If you use Microsoft Application Virtualization or App-V and want to disable background synchronization to the server when your computer is on battery power, here is how you can do that. Using the Registry Editor and the Local Group Policy Editor, you can block Windows 11/10/Server from synchronizing data to the server when on battery power.
Microsoft Application Virtualization lets you install and use Win32 apps virtually on a managed server. When you do so, your computer automatically synchronizes to the selected server irrespective of the power state. If you are using a laptop computer and want to save some power, you might want to disable the automatic background synchronization.
How to disable Background Sync to Server when on Battery Power
To disable background sync to server when on battery power using Group Policy, follow these steps:
- Press Win+S and search for gpedit.msc.
- Click on the individual search result.
- Go to PowerManagement in Computer Configuration.
- Double-click on the Enable background sync to server when on battery power setting.
- Select the Disabled option.
- Click the OK button.
Let’s find out more about these steps.
For getting started, you need to open the Local Group Policy Editor. For that, you can press the Win+S keyboard shortcut to open the Taskbar search box quickly, type gpedit.msc, and click on the individual search result.
Next, navigate to the following path:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > App-V > PowerManagement
On the right-hand side, you can find a setting called Enable background sync to server when on battery power. Double-click on this setting and select the Disabled option.
Click the OK button to save the change.
After that, your computer won’t synchronize data to the server in the background when it is on battery power. If you want to turn on this synchronization, you need to choose the Enabled option.
The same thing can be done using the Registry Editor. However, if you plan to do so, don’t forget to create a System Restore point first.
How to turn off background sync to server when on battery power
To turn off background sync to server when on battery power using Registry , follow these steps:
- Search for regedit in the Taskbar search box.
- Click on the search result and select the Yes option.
- Navigate to Microsoft in HKLM.
- Right-click on Microsoft > New > Key.
- Name it AppV.
- Right-click on AppV > New > Key.
- Name it Client.
- Right-click on Client > New > Key.Set the name as PowerManagement.
- Right-click on PowerManagement > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Call it SyncOnBatteriesEnabled.
- Restart your computer.
First, search for regedit in the Taskbar search box, click on the individual search result, and select the Yes option in the UAC prompt to open Registry Editor. After that, navigate to the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft
Here you need to create a sub-key. For that, right-click on Microsoft, select New > Key, and name it AppV. Then, right-click on the AppV, select New > Key, and set the name as Client.
Following that, you need to create another key. You can follow the same steps under the Client key to get it done. This time, you need to set the name as PowerManagement.
Next, right-click on the PowerManagement key, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it as SyncOnBatteriesEnabled.
By default, it comes with a value data of 0, and you need to keep it that way to stop the automatic background synchronization to the server.
At last, restart your computer to get the change.
Does having sync on drain battery?
Yes, like any other task or process, background synchronization drains the battery a lot. Whether it is cloud storage or App-V synchronization, you must disable automatic synchronization if you want to reduce battery consumption.
What happens if I turn off background sync?
If you turn off background synchronization, your files won’t be updated automatically to the respective server. In this case, you might miss out on some changes on the server where the apps are installed virtually. However, you can get back everything once you run the service manually.
