A Simple Guide About Laptop Battery Health [Windows & MAC]
Here’s a simple guide about laptop battery health. We’ll discuss the laptop battery life, how to check laptop battery health with or without any use of software on windows 7,8, and 10 and on Mac. So, let’s get started.
We all know batteries are not here to last. And, it’s the case for your laptop’s battery as well. The source of the power which helps in running your daily tasks will eventually come to an end. No matter how much you try, your laptop battery will die one day.
But that being said, you can make your battery life longer. There are tips on caring for a laptop battery that will make sure it lasts longer. We’ll leave this part for the end of the article. Keep reading but if you do not have patience, you can simply click how to keep your laptop battery healthy.
For now, we can look at some tips to check laptop battery health. As mentioned, we will divide this article into parts without and with battery checking software.
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Checking laptop battery health without Software:
For Windows 7:
To check laptop battery health on windows 7, follow the steps below:
- Click Start Button and type CMD in the Search Programs and Files search box.
- Open CMD with administrator rights ( Right-Click CMD and click Run as Administrator)
- Type powercfg-energy in the CMD and press Enter
By following these 3 easy steps, you can see a battery life report in Windows 7. This generated report will be located in the Windows/system32 folder on your local disk C drive (the drive that you installed the windows on). Scroll down to the Battery Information section to check the status.
For Windows 8 and 10:
The steps are similar for Windows 8 and 10 as well.
- Click the Start button and type CMD / Powershell into the dialog box
- After hitting Enter type powercfg/batteryreport in the CMD.
- Hit Enter.
You will get a battery-report HTML located in the local disk C. Go to the Users/Your Username folder and look for the HTML file to access the report.
You can find various information regarding your laptop battery health under the Battery Information section. It will show information about how long your battery used to last with how much it lasts now.
For Mac:
To check the battery health on Mac it is relatively easier than to check battery life on Windows. To check battery life status on Mac:
- Hold the option key and click the Apple menu.
- Click on System Information
- Scroll Down to Hardware > Power > Cycle Count
This cycle count section will give you a number your battery has completed its cycle. Along with this, you will find other options and information related to your Mac battery life.
With this, let’s move on to the part where you can install third-party software to get information about the battery life of your laptop.
There are tons of software to check the battery life of your laptop. You can install software to know more about battery life in detail but you really do not need to. The above-mentioned steps can be enough to get information about battery health.
But, in any case, you want to install, here are few tools to check the laptop battery health:
Checking battery life health with Software:
- Battery Eater (link to the download page of the softwares)
- Battery Care
- Avast Battery Saver
- Battery Optimizer
- BatExpert
These tools are one of the best to check the life of the laptop battery. However, it is relatively easier to use the CMD or PowerShell on Windows laptop and Options Menu on Mac. So, we’ll leave this list of battery checking tools for you to install and run.
This is it. These are some of the steps by which you can generate a battery report and know about your laptop battery health. You can stop here. But, in case you want to know how to make your laptop battery life longer, you can continue.
For your laptop battery life to extend longer, you must take care of many things. We’ll discuss it here.
Few tips to help maintain your laptop battery life:
Tip #1 to extend your laptop battery health – Dim your screen:
As easy as it sounds, by dimming your screen you can easily extend your laptop battery life. Let’s be real, you do not need a max brightness in a low lit room. It will hurt your eyes and your laptop’s battery life. So, turn down your laptop’s screen brightness as much as necessary.
Tip #2 – Close background apps:
The auto-starting apps keep running in the background and decrease the health of your laptop’s battery. So, it is better to close or at least minimize the number of apps that auto starts when your laptop runs.
Tip #3 – Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth:
When you are not working online, you can turn off your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. By turning these off when you are not using them will help to conserve the laptop battery. If turned on, they will continuously search for the available networks to connect causing more use of the battery.
Tip #4 – Keep your software and apps updated:
Keeping your software and apps updated can extend your laptop’s battery. Most of the time, certain app updates might have a bug that will drain the battery faster. By updating, the update patch can fix the problems helping in extending your battery health.
Tip #5 – Avoid extreme temperatures:
Your laptop battery life can be affected when you expose it to extreme hot and cold temperatures. Too much heat will affect the battery and make it lose battery much faster. Also, in extreme cold temperatures, your laptop battery will freeze and it will lose power more quickly and struggle to hold a charge.
These are some tips that will be helpful to keep your battery life long.
FAQs about Laptop Battery Life:
Should the laptop battery be fully charged?
After you purchase a new laptop or a laptop battery, it is advised to charge it fully. Once the battery is full, you can discharge it. But, make sure to not stress the battery and discharge it to zero. It will be harmful to the battery and decrease the laptop’s life expectancy.
Is it bad to keep your laptop plugged in all the time?
In simple terms No. Leaving your laptop plugged in constantly is not bad for your laptop battery. But, you must be aware of the temperature of your laptop battery and let it not overheat. Extreme temperatures will damage your laptop battery.
How many hours should I charge my new laptop battery?
24 hours. When you buy a new laptop, you should charge it for 24 hours to get that full laptop capacity. Giving your battery a full charge will help in extending its life.
Can a laptop battery explode?
Yes, a laptop battery can explode but not on normal use. It must be under the condition of thermal runaway. According to Gizmodo, a thermal runaway can lead to an explosion if the battery is producing more heat than it can handle.
What is the proper way to charge a laptop battery?
The proper way to charge a laptop battery is by fitting it into the laptop and charging it. All laptops come with a power cable. You can connect the small pinhead of the power cable into the charging port of the laptop and another end to a socket. Make sure you use the original power cable and the right amount of watts to charge your laptop battery.
