5 Best Fixes for Battery Icon Not Showing on Mac

The battery of every Mac model comes with a particular charge cycle. And if you follow the best ways to improve battery health, your Mac can provide you with a great battery backup for a long time.

But some users complain that the battery indicator disappears on their Macs. This prevents keeping a tab on the current battery status of their Mac. If you are also facing the same, here are some solutions to fix when the battery icon is not showing on your Mac.

1. Check Control Center Settings

The Control Centre on your Mac lets you quickly access different features and settings like keyboard brightness, wireless connections, volume levels, etc. Your Mac can show the battery icon either in the Control Centre or in the top Menu Bar. So if the battery icon is missing on your Mac, we recommend checking the Control Center settings.

Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar keyboard shortcut to open Spotlight Search, type System Settings, and press Return.

Step 2: Scroll down and click on Control Centre from the left menu.

Step 3: Scroll down and look for Battery.

Step 4: Click the toggle next to Show in Menu Bar or Show in Control Center.

You can also select the option of Show Percentage.

Step 5: After you enable it, close the window and check if the Battery icon appears at the top-right corner.

2. Restart Your Mac

Sometimes software glitches like the battery icon not showing on your Mac can be fixed by a simple restart. So the next solution we recommend is restarting your Mac.

Step 1: Click the Apple logo at the top-left corner.

Step 2: Select Restart from the list of options.

After your Mac restarts, check if the problem is solved.

3. Use SMC Reset (For Intel chip-based Macs)

If you are using a Mac with an Intel processor and still facing the issue, you can opt for an SMC reset. The SMC or System Management Controller is a chip that stores critical details related to the power and temperature details of your Mac. Since we are talking about the battery icon, which shows the energy usage of your Mac, it’s a good option to use SMC reset. This feature is not applicable to Macs with M-series chips. For them, a simple restart equals to SMC reset.

Step 1: Click the Apple logo at the top-left corner of the Menu bar and select Shut Down from the menu that appears.

Step 2: Wait for a few seconds. Then press and hold the Shift + Left Option + left Control keyboard shortcut. Press and hold the Power Button as well.

Keep pressing the four keys for another 7 seconds. If your Mac turns on, it will play the default startup chime again while you hold down the keys.

Step 3: Release all four keys and press the Power button to restart your Mac.

4. Update macOS

If an SMC reset did not help, you’ll need to look for a software update on your Mac. This might be a bug or glitch in the current version of macOS running on your Mac.

Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar keyboard shortcut to open Spotlight Search, type Check For Software Updates, and press Return.

Step 2: If an update is available, download and install it.

Step 3: After the update installs, check if the problem is solved.

5. Check System Information

If none of the solutions work, check the System Information menu and look for the Battery Status. Your Mac’s battery may be damaged or not getting charged at all. Here’s how to check it.

Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar keyboard shortcut to open Spotlight Search, type System Information, and press Return.

Step 2: Click on Power from the left sidebar.

Step 3: Check the condition of the battery.

If it doesn’t say ‘Normal’, we suggest visiting your nearest Apple Store and getting the battery repaired.

We recommend to always charge your MacBook using the official Apple-certified charger.

Enable Battery Icon on Mac

These solutions should help you bring back the battery icon on your Mac. Since all MacBook batteries are made using Li-ion and polymer, they have a limited life span. That’s why it is not advised to fully charge your MacBook to 100%. You can read our post to learn about the best ways to limit battery charge on your MacBook to improve the battery life span.