How to Fix iPhone Battery Draining Overnight (iOS 17 & iOS 18 Guide)

iPhone battery drains overnight mainly because background apps, location services, and weak signal keep the phone active while the screen is off. Disabling background refresh and location tracking usually fixes the issue.

Waking up and finding your iPhone battery dropped from 80% to 30% overnight is frustrating.

You didn’t use the phone. No videos. No games. Still… the battery disappeared.
The truth is: this problem is very common in modern iPhones, especially after iOS updates.

The good news? In most cases, your battery is not damaged at all.

Below is a real step-by-step fix guide that has helped many iPhone users stop overnight battery drain completely.

Why iPhone Battery Drains Overnight

Your iPhone never truly “sleeps”.

Even when the screen is off, iOS keeps doing background tasks like:

iCloud syncing

Photo indexing

App refresh

Location services

System optimization

Normally this uses 3–6% battery overnight.

If you lose more than 10–15%, something is wrong.

The most common causes are:

Background App Refresh

Poor network signal

Location tracking apps

iOS update indexing

Mail push services

Widgets constantly updating

Let’s fix them one by one.

Fix 1 — Check Battery Usage (Very Important)

First we must discover the real cause.

Go to:

Settings → Battery → Last 10 Days

Scroll down and look for an app using battery during Screen Off.

If you see:

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

Gmail

Maps

Then we found the problem.

These apps constantly wake the phone while you sleep.

Fix 2 — Turn Off Background App Refresh

This is the #1 reason for overnight drain.

Go to:

Settings → General → Background App Refresh

Change it to:

Wi-Fi only

or completely Off.

You will not notice any negative effect, but battery drain will drop dramatically.

Fix 3 — Disable Location Services for Certain Apps

Some apps track your location all night.

Go to:

Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services

Open apps like:

Facebook

Weather

Maps

Shopping apps

Set them to:

While Using the App

NOT “Always”.

Many users report saving 20–30% battery overnight from this step alone.

Fix 4 — Mail Push Settings

Your iPhone constantly checks email servers while you sleep.

Fix it:

Settings → Mail → Accounts → Fetch New Data

Turn Push OFF

and choose Fetch every 30 minutes.

Your emails will still arrive — but your battery will finally rest.

Fix 5 — Turn Off Widgets Before Sleeping

Widgets update weather, news, and stocks all night.

To remove:

Long press home screen

Tap edit

Remove unnecessary widgets

Especially: Weather & News widgets are heavy battery users.

Fix 6 — Important After iOS Update

After every iOS update, the iPhone performs:

photo indexing

AI recognition

file organization

This may last 2–3 days.

During this time, battery drain overnight is completely normal.

Do NOT replace your battery yet.

Fix 7 — Weak Signal Is a Silent Battery Killer

This is a hidden reason many people miss.

If your phone shows 1 bar signal at night, the iPhone keeps searching for a tower all night long.

Easy solution:

Before sleeping, turn on:

Airplane Mode

(or Wi-Fi Calling if available)

You may wake up with 95% battery instead of 60%.

When Is It a Real Battery Problem?

Check:

Settings → Battery → Battery Health

If Maximum Capacity is:

90%+ → Battery is healthy

80–89% → normal aging

Below 80% → consider replacement

Most users with overnight drain still have 90%+ battery health.

Meaning the issue is software — not hardware.

Quick Checklist (Do This Tonight)

Disable Background App Refresh

Change Location to “While Using”

Turn off Mail Push

Remove widgets

Enable Airplane Mode

You should see improvement immediately.

FAQ

Is 10% overnight battery drain normal?

Yes. 3–10% is normal depending on notifications and signal strength.

Does Low Power Mode help?

Yes, it limits background activity and reduces overnight drain.

Should I replace the battery?

Only if battery health is under 80%.

Does Always-On Display cause this?

On Pro models, it may consume 4–6% overnight, which is normal.

Final Thoughts

Overnight battery drain usually looks scary, but in reality it is almost always caused by background processes — not a damaged battery.

Once the settings above are adjusted, most iPhones return to normal behavior immediately.

Try the fixes tonight and check your battery percentage in the morning.

You will likely notice a big difference.