Nintendo takes this a step further by enabling users to customize their Switch sleep functions. With its various auto-sleep settings, you can preserve your battery life with ease. If you’re interested in making the most out of this feature, here are a few ways how.
How to Adjust Sleep Mode on Your Switch
Nintendo lets you adjust the sleep mode depending on the configuration of your Switch. To see the full options, go to Home > System Settings. Then, scroll down and select Sleep Mode. Here’s what each of the options means.
Auto-Sleep (Playing on Console Screen)
Designed for when you are playing with your Switch using the handheld mode, auto-sleep will turn on after either 1, 3, 5,10, or 30 minutes. On the other hand, you can also select Never, which will keep your Switch on for as long as you don’t turn it off.
Out of all the options, this one is the most critical to adjust to conserve battery life. So while you have the option, choose the lowest possible setting that will not impair your playing experience. With this, we don’t recommend selecting the Never option.
Auto-Sleep (Playing on the TV Screen)
For the best auto-sleep settings when playing on the TV screen, it highly depends on how your Switch connects to the TV. You will be able to set auto-sleep to 1, 2, 3, 6, or 12 hours. You can also decide to choose Never as an option.
Nintendo designed the Switch Dock to keep your device charged while you are playing on the TV. So, if you are connecting to the TV using a Switch Dock, then any timeframe is okay.
However, if you connect your Switch to your TV using an HDMI to USB-C adapter, it is best to keep this setting as low as possible. With no official Nintendo HDMI to USB-C adapter, there is there no guarantee that it will charge your device safely while in use.
Suspend Auto-Sleep While Playing Media Content
When media content is playing, this feature will prevent auto-sleep from shutting down your device. This option is relevant to users who use their Switch to stream videos or music from apps like YouTube or Hulu.
Unlike other options on this list, you cannot select a time limit for this. You are only allowed to choose between On or Off. However, even if the option is off, bear in mind that auto-sleep will activate automatically after four hours of playback.
Wake When AC Adapter is Disconnected
More than a sleep feature, this option wakes up your Switch automatically when removed from the dock. You can choose to either turn this option On or Off. This feature is better left on when you spend more of your time playing on handheld or tabletop versus on the TV.
Give Your Switch a Rest
Since the Nintendo Switch uses lithium-ion batteries, it does not risk overcharging as much undercharging. With this, it’s important to keep the battery healthy by always leaving a little charge left when you’re not using it. Thankfully, there are so many ways that the Switch lets you customize your auto-sleep settings.
While we all love our games, life happens. By changing your sleep mode settings, you can lessen the chances that you leave your Switch completely uncharged for too long. Then, it will be easy to pick it up again as soon as you’re ready to game once more.
