Battery Health Lab guides
Laptop battery guides for Windows
Practical, step-by-step guides for Windows 10 and Windows 11 laptops: create the built-in battery report, read it correctly, fix drain and report errors, and decide when a battery needs replacing.
Where to start
- Create your battery report: follow the Windows 11 guide or the Windows 10 guide.
- Get your health percentage: open the report in the free battery health checker, or enter two values in the battery health calculator.
- Follow your symptom: fast drain or sleep drain, report errors, or low battery health.
Start here
Check your laptop battery health
Create the built-in Windows battery report and turn its capacity values into a battery health percentage.
How to check laptop battery health in Windows 11
Create the report in Windows 11 and turn its capacity values into a health percentage.
Read guide →Windows 10How to get a battery report in Windows 10
The Windows 10 route: Win + X menu, PowerShell syntax and what older-laptop results mean.
Read guide →CalculatorBattery health percentage calculator and formula
A free calculator plus the formula, healthy ranges and what a result above 100% means.
Read guide →Health rangesIs 80% battery health good for a laptop?
What 80% means for runtime, when it is normal for the laptop’s age and when to replace.
Read guide →Cycle countHow to check laptop battery cycle count
Find the cycle count in the report or with a command, and why it is sometimes blank.
Read guide →Battery report
Understand the Windows battery report
Make sense of each section of the report before you draw conclusions from it.
How to read a Windows battery report
A section-by-section walkthrough, from Installed batteries to capacity history.
Read guide →Runtime estimatesBattery life estimates explained
Compare full-charge and design-capacity runtime, observed drains and empty estimate rows.
Read guide →Power statesConnected Standby, “Not supported” and Suspended
What the power-state entries in Recent usage mean, and when they point to a problem.
Read guide →Battery drain
Fix battery drain and sleep problems
Find out why the battery empties faster than expected, while in use or while the laptop is asleep.
Problems & replacement
Fix report errors and plan a replacement
Get the report working again, then decide whether the battery needs replacing.
Battery report not working? Errors and fixes
Exact error messages and fixes when powercfg /batteryreport fails or the file is missing.
Read guide →ReplacementWhen should you replace a laptop battery?
The signs that point to a replacement, and the checks to run before you buy one.
Read guide →Have your battery report already?
Open it in the free, private battery health checker to see reported capacity health, wear and cycle data. The file stays on your computer.
Open the free battery health checker