Solved: How to Fix iPhone Battery Draining Overnight

It is always a problematic issue when your iPhone battery drains overnight. While a battery drain between 5% and 10% is acceptable, anything above that range should be considered severe. However, solving the problem of iPhone battery draining starts with identifying the causes of the problem.

There are many reasons why iPhone batteries drain overnight. While many of these reasons are specific to the type of iPhone you use, some are general.

See my experience – Flip Phone vs Smartphone: Why I switched back to a Flip Phone  

Some of these reasons include running background apps, leaving Bluetooth and WIFI on, and refusal to use the low battery mode. 

Related: Do I Need an iPad if I Have an iPhone? (Is it Necessary)

Why is my iPhone battery draining so fast all of a sudden?

The battery draining so quickly all of a sudden is due to having certain settings on or off and apps being ran in the background. By turning off low data mode, enabling the hidden optimized battery charge option, and turning off bluetooth, you’ll find your battery won’t drain so quickly all of a sudden.

It seems the older model iPhones drain a bit faster overnight. For example, the iPhone 12 lasted longer overnight than the iPhone 10, 11 when I tested this, though, it wasn’t significant (3.75% difference in battery life per charge).

There are variables that can effect the battery drainage, at least significantly, are unrelated to the iPhone models. This excludes the iPhone 13 and 14 models.

Update: The software updates seem to have the biggest effect of drainage differences between each other on the iPhone models.

Related: 6 Best Apps to Convert Handwriting to Text on iPad and iPhone

How to fix an iPhone battery that is draining overnight

There are quite a major reasons why your iPhone battery keeps draining overnight that is related to different settings within your iPhone (these can be adjusted).

Offering solutions to these causes will help optimize your iPhone battery and ensure that they last longer rather than draining from 100% battery life to 0%.

See our post: How Often Should I Shut Down my MacBook?

The following are some of the ways you can fix your iPhone battery that drains overnight.

1. Enable optimized battery charge (hidden option) 

The efficiency of your iPhone battery reduces with time and increased usage. However, with a certain feature on your iPhone, you can reduce the aging process of the battery, thus prolonging its efficiency. This feature is known as Optimized Battery Charging.

The feature uses artificial intelligence to monitor the battery’s charging process every day. As a result, it can understand the charging routine of the battery. This understanding helps your iPhone to take loads off the battery until it is charged up to 80%.

As efficient and beneficial as the feature is, most people do not know about it. It is very easy to find and use on your iPhone. All you need do is go to the ‘Battery’ option under the ‘Settings’ menu. Select ‘Battery Health’ and toggle the ‘Optimized Battery Charging’ on.

Related: How Long Does a MacBook Pro Battery Last?

2. Turn on low data mode

Most of the activities done on the phone require an internet connection; thus, internet/data connection accounts for a large proportion of battery usage. It follows that when your iPhone battery is draining overnight, then minimizing the data used, especially overnight, it will help to reduce the problem of battery drainage. This is where the ‘Low-Data Mode’ feature comes in.

A new feature on the iPhone, the low data mode, turns off applications and processes that use data and battery. Thus, the processes and features running on your iPhone are reduced, helping save battery life. This feature doesn’t only helps you reduce battery usage; it also helps optimize data usage.

Related: Can an iPad Replace a Laptop for a College Student?

Using this feature is very easy. You can turn on the low data mode under the Mobile data option in the Settings menu. Simply toggle on the feature, and you should be able to stop your battery from draining overnight. If not, then you’ll want to check low power mode next.

3. Turn on low power mode

The low power mode on the iPhone is another feature that can help prevent the overnight draining of your iPhone battery. The feature is one of the numerous updates that iOS on most iPhones now have. The feature is usually activated when your battery is low, thus activating it before sleeping at night will do your battery a world of good.

The low power mode shuts down or reduces some processes and features on the phone. Some features will not work, and the action of other features will be slow, thus saving your iPhone battery. This way, the low battery on your iPhone is conserved till you can recharge it. This is also useful if you find that your iPhone battery drains when not in use.

