Windows 11 is getting a better battery indicator on the taskbar finally

When you use a mobile Windows device, you see a battery icon on the taskbar that ideally should indicate the remaining battery live before the device needs to be charged.

Problem is, this icon is so bad on Windows, that it is barely workable. To get a true reading, it is necessary to hover the mouse cursor over the icon or dive deep into the Settings or other apps.

All other major operating systems support detailed battery indicators already. Microsoft is late to the party, but work has begun to change that in the near future.

The latest Developer build of Windows 11 adds an option to enable battery percentages on the taskbar next to the battery indicator. This is how that looks like.

As you can see, Microsoft is also adding a splash of color to the icon. Each color indicates a different state of the battery:

• Black — Regular use.
• Yellow — Energy saver mode is enabled.
• Green — Battery is charging.
• Red — Battery is critically low.

The percentage next to the icon displays the load state of the battery. It is not enabled by default, which means that you need to become active and enable it to get the detailed listing.

Here is how that is done:

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Select the Settings application.
3. Go to System > Power & battery.
4. Enable Battery percentage on the page to display the new information directly on the taskbar.

Microsoft is rolling out the feature to Windows Insiders in the Dev channel currently. Means, it will take some time before regular users will get it. It could be rolled out with the 2025 feature update for Windows 11, but Microsoft has not made such an announcement at this stage.

You can check out Microsoft’s announcement of the feature and the other changes of the release here.

What is your take on this change? If you use a mobile Windows 11 device, will you enable the new indicator once it becomes available?