In this post, you will find guidelines to solve the problem of your Windows laptop displaying the wrong battery percentage in Windows laptop. Sometimes, when clicking on the battery icon in the system tray, it might display a different battery percentage for some users. The battery percentage might differ for others when the mouse cursor hovers over the icon.
Some have batteries that display 100% while the charger is plugged in, but the battery level dramatically decreases after using the device for a bit. Hence, if your Windows laptop’s battery level display is wrong, it could mean losing work and data if it suddenly goes down.
Fix: Wrong Battery Percentage in Windows Laptop
So, given below are four methods to help you fix the issue of your Windows laptop displaying the wrong battery percentage.
- Run the Power Troubleshooter
- Perform a Power Cycle to Clear the Residual Charge
- Calibrate Your Laptop Battery
- Enable Battery Adapter via Device Manager
Some of these will need administrator account permission. The methods apply to Windows 11, Windows 10, and any other version of Windows.
1] Run the Power Troubleshooter
The Windows Power troubleshooter can identify and resolve issues with power settings, increase battery life, etc., and it has helped many users fix the issue of their laptops displaying the wrong battery percentage. Your laptop’s power management settings will be optimized, and any necessary adjustments will be made. So, this is how you go about it:
- On your Windows laptop, open Settings and click on the System option on the left pane. Scroll down and click on the Troubleshoot option on the right.
- From the Troubleshoot page, click on Other troubleshooters.
- On the next page, scroll down and locate Power troubleshooter. Click on the Run button next to it.
The troubleshooter will now look for several problems with the power plan, display brightness setting, minimum processor state, wireless adapter setting optimized for power saving, etc.; if problems are detected, it will automatically repair them.
You can close the windows and check whether the battery percentage is displayed correctly or not.
2] Perform a Power Cycle to Clear Residual Charge
A power cycle will clear any remaining charge from the laptop’s capacitor and fix any associated issues. This should solve the problem and save you a lot of time if the inaccurate battery percentage on Windows is an occasional or one-off glitch. Let us see how to perform a power cycle:
- Start by pressing your laptop’s power button to shut down your laptop and unplug any external devices connected to it.
- Take the laptop’s battery out. Then, hold down the power button firmly for 15 to 20 seconds. It will drain any remaining charge from the internals of your laptop.
- After a minute, reinstall the battery and turn on your laptop. Check to see if Windows shows the correct battery percentage after that.
3] Calibrate Your Laptop Battery
Another solution to fix incorrect battery readings on your laptop is to calibrate the battery. You must first modify the power management settings, so they do not obstruct the battery calibration procedure before that. So, this is how you go about it:
- Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box. Type powercfg.cpl and press OK.
- In the Power Options window, click the Change when the computer sleeps options from the left pane.
- Click on all four drop-down menus and choose the option Never. Next, click the Change advanced power settings option on the same page.
- Scroll down, locate the Battery option, expand it, and double-click on Critical battery action. Click on the drop-down boxes next to the On battery and Plugged in options and choose the Hibernate option for both.
- Next, scroll down and double-click on the Critical battery level option and use the drop-downs to set the values to as low as 5 percent. Press Apply and then OK to save the changes.
- The next step is to calibrate your laptop battery by following the instructions below after configuring the power management settings given above. This is how you go about it:
- Charge your laptop battery fully (100 %) and leave the charger plugged in for a few hours.
- Start using your laptop after unplugging it. Allow your laptop to run out of charge and shut down independently entirely.
- After your laptop shuts down, plug in the charger and allow it to get charged to 100 % again.
Your Windows laptop should then display the correct battery readings.
4] Enable Battery Adapter via Device Manager
Your computer’s battery adapter serves as a communication link between Windows and the battery in your laptop. If there are problems with this adapter, Windows might be unable to gather the necessary information and display the wrong battery level. Here is how to fix it.
- Open Device Manager and expand the Batteries option. Right-click on the Microsoft AC Adapter option and click on the Disable Device option from the context menu.
- Right-click on the battery adapter again and click on the Enable Device option.
- After you are done, restart your device to apply the changes and check whether the battery percentage displays correctly.
Conclusion
So, any of these methods mentioned in this article will help you fix the issue of your Windows laptops displaying the wrong battery percentage. If none of these methods helped you resolve the issue, there might be a problem with your laptop’s battery. In that situation, creating a battery report can assist in evaluating the battery’s health information and determining whether a replacement is required. So, I hope this article helps!
How to Prevent Battery Percentage Issues from happening?
To prevent the wrong battery percentage issue, regularly calibrate your laptop’s battery, keep your battery driver and operating system up to date, and avoid using third-party battery management software. Also, follow a proper battery discharge cycle, and avoid draining too much battery power.
How to Find Laptop Battery Health in Windows?
It would be best if you run the powercfg /batteryreport command on the elevated Windows Terminal. It will generate a battery health report; check the Battery Life Estimates section to view information about your laptop’s battery health, including its estimated lifespan and usage history. You can also check the Battery Capacity History section to see a graph of your laptop’s battery capacity over time.