Related: Is a MacBook Air Good for Video Editing (The Truth)

This feature is a very effective method of saving your iPhone battery life overnight. You can activate the low power mode under the Settings menu or the Control Center. Select the Battery option under the Settings menu or Customize Controls under the Control Center menu.

4. Ensure all Bluetooth connections are turned off

Bluetooth is one of the features that drain your battery a lot. From connecting it to headphones to Apple Watch, there are lots of uses for Bluetooth during the day. This extended use contributes to the draining of your battery during the day.

 While you may use the Bluetooth feature for many activities during the day, there is little or no need for the feature overnight. Thus, you must turn the feature off before sleeping. Turning the Bluetooth feature off before sleeping will help save the battery overnight.

See our post: Is the MacBook Air Good for Programming? (The Truth)

Turning the Bluetooth feature off is quite easy. You can turn it off through the settings menu or control center. Swipe down from the top of your phone and tap on the Bluetooth icon to turn it off. Selecting the Bluetooth option under the Settings menu will help you turn the feature off.  

5. Switch off Background app refresh

Running some applications in the background constitutes one of the major causes of the overnight battery drain. What’s worse is that some of these apps refresh or update themselves while you are asleep.

When these background apps refresh or updates, they require a data connection. This requirement will, in turn, cause a need for more battery life, hence the draining of your iPhone battery. This is how Background Apps Refresh drains your iPhone battery overnight.

It is thus important to turn off the background app refresh. You can do this by going to ‘Settings’ on your menu. Select the ‘General’ option and click on the ‘Background App Refresh’ option. You will be able to turn it off here.

You can also learn: How to Use an iPad as Phone Replacement

6. Exit out of all Safari or chrome tabs at night

Browser apps like Chrome and Safari are one of the notorious ways your iPhone battery gets sucked overnight. When you leave these apps running in the background, they drain your data and battery life. Refreshing the open tabs and updating the browser apps are some of the ways these browsers drain your battery.

Even when you turn them off or close the tabs, these browser apps still drain battery power. However, the power drained in this case is way lesser than if the tabs were left on. Thus, it is essential to close and exit all open tabs on browsers on your iPhone before sleeping.

Closing browser tabs is very easy. You can do this by click in the close (X) icon on the top right corner of the browser. Another way is to go through the settings menu of the browser and exit all tabs.

Related: 10 Creepy Things to Never Ask Siri (Scary questions)

7. Turn on Airplane mode

It has been said that activities requiring data connections are one of the reasons your battery gets drained overnight. And since you’d be sleeping overnight, you do not need your network or data connection on. Therefore, why not consider the Airplane mode?

The Airplane mode is a feature on your iPhone that allows you to switch off your network connection. This means that there will be no form of connection between your phone and your network provider. The implication of this is that processes requiring network and data connection will not be able to run during the time, thus saving your iPhone battery life overnight.

You’ll also want to see the 11 Best Minimalist Phones [Simple Phones].

You can also use this feature when traveling or in a low area network. It is very easy to activate this feature. You can swipe down from the top of your phone and click on the Airplane Mode icon to turn it on or off.

8. Turn off Wi-Fi and cellular data

Similar to the action of the Bluetooth feature, cellular data and WIFI connections drain batteries a lot. This is because many processes and features on your iPhone rely on Wi-Fi and cellular data connections to run. Thus, they provide the avenue for the easy dissipation of battery life.

When you retire for the day, you must ensure that these connections are turned off. This step will ensure that processes that require these connections to run are stopped. As a result, your iPhone battery life is saved.

According to experts, turning the WIFI and cellular data connection from the control center may not be very effective. Thus, it is advised that you go through the Settings option on your iPhone menu. Select WIFI and toggle off; you should do the same for cellular data too.

Related (if you’re an artist): 5 Best Wireless Drawing Tablets. These use bluetooth, not Wifi.

9. Disable unnecessary notifications

As important as notifications are on your iPhone, these notifications may spell doom for your battery life. If notifications are turned on for all apps, your phone will take a longer time to charge. This is because your iPhone will have to use the internet to scan and retrieve the notifications.

These notifications can also be disturbing at work, even when you are sleeping. Thus, it will do you a lot of good to enable only necessary notifications on your iPhone. This will not only save your battery life, but it will also reduce the disturbance caused by your iPhone.

