Fedora laptops and desktops running GNOME or KDE offer several built-in ways to adjust power profiles and battery-saving options. These options allow users to optimize battery longevity, system responsiveness, or performance for demanding tasks. Fedora’s default power-profiles-daemon provides a straightforward interface for switching between profiles, but it also supports automation and deeper customization for those who want more control over system power behavior.

Switch Power Profiles Using the Built-in Power Menu

Fedora’s power-profiles-daemon integrates directly with both GNOME and KDE environments, giving users quick access to three main profiles: Performance, Balanced, and Power Saver. These profiles adjust CPU scaling, disk and network power management, and more, based on your selection.

Step 1: Open the system menu from your desktop environment. In GNOME, click the system status area (top right corner) to reveal quick settings. In KDE, click the battery icon in the system tray.

Step 2: Locate the power profile section. You will see options labeled Performance, Balanced, and Power Saver. Select the profile that fits your current needs. For battery life, choose Power Saver; for demanding tasks, use Performance.

Step 3: Confirm the profile change. You can verify the active profile by running powerprofilesctl in a terminal. The output will indicate which profile is active.

Switching profiles can immediately affect CPU frequency scaling, screen brightness, and other hardware parameters, resulting in measurable changes in power consumption and battery life.

Automate Power Profile Changes Based on AC or Battery

Manually toggling profiles works, but automating the process ensures your system always uses the optimal profile when switching between AC power and battery. This is especially useful for laptops that frequently move between plugged-in and unplugged states.

Step 1: Download or create automation scripts. Community scripts, such as those found on GitLab (e.g., power-profiles-automation), monitor AC adapter status and automatically switch profiles using powerprofilesctl. These scripts are triggered by udev rules when the power source changes.

Step 2: Copy the provided scripts (e.g., performance.sh and powersave.sh) to /usr/share/power-profiles/. Place the corresponding udev rules in /etc/udev/rules.d/.

Step 3: Reload udev rules with sudo udevadm control --reload-rules and test by plugging and unplugging your laptop. The profile should switch automatically between performance and power saver modes.

For KDE users, similar automation can be set up in System Settings under Power Management by assigning scripts to AC and battery events. This approach provides a set-and-forget solution that matches power profiles to your usage context without manual intervention.

Customize Power Profiles with TuneD-PPD (Fedora 41+)

Fedora 41 and newer include tuned-ppd, a power management daemon that dynamically adjusts system settings according to the selected profile. This tool works seamlessly with the GNOME power menu and can be further customized for advanced users.

Step 1: Use the GNOME power menu to select your preferred profile. TuneD-PPD will automatically adjust CPU frequency, disk modes, network card settings, USB power, and cooling based on your selection.

Step 2: For deeper customization, use the Tuned-PPD Customizer Script to download and apply additional profiles from Red Hat. This allows you to fine-tune the balance between performance and power savings beyond the default options.

Step 3: If you prefer a graphical applet, install the TuneD Switcher Flatpak from Flathub. This tool offers quick switching between profiles and supports manual installation of extra profiles.

This approach is especially effective for users who require granular control over system power behavior or want to experiment with non-default profiles for specific workloads.

Apply Additional Battery-Saving Tweaks

Beyond profile switching, several practical adjustments can further optimize battery life on Fedora laptops:

  • Reduce screen brightness to the lowest comfortable level.
  • Disable keyboard backlights in well-lit environments.
  • Turn off Bluetooth when not in use to prevent unnecessary power drain.
  • If using a dual-GPU laptop, ensure the discrete GPU (dGPU) is in deep power-saving mode when not needed. Tools like Mission Center can help monitor GPU activity.
  • Enable hardware acceleration in Firefox to offload video and web rendering tasks to the GPU, which is more power-efficient than CPU-based rendering. Refer to Fedora’s hardware acceleration guide for setup instructions.
  • Consider hibernation instead of suspend when you need to conserve battery for extended periods. Hibernation writes RAM contents to disk and fully powers off the device, resuming later without battery drain.

Community tools like auto-cpufreq or TLP can sometimes provide additional CPU power management, especially on older Intel-based laptops. However, on modern Fedora installations with AMD or recent Intel hardware, power-profiles-daemon is usually sufficient and less likely to cause compatibility issues.

Troubleshooting and Advanced Configuration

Some users may notice that switching profiles does not always produce expected changes in battery life or CPU frequency. This can be due to limitations in driver support, hardware quirks, or conflicts with other power management tools. Verifying the active CPU governor and energy preference using:

cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/energy_performance_preference

can confirm whether the selected profile is being applied at the kernel level.

For persistent issues, check for firmware updates, experiment with alternate CPU drivers (such as acpi-cpufreq vs. intel_pstate or amd-pstate), or consult Fedora and hardware vendor forums for device-specific advice. Some users report that switching desktop environments or disabling aggressive third-party power-saving tools resolves glitches.

Fedora’s built-in power profiles and battery-saving options make it easy to adapt your system to different scenarios, whether you need maximum performance or longer battery runtime. With automation and a few additional tweaks, you can optimize your laptop’s power use to fit your workflow.