We've featured a way to switch power management plans with a hotkey, but if you'd rather not mess with the command line (or if you're just more of a mouse user), you can add a simple button to your Windows taskbar instead.
All you need to do to get this script working is download it and throw it into your Startup folder. You'll see an icon in your taskbar from which you can toggle power plans with a single click, as well as change the brightness by right clicking. It's a bit quicker than Windows' battery icon, and much easier to set up than our earlier method—just put it in a folder and forget it.
If you'd like to add the code to your own AutoHotkey scripts, you can copy it from the box below:
#Persistent #SingleInstance force Menu, Tray, NoStandard ; only use this menu Menu, Tray, Click, 1 ; Remove this line if you prefer double-click vs. single-click. menu, tray, tip, toggle power plan RegRead, PowerState, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\User\PowerSchemes, ActivePowerScheme if(PowerState = "a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a") { menu, tray, icon, %SystemRootSystem32\powercpl.dll, 8 } else { menu, tray, icon, %SystemRoot%\System32\powercpl.dll, 7 } Menu, Tray, Add, Toggle, Toggle Menu, Tray, Default, Toggle Menu, Tray, Add, Adjust brightness, Brightness Menu, Tray, Add, Exit, Exit return Toggle: RegRead, PowerState, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\User\PowerSchemes, ActivePowerScheme if(PowerState = "8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c") { Run, %SystemRoot%\System32\powercfg.exe -setactive a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a, , hide } else { Run, %SystemRoot%\System32\powercfg.exe -setactive 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c, , hide } Sleep 200 GoSub, Icon Sleep 1800 GoSub, Icon return Brightness: Run, C:\Windows\explorer.exe shell:::{025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D} Sleep 100 return Exit: ExitApp Icon: Sleep 100 RegRead, PowerState, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\User\PowerSchemes, ActivePowerScheme if(PowerState = "a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a") { menu, tray, icon, %SystemRoot%\System32\powercpl.dll, 8 } else { menu, tray, icon, %SystemRoot%\System32\powercpl.dll, 7 } return [via #tips]