· mac

Power outages and unsaved work: my backup strategy

When people hear I work remotely from The Gambia, one of the first things they ask about is the power situation. Fair enough — it’s a reasonable concern. Power cuts happen about twice a week where I live, sometimes for five minutes, sometimes longer. In other parts of the country, outages can stretch past an hour and happen three times a week.

I’ve never lost work because of it. Not once. That’s not luck — it’s preparation.

The hardware side

Here’s the core of it: I use a MacBook as my main machine. When the power goes out, my 27″ external screen goes dark — that part I do notice — but the MacBook keeps running on battery. The built-in battery gives me a few hours on its own. For longer outages, I have a 145W PD dual USB-C powerbank that can charge my MacBook and phone at the same time — good for another two to three hours.

That’s it. No UPS, no generator. The MacBook’s battery is the UPS.

For internet, my router has a small backup battery built in, so the connection stays up through short outages. The five-minute cuts barely register.

Why I cap charging at 75%

My MacBook’s battery health sits at 79%. macOS shows “Service recommended.” That’s after years of use, and I want to squeeze as much remaining life out of it as I can.

I use Battery Toolkit to stop charging at 75%. It sits in the menu bar and cuts the charge once it hits the limit — nothing more to it. Lithium batteries degrade faster when kept at 100%, so staying lower preserves long-term capacity. The trade-off is less runtime per charge, but with a powerbank in the drawer, that’s fine.

If you’re on a newer MacBook, macOS has a built-in “optimized charging” feature that does something similar — but Battery Toolkit gives you direct control over the exact percentage. I prefer that.

The voltage problem

Wall voltage here fluctuates between 160V and 180V. That’s well below the nominal 230V. Some electronics don’t handle it well — I’ve seen devices struggle or refuse to charge entirely.

The MacBook’s power adapter accepts 100–240V input, so it handles the low voltage without complaint. I used to run a voltage regulator as a precaution, but eventually stopped. The adapter’s been reliable on its own.

If you’re running devices with less tolerant power supplies — external monitors, desktop machines, NAS boxes — a voltage regulator or a proper UPS with voltage regulation is worth considering.

What about software?

Nothing special, to be honest. I just use tools that handle interruptions well by default:

  • Auto-save is on in every app that supports it. Most modern editors save continuously — you don’t have to think about it.
  • Git — I commit often. If something crashes, the most I’d lose is a few minutes of uncommitted changes.
  • macOS hibernation — when the battery gets critically low, macOS writes RAM to disk and shuts down. Plug in, power on, and you’re back exactly where you were. I’ve never had to think about this. It just works.

You don’t need special “power outage” software. You need tools with good defaults — and the habit of saving your work.

What I’d recommend

If you’re working somewhere with unreliable power, here’s what I’d suggest:

  • Use a laptop as your main machine. The built-in battery is your first line of defense.
  • Get a USB-C PD powerbank rated for laptop charging — 65W or higher. It doubles your runtime with zero setup.
  • Cap your charge at 75–80% using Battery Toolkit or your OS’s built-in feature. Your battery will last years longer.
  • Check your power adapter’s input range. Most laptop adapters handle 100–240V. Desktop power supplies and monitors often don’t.
  • Commit early, commit often. Git is the best “unsaved work” insurance there is.
  • Trust your OS. macOS hibernation and auto-save are well-engineered. Let them do their job.

None of this is complicated. With a small amount of preparation, power outages become something that happens in the background while you keep working.