Switch power plans from the command line with powercfg

Activate High Performance, Balanced, or any custom power scheme instantly by GUID — perfect for scripts that toggle between battery-friendly and full-throttle modes.

WindowssystemTerminalPower & SleepLow risk

Run `powercfg /list` to see scheme GUIDs, then `powercfg /setactive <GUID>` to switch; the GUID above is the built-in High Performance plan.

01Command

Command

$ powercfg /setactive 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c

02What it does

Each power plan is a GUID; run `powercfg /list` (alias /l) to enumerate them with their GUIDs, or use friendly aliases like `powercfg /setactive scheme_current`. The two GUIDs in this command are Microsoft's well-known built-ins: 8c5e7fda-... is High Performance and 381b4222-... is Balanced. Duplicate a plan before tweaking it with `powercfg /duplicatescheme <GUID>` and tune individual settings with `powercfg /change monitor-timeout-ac 15`. Note that some systems only expose High Performance via `powercfg /restoredefaultschemes` or duplicating Ultimate Performance with `/duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61`.

03Risk

RiskLow risk

RequirementsNo elevation needed; GUIDs above are the built-in High Performance and Balanced plans.

!Warning: Leaving a laptop on High Performance drains the battery and runs fans faster — switch back to Balanced (the undo command) when you unplug.

04Undo

Undo

$ powercfg /setactive 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e

05Sources

Powercfg command-line options | Microsoft Learn
Microsoft · vendor-doc · 2026-09-17
Evidence: Microsoft documents powercfg /setactive as setting the current power scheme by GUID or alias, and /list as enumerating all available schemes.
Powercfg - Power configuration - Windows CMD
SS64 · technical · 2026-09-17
Evidence: SS64 lists powercfg switches including /list, /setactive and /dupicatescheme for managing Windows power schemes.

Last verified: 2026-09-17 · Category: System & Settings

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