I was rather surprised when, in spite of my Windows 11/10 laptop being plugged in and my Battery showing as being Fully charged 100%, the battery indicator icon showed the battery as being fully empty!
Laptop Battery indicator icon showing battery as empty in spite of being full
There are times we are confused about the actual state of our laptop battery. It may show battery power for 3 hours remaining, but drains within 2 hours of use. The accuracy of what the battery meter reports and what percentage of a full charge remains and how long you can use your laptop before you must plug it in, depends on several factors. But when this happened I was stumped!
There are a few things you could try to make the battery icon display the correct power status.
- Shut off the power button and then ‘on’ it again and see if the icon refreshes
- Turn the system icons on and off via Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Notification Area Icons > System Icons and see if it helps
- Change the Power Plan and see if the icon refreshes
- Restart explorer.exe and see if it helps you
One of these is sure to refresh the icon. It is a minor irritant and temporary in nature and sure to go away when you restart your laptop.
I hope something helps!
You can also create a laptop battery full charge notification.
How to show your Battery state under Mouse Pointer may also interest you.