MacBook Air M1 battery draining fast, even with the lid closed: what to check

An M1 MacBook Air should lose very little charge overnight with the lid shut. If you wake up to a much lower battery, an app, a network setting or a connected accessory is usually keeping it busy. These checks use the settings that exist on Apple silicon Macs today.

Open System Settings > Battery and look at the Last 24 Hours graph to see when the charge drops. In Activity Monitor, check the Energy tab for apps marked Yes under Preventing Sleep, and set Wake for network access to Never under Battery > Options. Unplug accessories, trim your login items, then check Battery Health in case it says Service Recommended.

• 1. Read the battery usage graph: Go to Apple menu > System Settings > Battery. The Last 24 Hours view shows Battery Level and Screen On Usage. If the level falls steeply during hours when the screen was off and the lid was shut, something was running while the Mac should have been asleep.
• 2. Find apps that stop sleep: Open Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor and click the Energy tab. Sort by Energy Impact and look at the Preventing Sleep column. On a MacBook, the 12hr Power column also shows which apps used the most energy over recent hours. Quit or uninstall anything you do not need that sits near the top.
• 3. Stop the Mac waking for the network: In System Settings > Battery, click Options. Set Wake for network access to Never, or to Only on Power Adapter. While you are there, check that Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off is turned off if you want it to sleep when plugged in.
• 4. Turn off sharing you do not use: Go to System Settings > General > Sharing. Switch off any service you do not need, such as File Sharing, Media Sharing or Printer Sharing. Other devices using these can keep your Mac awake or wake it up.
• 5. Unplug accessories before closing the lid: Disconnect USB drives, hubs and docks before you close the lid. Apple notes that a faulty USB or Thunderbolt device can stop a Mac from sleeping. If the drain stops, reconnect them one by one over a few nights to find the culprit. Also check that nothing is pressing a key or the trackpad inside your bag.
• 6. Trim login items: Open System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions. Under Open at Login, select apps you do not need at startup and click the Remove button. Background helpers for sync, game launchers and updaters are common sources of drain.
• 7. Try Low Power Mode: In System Settings > Battery, set Low Power Mode to Only on Battery. It reduces energy use in general and helps extend daily battery life. On newer macOS versions this appears as Energy Mode with Low Power, Automatic and High Power choices.
• 8. Restart the Mac: Choose Apple menu > Restart. On a Mac with Apple silicon, Apple says a simple restart takes the place of the old SMC reset that Intel Macs needed. If a problem only appears after startup apps load, starting in safe mode can help you spot it.
• 9. Check Battery Health: In System Settings > Battery, look at Battery Health. Normal means the battery is fine. Service Recommended means it holds less charge than when new or is not working normally. You can keep using the Mac, but a worn battery will drain faster in daily use.