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How to Check Battery Health on a Windows 10 Laptop

Like other electronic devices, our laptops will inevitably experience a certain degree of battery degradation over time.

Administrator

5 May, 2024

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Normally, you need to download software to check the battery health of a laptop, but you can check the battery life of a Windows 10 laptop easily without software using the simple steps below.

Step 1: Go to Windows PowerShell settings

First, press the Windows + X key combination to access “Windows PowerShell”, double-click to select “Windows PowerShell” (Admin) from the menu.

Step 2: Enter the command

Copy and paste the command “powercfg /batteryreport” and press “Enter”.

Step 3: Find the instructions

Here, the system will show you the storage location for the current battery status information. Right after the “Battery life report saved to file path” section is the address you need to find. Click on that address and press the “Ctrl + C” key combination to copy and go to “My Desktop”, This PC, … and paste it into the search bar and press “Enter”.

Step 4: Check your battery health

After pressing Enter, you will be taken to a browser window displaying the battery status, look at the “Installed batteries” section.

Here, look at “Design Capacity” and “Full Charge Capacity”. “Design Capacity” indicates the original capacity of the battery when it was new. “Full Charge Capacity” is the capacity of the battery at that time. If the difference between the two numbers is around 15000-2000mAh, it means that your battery is quite degraded. Be aware when using the device, you should plug it in continuously or buy a new battery.

Step 5: View other information

Below is some other information displayed in the Battery Report. They are equally useful besides checking your battery health.

Battery Capacity History

This section shows you how your battery capacity has changed over time. Design Capacity means the original battery capacity, while Full Charge is the capacity you can fully charge now, this capacity will decrease over time.

Battery Life Estimates

This section estimates the battery life of the device. The figure in the Design Capacity column shows how long the battery can be used with the original battery capacity. At Full Charge is the actual amount of time you can use.

Scroll to the last line, which shows the current usage time. In this case, my computer can be used for about 3:17:43 at Design Capacity, but now it can only be used for 3:12:11.

Usage History

This section displays the battery usage time by period, calculated by battery (Battery Duration) and by charge (AC Duration).

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Frequently asked questions

You can easily check your Windows 10 laptop’s battery health by utilizing the built-in Windows PowerShell feature. Simply press the Windows + X key combination, select ‘Windows PowerShell (Admin)’, and enter the command ‘powercfg /batteryreport’. This will generate a detailed battery report, which you can then access by following the provided file path.

Focus on the ‘Installed batteries’ section of the report. Here, you’ll find ‘Design Capacity’, indicating the original battery capacity, and ‘Full Charge Capacity’, which shows the current maximum capacity. If there is a significant difference between these values, it suggests that your battery’s performance has degraded and may need to be replaced.

The battery report offers valuable information about your laptop’s battery performance and health. It includes sections like ‘Battery Capacity History’, which tracks changes in your battery capacity over time, and ‘Battery Life Estimates’, providing estimates of your device’s battery life based on original and current capacity. You can also find detailed usage history and other useful statistics.

Typically, the battery report file is saved in easily accessible locations such as ‘My Desktop’, ‘This PC’, or similar areas. After generating the report using the command in Windows PowerShell, simply copy the provided file path and paste it into your file explorer or search bar to directly access the report.

Yes, the command ‘powercfg /batteryreport’ is specifically designed to generate a comprehensive battery report in Windows 10. By entering this command in Windows PowerShell with administrative privileges, you’ll be provided with in-depth insights into your laptop’s battery health, performance, and degradation over its lifetime.