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ZDNET Highlights
- You can run a report to check the battery status in Windows 11.
- This report provides details on capacity, cycle count and more.
- If your battery is nearing the end of its life, it can be replaced.
Have you noticed a decline in your laptop’s battery life? Does it suddenly drop below 20%, leaving you scrambling for a charger? You can run a report to check the overall condition of your battery and also see if it’s time to replace it. And no, you don’t need to be a professional to access this feature.
The truth is that batteries by their nature are consumable technology. All will inevitably be humiliated, no matter how they are treated.
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You may have heard about ways to maximize battery optimization, but I wouldn’t emphasize these techniques. There is no need to unplug your laptop at a certain point or monitor the charge percentage like a hawk. Your actions will only affect battery life.
That said, if your battery is a shadow of its former form, it may be nearing the end of its lifespan. Here’s how you can check the battery status in Windows 11.
How to run battery report
- Type powershell in the Windows search bar and press Enter.
- In the black text window that pops up, type: powercfg /batteryreport /output “C:battery-report.html” and press Enter.
- The device will send a .html document to the C: folder. Navigate to the folder in Windows Explorer and double-click on it to open it in your browser.
This report describes your battery’s name, its chemistry (likely lithium-ion (Li-ion) or lithium-polymer (LiP)), its lifecycle status, and some recent charging data. Let’s explore the most important metrics in the report.
design capacity
First, we have the design capacity, which refers to the power the battery can pump when it’s brand new, in mWh (milliwatt-hours). This metric measures energy, not charge.
full charge capacity
Now check the metrics just below that. Full charge capacity reports the current capacity of the battery (also in mWh). The difference between design and full charge is a helpful metric to check the overall health of your battery. If the second number is very low, it means that your battery’s capacity has decreased significantly since it was new.
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How much are we talking? Well, it depends on the battery size, but for most small to medium range batteries (45Wh, 48Wh, 60Wh, or 65Wh), if the full charge capacity has dropped by 15% or more, you will likely experience noticeable battery degradation.
A 20% loss in full charge capacity is generally considered grounds for replacement, and you will see a significant loss in capacity at that point. That being said, this is not a hard and fast rule. You can be around that ratio and feel like your battery is fine.
cycle count
Let’s look at another key metric: cycle count. This number records how many times you have used 100% of the battery capacity.
If you have a 60,000 mWh battery, a “cycle” refers to how many times 60,000 mWh of energy has flowed from the battery – whether all at once (going from 100% to 0%) or over the course of two days (from 100% to 50%, up to full, down to 50%, and back to full again).
Most consumer laptop batteries are designed to last about 500 cycles, and around that time you’ll notice a 20% loss in capacity. However, how quickly you reach that ratio depends on your usage habits.
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Light office users, who often keep laptops plugged in, may only go through a full cycle every few days. Over the course of three years, these users can only reach 200 cycles, potentially extending battery life by another three years.
On the other end of the spectrum, power users, gamers, or mobile users who subject their batteries to more cycles per week as well as increased thermal loads will see faster overall degradation of the battery.
It’s important to note that both of these use cases are ‘legitimate’ ways to use your machine. You’re not doing anything wrong by pushing your laptop to its limits, and, as I mentioned above, there are limited devices for battery usage. Just don’t let your laptop overheat, and that includes putting it in a bag when it’s not turned off or hibernating.
battery life estimation
This section reports how the computer estimates how long the battery will last based on recent battery drains. Note that these numbers can vary wildly as they represent different usage patterns.
On the left, the duration figure shows how long the battery lasted. On the right, the figure shows what the period would have been when the battery was brand new. If these numbers differ dramatically, it may indicate that the battery is significantly degraded.
How to replace your battery
Usually you don’t need to buy a new laptop to replace the battery. Most mainstream laptop manufacturers, such as Ditch, Himachal PradeshAnd LenovoOffer replacement batteries, either as standalone products purchased for specific models or as part of a service plan. If your laptop is still under warranty, you may receive a replacement at no charge.
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Of course, if you don’t want to send your laptop to the manufacturer or do it yourself, there are third-party repair companies that will do the work for a fee. Just keep in mind that they can’t guarantee anything other than a successful installation.
