Does a VPN drain battery life?

Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) may have a slight effect on your device’s battery life. Since a VPN runs in the background to encrypt data and maintain a secure connection, it requires some additional system resources.

For most users, this impact is minimal and unlikely to cause noticeable battery drain during regular use. However, extended VPN usage—particularly on older devices or during intensive online activity—may lead to a modest increase in power consumption.

To help preserve battery life, you can turn off the VPN when it’s not needed and minimize other background activity.

Updated on: 24/06/2025