Learn how to show battery percentage in the menu bar and the Control Center for a quick check of the battery status of your Mac laptop.
macOS displays a notification when a MacBook’s battery charge has fallen below 10%. Instead of rushing to save your documents and shut down before the battery is depleted, you could display battery percentage in the menu bar for a quick glance at the current battery charge while using other apps.
If you don’t see battery percentage in the top right corner of the menu bar where the current date and time are displayed, here’s how to turn it on.
Show battery icon and percentage in a Mac’s menu bar
To show battery percentage in the menu bar, go to System Settings > Menu Bar and tick the box for Battery on the right.
Now click the Battery Options button, turn on Show Percentage, and click Done to save the changes.
If your Mac is running macOS Tahoe 26 software, follow these steps to customize the Control Center and add a battery control to it.
On Macs running macOS Sequoia and older, go to System Settings > Control Center, scroll down to the Other Modules section, and turn on the Show in Menu Bar and Show Percentage switches.
Then, follow our steps to customize the Control Center on macOS Sequoia and older to add a battery control there.
If your Mac is quite a few years old and suck with macOS Monterey or older, head over to System Preferences > Dock & Menu Bar and pick Battery under Other Modules, then tick the boxes next to Show in Menu Bar and Show Percentage.
Tick the Show in Control Center option to display battery percentage there.
Are there things you’re struggling to find in macOS? Let us know by leaving a comment below. Also, read our explainer of specific Mac features and settings.
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