The most common reasons your iPhone battery empties quickly
Fast battery drain usually comes from one of three sources: an app running constantly in the background, a setting that keeps your screen or radios active when you don't need them, or a battery that has straightforward worn out from age. Most of the time it is the first two, and you can fix them yourself in minutes. A battery that has lost capacity takes longer to diagnose but is still straightforward to check.
Start by looking at which apps are using the most power. This tells you whether the problem is a single runaway app or a pattern across many apps. Then check your screen brightness and location settings, because these drain power faster than almost anything else. If those look normal, your battery itself may be degraded.
Key Takeaways
- Check Settings > Battery > Battery Usage to see which apps have consumed the most power in the last 24 hours or 10 days, and force-close any app using more than 10 percent.
- Screen brightness and location services drain battery fastest, so lower brightness to 30 to 40 percent and turn off location for apps that do not need it.
- Background App Refresh lets apps run even when you are not using them; turn it off in Settings > General > Background App Refresh for apps you do not need constant updates from.
- Check your battery health in Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging; if Maximum Capacity is below 80 percent, your battery has degraded and will drain faster than normal.
- If battery health is above 80 percent and no single app is draining power, restart your iPhone by holding the power button and swiping to power off, then turning it back on.
How to find which apps are draining your battery
Open Settings, tap Battery, then tap Battery Usage. You will see a list of apps ranked by how much power they used in the last 24 hours. The percentages show each app's share of total battery use. If one app is using more than 10 percent of your battery, that is usually the culprit.
Tap the clock icon at the top to switch between the last 24 hours and the last 10 days. The 10-day view shows you whether the problem is recent or has been happening for a while. If an app shows high usage in the 10-day view but low usage in the 24-hour view, the problem may have already fixed itself.
For apps that are draining power, try these steps in order: first, force-close the app by swiping up from the bottom of the screen (or swiping down from the top-right corner on iPhone X and newer) and holding the app until it closes. Second, uninstall the app and reinstall it from the App Store. Third, if the app is essential, check the app's settings to see whether it has a background activity or refresh option you can turn off.
Turn off screen brightness and location services
Your screen is the single biggest power consumer on your iPhone. Even at medium brightness, it drains battery much faster than any app. Open Settings, tap Display & Brightness, and lower the brightness slider to 30 to 40 percent. You can also turn on Auto-Brightness so the phone adjusts brightness based on the light around you, which saves power in dim rooms.
Location services are the second biggest drain. Open Settings, tap Privacy & Security, then tap Location Services. You will see a list of apps with location access. For each app, tap it and change the setting from "Always" or "While Using" to "Never" unless the app genuinely needs your location all the time. Maps, weather, and find-my-friends apps need location. Social media apps, games, and news apps usually do not.
If you use location services for navigation or fitness tracking, keep them on for those apps but turn off location for everything else. The difference is dramatic: turning off location for five apps can add two to three hours to your battery life.
Disable Background App Refresh for apps you don't need constant updates from
Background App Refresh lets apps check for new messages, updates, or data even when you are not looking at them. This is useful for email and messaging apps but wasteful for games, news apps, and social media. Open Settings, tap General, then tap Background App Refresh. You will see a toggle at the top to turn it off entirely, or you can scroll down and turn it off for individual apps.
Start by turning off Background App Refresh for apps you check manually — news apps, social media, weather, and games. Keep it on for email, messages, and any app that sends you time-sensitive notifications. If you turn it off entirely and find you are missing important messages, turn it back on and disable it only for specific apps instead.
Check whether your battery has degraded
iPhones use lithium batteries that lose capacity over time. After 500 full charge cycles, an iPhone battery typically retains about 80 percent of its original capacity. After 1000 cycles, it may be at 60 percent. A degraded battery drains faster and charges more slowly, no matter what apps you have installed.
To check your battery health, open Settings, tap Battery, then tap Battery Health & Charging. Look at the "Maximum Capacity" percentage. If it is 80 percent or higher, your battery is still in good condition. If it is below 80 percent, your battery has degraded and will drain faster than it did when the phone was new.
If your battery is below 80 percent and you are draining power faster than you want, you have two options: have Apple replace the battery (this costs money and takes a few days), or accept that the phone will need charging more often. A degraded battery does not mean your phone is broken — it just means the battery itself has aged.
Restart your iPhone if no single cause is obvious
Sometimes battery drain is caused by a software glitch that a restart will fix. If you have checked your apps, turned off location and brightness, and your battery health is above 80 percent, try restarting your phone. On iPhone 8 and newer, hold the power button and either volume button until the power-off slider appears, then drag it to turn off the phone. Wait 30 seconds, then hold the power button again until the Apple logo appears.
On iPhone 7 and older, hold the power button until the slider appears, then drag to power off. Wait 30 seconds and power back on. A restart clears temporary files and stops any background processes that may have been stuck, and it often solves battery drain that has no obvious cause.
When to consider a battery replacement
If your battery health is below 80 percent, you have turned off location and background refresh, and your battery still drains in a few hours, a replacement battery will likely solve the problem. Apple can replace the battery at an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider. The cost varies by iPhone model but is usually between 50 and 100 dollars.
Before you pay for a replacement, make sure the drain is actually coming from the battery and not from an app or setting. Use the steps above to rule out apps and settings first. If Maximum Capacity is above 80 percent and you have disabled background refresh and location services, the problem is almost certainly not the battery itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my battery drain faster in cold weather?
Lithium batteries lose power faster when they are cold because the chemical reaction inside them slows down. This is temporary — your battery will drain faster in winter or if you use your phone outside in cold weather, but the battery itself is not damaged. Bring the phone inside and let it warm up, and the drain rate will return to normal.
Does closing apps in the app switcher save battery?
No. Closing apps by swiping them away from the app switcher does not save battery because the apps are not running in the background anyway. iOS only runs apps you are actively using or apps with Background App Refresh turned on. Closing apps just wastes time and does not help battery life.
Will turning on Low Power Mode help if my battery is draining fast?
Low Power Mode slows down your phone and reduces performance to stretch battery life, but it does not fix the underlying cause of fast drain. If an app is using 15 percent of your battery, Low Power Mode will reduce that to maybe 12 percent. It is useful when your battery is already low, but it is not a solution to fast drain.
Can a software update fix battery drain?
Sometimes. If the drain is caused by a bug in iOS, a software update may fix it. Check Settings > General > Software Update to see whether an update is available. If you are already on the latest version and battery drain is still happening, the problem is likely an app, a setting, or a degraded battery — not the iOS version.
Is it bad to charge my iPhone every night?
Modern iPhones are designed to charge overnight without damage. iOS 13 and newer include Optimized Battery Charging, which slows down charging after 80 percent to reduce wear on the battery. You can leave your phone plugged in all night without harming the battery.