Only Balanced Power Plan available on Windows 11/10

Computers with Windows Operating Systems have different power plans. These power plans help conserve power. Users can select a power plan as per their requirements. In addition to these predefined power plans, Windows also allows users to create custom power plans as per their requirements. All these power plans are available in the Control Panel. What if you open the Control Panel to switch to another power plan but find that only Balanced Power Plan is available? Some users experienced this issue. This article lists effective solutions to resolve this problem.

Computers have different power states. These power states are classified as S0, S1, S2, S3, etc. The S0 low-power idle state is called Modern Standby power mode. In this state, systems can switch from a low-power state to a high-power state very quickly. Computer systems that support the S0 Modern Standby mode do not use other power modes (S1 – S3).

Only Balanced Power Plan available on Windows 11/10

If only Balanced Power Plan is available on your Windows 11/10 computer, use the solutions provided in this post to fix the problem.

1. Disable Modern Standby Mode S0
2. Change your BIOS Settings

Below, we have explained both of these fixes in detail.

1] Disable Modern Standby Mode S0

The systems that use Modern Standby Mode S0 do not use other power modes. Hence, due to this, only the Balanced Power Plan is available in Windows 11/10 Control Panel. If you cannot see other power plans in the Control Panel, it is possible that your system is using the Modern Standby Mode S0. However, some cases have also been reported where the power plans were missing even if the system did not support the Modern Standby Mode S0.

You can check if the Modern Standby Mode S0 is enabled on your system or not by executing the following command in an elevated Command Prompt:

powercfg /a

I also experienced this issue on my laptop. When I checked the Power Mode in the Command Prompt, I found that the Modern Standby Mode S0 was activated on my laptop (see the above screenshot).

If you find the same on your laptop, first, you have to disable the Modern Standby Mode S0, then you can restore the missing power plans. To disable the Modern Standby Mode, open the Command Prompt as an administrator and then execute the following command. The following command will modify the Registry. Hence, before proceeding, create a System Restore Point.

If your system does not support the Modern Standby Mode S0, there is no need to execute the following command. You can directly run the commands to restore the missing power plans.

reg add HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power /v PlatformAoAcOverride /t REG_DWORD /d 0

The above command will create a value, named PlatformAoAcOverride in your Registry with a Value 0. Have a look at what its DWORD Value signifies:

• 1: Modern Standby Mode S0 is enabled.
• 0: Modern Standby Mode S0 is disabled.

After executing the above command, restart your laptop. If the above command fails to create the PlatformAoAcOverride value in Registry, you can manually create it. To do so, open the Registry Editor and go to the following path:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power

Make sure that the Power key is selected on the left side. Now, right-click in the empty space on the right side and select “New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.” Name this newly created value as PlatformAoAcOverride. Double-click on it and enter 0 in its Value Data. Click OK to save the changes. Close the Registry Editor and restart your system.

After restarting, the Modern Standby Mode S0 will be disabled on your system. Now, you can restore the missing power plan(s) by executing the required commands in the elevated Command prompt.

For example, if you want to restore the Power Saver plan, you need to execute the following command in the Administrator Command Prompt.

powercfg -duplicatescheme a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a

After restoring the power plans, they will be available in your Control Panel. Open the Control Panel and type Power Options in the Control Panel Search Bar. Select Power Options from the results. You will see all the restored power plans there. If not, expand the Show additional plans section.

2] Change your BIOS Settings

BIOS of some computers has an option called Other OS. It is an option that allows users to install another operating system, like Linux. Usually, this option is available in ASUS laptops. Enter your system BIOS and go to the Boot menu. Now, go to the Secure Boot Menu, if you see the OS Type option there, change it to Other OS. Save the changes and exit. This option will unlock all the power plans on your system.

The Other OS mode should not cause any issues on your system. However, if you experience any issues, revert the changes in your BIOS.

Read: Sustainable, Green, Power efficient settings for Windows 11.

Does Windows 11 have only one power plan?

Windows 11 does not have only one power plan. If your system supports Modern Standby S0 Mode, it will show you only one power plan. To restore other power plans, you have to disable this mode. You can also create custom power plans on your Windows 11 computer.

Why can’t I change power plan Windows 11?

If the High-Performance Power Plan is selected, you may not be able to change the power plan. Other causes of this issue include corrupted system files, a faulty power plan, etc. If you cannot change the power plan, you can use some fixes, like repairing the system image files, updating the graphics card driver, restoring the power plans to default, etc.

Read next: Your power plan information isn’t available in Windows 11.