You can select the apps you wish to receive notifications from under the Settings menu. Select the Notifications option, and all the apps on your iPhone will be listed. Using the toggle option, you can turn off or on notifications from each of these apps.

10. Disable or limit location services

Another feature that drains your iPhone battery easily is the location services on your iPhone. Turning the location services on allows apps to track your location data from time to time. While some apps require the location data to work efficiently, other apps just keep the data, which is bad for privacy and security.

It is important that you turn off this service or limit its use on your iPhone. You will not only be saving your battery life; you will also be protecting yourself from cyber-attacks and privacy intrusion.

The Settings option is the place to control the location service feature. You will find the location services under the Privacy option. Select ‘Allow Once’ for the apps you intend to enable the service for. This way, the apps will have to seek your permission before turning on the location services next time.

What to do when your iPhone battery drains when not in use

What actions should you take when your iPhone battery is draining and you are not using it? If this is occurring, then you have a certain app, connection, or setting that is constantly being used that you aren’t aware of. For example, if the Wi-Fi is repeatedly searching for a connection or an app is constantly sending notifications and you’re not using it, then the iPhones screen is constantly being lit up and in use. This activates certain pathways in the iPhone that can drain the battery.

First, you should check your phone to make sure that the iPhone is fully updated to its latest software. Next, if you have a lot of apps on your phone that run in the background, you need to check which apps have access to push notifications, and turn off push notifications for those apps (if possible) so they will stop running in the background without needing your active participation.

Related: iPad vs Laptop Pros and Cons: Replacing a Laptop with iPad

You should also check which of these apps use location services and turn off location services for those as well as previously noted.

Is charging a battery overnight good or bad?

Is charging a battery overnight good or bad? If you have an iPhone 10 or later, it’s not bad if because Apple expects its users to do this and has built their operating system, iOS, around to avoid overcharging. The optimized battery charging feature was designed to ‘sufficiently’ charge your iPhone to 80%.

If you are still worried, then charging your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch for 2 – 3 hours before bed and then leaving it to charge all night shouldn’t affect the battery life too dramatically, and you won’t have any problems with it.

Also see: Why your iPad battery is draining so fast

Apple recommends that you leave your iDevice plugged in overnight but only to an appropriate voltage source so that charging your iPhone overnight won’t damage the battery.

What to do when iPhone charging overnight won’t turn on

If your iPhone won’t turn on after you’ve charged it overnight, then this means that you’ll need to reset your iPhone into “DFU” restoration. DFU is a restoration mode that  allows you to update the firmware and bring back the operating system without forcing the most recent version that was downloaded.

To activate DFU Mode on an iPhone:

• First, connect your iPhone to your Computer or laptop and sync it to iTunes.
• Next, locate the ‘shut down menu’ under the general tab of ‘settings’. Your iPhone will restart.
• Hold the button on the side of your iPhone in addition to holding the down volume button at the same time.
• Continue this for 8-12 seconds and then take your finder off the side button, but keep the volume button held for 4-6 more seconds.
• Your iPhone should remain blank the entire time throughout this process, do not let it restart, if so you’ll need to repeat the process.
• If the iPhone says it has ‘detected’ your iPhone, then you can restore your iPhone as needed to help fix the battery from not turning on after charging it overnight.

Alternatively you can simply send your iPhone in using apple care or to another certified repair shop as this should not be occurring unless you have a very old Lithium ion battery or you have caused water damage to your phone.

Related: iPhone Font Generator: Make Stylish Text Messages

FAQ

What should I do if my iPhone battery won’t turn on after charging overnight?

If your iPhone won’t turn on after you’ve charged it, then press the up volume button, then the down volume button quickly and then press the ‘home’ button (the one that sleeps the iPhone) for a 5-7 seconds.

You’re phone should force a restart. If the iPhone is still not working you can of course try plugging it in and moving the charger around safely, but in a unique position.

If the Apple logo appears then its likely your charging port or wire is the issue and will need to be replaced.

If the issue is still occurring you’ll need to contact apple or a certified repair shop to fix the iPhone or get it replaced.

Does auto brightness drain battery?

