome started working. It occasionally crashed, became sluggish, and generally struggled to keep up with all the open tabs.
Most of the time, I simply put my laptop to sleep by closing the lid and didn't notice any significant battery drain. One evening, after a day of heavy use, I fully charged the laptop. Once it reached 100%, I unplugged it, put it to sleep, and left it overnight. When I checked the next morning, the battery level had barely dropped – only about 4%.
You may still want to shut down your PC sometimes
Trust me on this one
We've found that shutting down your PC (or not) doesn't have much of an impact on performance or battery life, whether you close the lid or put it to sleep manually. But it's still a good idea to shut it down – or at least restart – from time to time.
For example, if you're going on a long vacation, the energy consumption when not in use may not be worth it compared to the small hassle of starting again.
Another reason is related to software updates. Many Windows updates require a restart, so your computer will need to be shut down and turned back on at this point anyway. If you don't do this while you have control over the timing, your PC may restart automatically and in this case you might lose all unsaved data.
Additionally, shutting down your computer can protect your data by reducing the risk of cyberattacks – if it is turned off, it cannot be accessed. This is especially helpful if you have sensitive information on your device, be it personal, customer-related or otherwise.
Keep your PC running smoothly
Whether you shut down your PC regularly or not is entirely up to you. Either way, as long as you restart or shut down the device every now and then, you're unlikely to notice much difference in performance. However, if your PC still doesn't work as expected even after restarting, it could be due to other underlying problems. Check out these 10 things that could be slowing down your PC (and how to fix them).
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