How to Check Your Laptop’s Battery Health in Windows 10

Co-authored by Spike Baron

Last Updated: January 31, 2023

Creating a Report

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Reviewing the Data

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Expert Q&A

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Tips

It is normal for batteries to wear down over time. Overtime, the repeated charge and discharge cycles slowly decrease a batteries life.^{[1]
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Research source} It might seem hard to tell your batteries health on Windows 10, but it's actually quite easy. This wikiHow will teach you how to check your laptop's battery health in Windows 10.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Creating a Report

1
Press ⊞ Win+R. This will open the "Run" dialog box.
2
Type powershell into the box.

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3
Press Ctrl+⇧ Shift+↵ Enter at the same time. This will run PowerShell with administrative permissions.^{[2]
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Research source}
4
Click Yes on the UAC dialog box.
5
Type powercfg /batteryreport /output "$home\Documents\battery-report.html" into the PowerShell window. This command will generate the report and save it to your documents folder.
6
Type exit into the PowerShell window. This will close PowerShell.
7
Open the report. Go to your Documents folder, and then open up the file called "battery-report".

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Reviewing the Data

1
Review the basic information. At the top of the report, basic information about your computer and battery will be listed.
2
Check out the recent usage. The "Recent Usage" section is under the "Installed Batteries" section, and it shows the charge and usage history of your battery over the past 3 days.
3
Review the "Battery Capacity" section. This section, which is near the bottom, shows the capacity of the battery over a long period of time. You can use it to see if the batteries life has been degraded over time.
- You can tell the batteries health by reviewing the differences between the full charge capacity listings and the design capacity listings.
4
Read through the "battery life estimates" section. This section shows the estimated life of the battery at full charge, and at the designed capacity.
- You can tell the batteries health by comparing the at full charge estimates to the Design capacity estimates.

Expert Q&A

Question

How do you wake up a dead laptop battery?

Spike Baron
Network Engineer & Desktop Support
Spike Baron is the Owner of Spike's Computer Repair based in Los Angeles, California. With over 25 years of working experience in the tech industry, Spike specializes in PC and Mac computer repair, used computer sales, virus removal, data recovery, and hardware and software upgrades. He has his CompTIA A+ certification for computer service technicians and is a Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert.

Spike Baron

Network Engineer & Desktop Support

Expert Answer

Dead laptop batteries are easily replaced, and trying to revive them is not cost-effective. If your battery is not charging anymore, it is just not a good battery, and you need to get a new one.
Question

Is it OK to keep a laptop plugged in all the time?

Spike Baron
Network Engineer & Desktop Support
Spike Baron is the Owner of Spike's Computer Repair based in Los Angeles, California. With over 25 years of working experience in the tech industry, Spike specializes in PC and Mac computer repair, used computer sales, virus removal, data recovery, and hardware and software upgrades. He has his CompTIA A+ certification for computer service technicians and is a Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert.

Spike Baron

Network Engineer & Desktop Support

Expert Answer

Leaving your laptop plugged in all the time isn't always the greatest idea. You want to unplug the power adapter occasionally and let the battery run down to almost zero, and then recharge it. That helps the battery last a lot longer than if you keep it attached to the power adapter all the time. The battery is supposed to be used to power the equipment. If you have the power adapter plugged in all the time, the battery is not being used.