Auto brightness will only drain the battery if you’re constantly swapping between dark and light environments and forcing your iPhone, Android, or Smartphone to constantly adjust. Frequent adjustments will force your iPhone to utilize the sensor that detects the light, this will cause battery drain.

Auto brightness is designed to not drain your battery when you swap from low light environments, to bright environments. However, if you over use the sensor it may be tough to determine whether or not it’s helping or hurting. The safest bet is to disable it if you are active and aware of changing the displays brightness level.

Your iPhone’s ambient light sensor was built with care by Apple It determines how bright the screen should be and adjusts it accordingly based on the amount of light so that you’re eyes can handle the image properly.

How can I turn off auto brightness and prevent the battery from draining?

The iPhone can be manually configured to a moderate or low brightness setting, which will prevent it from constantly shifting its backlight and you won’t even need the auto brightness feature. In most cases, it’s insignificant, but if your battery is constantly draining and you’re concerned, then you’ll want to disable it.

I personally tested this and I prefer to use Siri and say “open display settings”, from here you can locate to the auto brightness settings menu without the frustration of seeking you’re setting through multiple tabs.

If you want to turn off Auto Brightness without voice control, then you can do so by navigating to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size and turning it off. When I’m not asking siri to locate a menu like the display options, Its fun to ask Siri weird, creepy things and see what she says. We also have a post on Siri hacks if you want to optimize your voice search on iPhone.

If you’re outdoors, you may find that you need to manually adjust the brightness of your screen if it’s too bright. You can do this by swiping down on the screen of your iPhone from the top-right corner. You will now be able to adjust the brightness manually using the slider in Control Center. Once you have made the adjustment, be sure to manually adjust it back down to the lower level as soon as you can.

Why does my iPhone battery drain overnight when turned off

If you’re battery is draining overnight and its completely powered off, then you have an issue with the iPhone battery, the charger, or the lightning connector port. You’ll need to test a different charging wire and make sure it works.

Alternatively, you can try another wall socket as this could also be the issue and is a common culprit in this exact scenario.

How much iPhone battery drain is normal overnight?

A battery should drain less than 6-8% overnight if its a new iPhone. If the iPhone is a year or older and you do not charge it overnight, then the a battery drain of 10% or less is normal. Anything over this amount should be checked and troubleshooted by disabling notifications, location services, bluetooth, enabling low power mode, and curating which apps are used with cellular data.

Why does my phone lose battery when i’m not using it iphone

If your battery is draining significantly when your not using it then you will want to ensure there are no apps running in the background, that you have the latest iOS update, and that you have bluetooth turned off. You also want to make sure that its not trying to connect to a certain Wi-Fi or that you have a new app installed that could be causing the issue.

It’s important to check your screen time usage and see which apps are using the most data through the data menu. You can do this by locating ‘cellular data’ and stopping the LTE usage of an individual app by selecting manually.

My Apple watch battery drains overnight?

The Apple Watch battery has been significantly improved from older models. For example I found that the newest model Apple Watch increases in battery life every time there is a release.

The battery life span of an Apple Watch will still drain quickly no matter what model you have, especially overnight. This is because it is such a small device that is using a large amount of resources, including GPS and Wi-Fi on some models.

a good way to not have your Apple Watch screen overnighted to simply put it on its charger, disable certain apps, turn off Bluetooth on your phone so that it’s not communicating with the Apple Watch, or simply turn it off.

There aren’t too many obvious methods to extend the length of your Apple Watch that is draining overnight, but if you mentioned above are the ones that I have personally tested and found to successfully help this issue.

The reason why the Apple watch is being mentioned in this post is because certain features of the iPhone connect to the Apple watch, which could drain the battery.

Conclusion

Overall the battery of your iPhone is draining fast, all of a sudden overnight (or in general), then there are a number of adjustments you can make by using the settings of your iPhone as this is most commonly the cause. Battery capacity, battery life, and duration that the iPhone is able to last should stay fairly constant over the first two years of ownership when the iPhone is new.    By disabling Bluetooth, low power mode, unecessary notifications, and background app refresh, your iPhone should stop draining overnight. IF this does not work you can attempt to limit LTE overnight or limit the apps that use it by checking data use under settings.