When you hover your mouse over the battery icon in the system tray in Windows 11, it displays the battery remaining percentage and time so you can estimate how long you will be able to use your system. Many users, however, have reported that the detailed remaining battery time does not appear on their Windows 11 PC. This problem can occur as a result of incorrectly configured battery settings on the system or Windows not being updated to the latest version. In this article we will teach you How to Fix a Missing Battery Time Estimate in Windows.
Earlier versions of Windows, as you may recall, displayed battery life in real time, giving you an estimate of how much time your laptop’s battery had left. However, in later versions, this information was removed on the grounds that the indicated time remaining could vary greatly depending on how the computer was used. The battery time remaining value is determined by the current load on your PC, which varies greatly when you adjust the brightness, volume, open programs, or connect to WiFi or Bluetooth.
How to Fix a Missing Battery Time Estimate in Windows
Update Windows
Your laptop could be running a buggy version of the Windows operating system, which is causing the battery time remaining estimation to be incorrect. If this is the case, updating your laptop’s operating system may help.
- To open the Windows Settings menu, press the Windows key + I at the same time.
- Choose ‘Updates & security’.
- If any updates are available in the Windows Update section of the page, click the Download button to install them.
Check to see if your laptop’s battery time estimation now appears when you hover or click on the battery icon in the taskbar after installing the update. While you’re at it, open Device Manager and update the drivers for major components like the processor, chipset, and graphics. If none of that works, you should try the second method listed below. Though it is a little technical and time-consuming, it will restore your PC’s battery remaining time estimate.
Tweaking the Windows Registry
The Registry Editor is a tool that allows users to make changes to their computers’ hardware and software configuration settings. To resolve your laptop’s battery time estimation issues, you must make changes to two Windows Registry entries/keys: UserBatteryDischargeEstimator and EnergyEstimationDisabled. When these two entries are enabled, your laptop will no longer display the estimated usage time it can get from its battery. The hack is to delete these entries and replace them with a new one that displays the battery estimate. It’s really quite simple. Simply follow the steps outlined below.
- In the Windows Search box, type regedit.
- Start the Windows Registry Editor by selecting ‘Run as Administrator’ or by pressing the Enter key on your keyboard.
- The next step is to open the Registry Editor and navigate to this directory (ComputerHKEY LOCAL MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlPower). We’ll walk you through the process in the steps below.
- Tap the drop-down arrow next to the HKEY LOCAL MACHINE folder to expand it.
- Expand the SYSTEM folder next.
- Expand the CurrentControlSet folder within this folder.
- Expand the Control folder now.
- Finally, scroll to the bottom and look for a Power folder. Now, select the folder.
- Locate an entry called UserBatteryDischargeEstimator, right-click it, and choose Delete.
- A warning prompt will appear informing you that deleting a System Registry entry may cause system instability. To proceed, tap Yes.
- Locate the entry EnergyEstimationDisabled, right-click it, and select Delete.
- To confirm the deletion of the entry, tap Yes on the pop-up.
- Create a new entry in the Power folder called EnergyEstimationEnabled. This entry is in charge of displaying a battery estimate (also known as ‘Battery time remaining’) on a Windows computer. To do so, follow the steps below.
- Right-click the Power folder in the Registry Editor’s left pane.
- Hover your mouse pointer over New and select ‘DWORD (32-bit) Value’ from the context menu (right-click menu).
- Tap the Enter button after renaming the newly created entry EnergyEstimationEnabled.
- Select Modify from the context menu when you right-click on the EnergyEstimationEnabled entry.
- Change the entry’s Value data to 1 and press OK.
- Restart your computer after closing the Registry Editor. When you restart, you should now see an estimate of how many hours or minutes of usage time your current battery level (in percentage) can provide.
Final Words
After applying all this above solution and still stuck in the same issue than we recommend you to go to their official support website and request your problem to be solved. Not being able to easily see the estimated battery time remaining is unlikely to keep you awake at night. However, it is a useful feature if you are using your laptop away from a power source. Fortunately, a few minutes spent editing the Registry will resolve the issue, allowing you to always know how long your battery will last.
I hope you understand this article, How to Fix a Missing Battery Time Estimate in Windows 11.