Windows 11 is finally getting a battery percentage indicator

Unlike literally every other operating system, be it a mobile or desktop, Windows 11 does not have a proper native battery percentage indicator on the taskbar. If you want to know precisely how much battery juice is left, the only way to get that info is to hover the cursor over the battery indicator or use a third-party app like Battery Flyout. Fortunately, Microsoft is finally addressing that.

Users discovered that the latest Windows 11 Dev build, which brought some big new features to Copilot+ PCs, also has some updates for the battery indicator. In addition to the recent redesign, first spotted in early December 2024, Microsoft will let you have proper battery percentage in the tray area next to the battery indicator.

Of course, some may want to keep their tray areas clean and without extra indicators, so Microsoft is generously offering the ability to toggle battery percentage on or off. When enabled, the new option sits in System > Power > Battery Percentage.

For now, the updated battery indicator remains unannounced by Microsoft, whose software engineers are busy polishing the new variant. However, if you cannot wait to try the updated battery indicator, you can toggle it on with the help of the ViVeTool app. Here is how to do it:

1. Make sure you are on build 26120.2992. You can check your build version in Settings > System > About > OS build.
2. Download ViveTool from GitHub and unpack the files wherever convenient.
3. Launch Command Prompt as Administrator.
4. Navigate to the folder containing the ViveTool files with the CD command. For example, if you have placed ViveTool in C:\Vive, type CD C:\Vive.
5. Type vivetool /enable /id:48822452,48433719 and press Enter.
6. Restart your computer.

Now, you can go to Settings > Power and turn on the battery percentage indicator.

Credit for the discovery, feature IDs, and screenshot goes to the ever-giving source of Windows insights, @phantomofearth.

Source

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