Is your battery life getting shorter and shorter? Then it's time to check your laptop battery health.
A battery is a vital component of your laptop or notebook, regardless of whether you've selected a top-end device or one of the best budget laptops.
You'll want to make sure that it's in good condition and working at its best. But how exactly do you do that?
In this article, we will show you how to check your laptop's battery health in Windows and Mac. This will help you to know if your battery is on the way out. Let's get started!
How To Check Laptop Battery Health In Windows 10 and 11
Windows 10 and 11 do not have a built-in tool or a feature that simply displays users the battery health of their laptops. But you can still do it manually using the tools like Command Prompt and Windows PowerShell. Here is how:
Method 1: Check Battery Health Report Using CMD
- Run Command Prompt as administrator.
- Copy-paste the following command: powercfg /batteryreport; and hit Enter.
- You'll get an energy report of your battery in .html format within 60 seconds.
- To access the report, press Windows key + R and copy-paste the following: C:\WINDOWS\system32\battery-report.html; and hit Enter.
- Immediately, the report will open in your web browser.
Most likely, you are overwhelmed by the long detailed report, so you quickly skim through it in search of battery health. Well, it's not that easy. Go to the end of the following section to find the information you are looking for.
Method 2: Check Battery Health Report Using Windows PowerShell (Admin)
- Press Windows key + X and select Windows PowerShell (Admin) from the menu.
- Copy-paste the following command: powercfg /batteryreport; and hit Enter.
- PowerShell will generate a battery report and save it in your user accounts directory.
- To access the report, press Windows key + R and copy-paste the following: C:\WINDOWS\system32\battery-report.html; and hit Enter.
- Immediately, the battery report will open in your web browser.
Under the Battery life estimates section, you'll see two columns of Active battery life estimates: At Full Charge and At Design Capacity. At Full Charge is an estimate of how long your laptop's battery can last based on its current capacity. Whereas, At Design Capacity estimates how long your laptop's battery could have lasted when it was brand new.
If your scroll down further, under the Battery capacity history section, you will see a dated list of Full charge capacity measured against Design capacity. Full charge capacity is a measurement of how much power the battery actually holds, and Design capacity is how much power it was designed to hold.
Over time, the battery deteriorates and loses capacity. This is a natural part of the ageing process of a battery. When your battery drops 25%-50% below its design capacity, it's better to replace it.
Read More:How To Check Battery Health On Android
How To Check Laptop Battery Health On Mac
Unlike Windows, macOS has a feature that displays the battery health of your Mac. You can use this feature to check whether the battery in your Mac is functioning normally and approximately how much charge it can hold. Here is how:
In macOS Moneterey & Big Sur
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Battery, then click Battery again.
- In the lower right corner, click Battery Health. You will see any of the following conditions:
- Normal: The battery is functioning normally.
- Service recommended: The battery is performing normally, but its ability to hold a charge is less than when it was new. You may want to consider replacing the battery.
In macOS Catalina & Mojave
- Press and hold the Option key and click the battery icon in the menu bar. You will see any of the following conditions:
- Normal: The battery is functioning normally.
- Replace Soon: The battery is functioning normally but holds less charge than it did when it was new.
- Replace Now: The battery is functioning normally but holds significantly less charge than it did when it was new. You can continue to use the battery until you replace it without harming your computer.
- Service Battery: The battery isn’t functioning normally, and you may or may not notice a change in its behaviour or the amount of charge it holds. Take your computer in for service. You can continue to use your battery before it’s checked without harming your computer.
In Catalina, though, you will only see either the Normal or Service Battery condition. Hope this helps!
Read More:How To Fix A Laptop Screen Flickering
How Do I Know If My Laptop Battery Needs Replacing?
macOS will automatically notify you if your laptop battery needs replacing, but you can also manually check if it’s time to change your battery by looking at Battery Health.
Similarly, in Windows, you will see a red 'X' appear on the battery icon in your system tray and, when you click it, Windows will inform you that you should “consider replacing your battery.”
As we mentioned above, it's better to replace the battery when its battery health drops 25%-50% below its design capacity.