by Calibrating a laptop battery is a simple process aimed at knowing the accurate percentage of power left in the battery.
You need to calibrate your laptop battery if you encounter a situation where you checked your laptop battery life and it was 60% then suddenly the laptop hibernates/goes off due to very low battery power.
The reason for this inaccurate battery life estimate and behaviour is that the inbuilt laptop battery meter is confused about the percentage of power left in the battery.
To get accurate battery life in such instances you will need to calibrate your laptop battery. Calibration of a laptop battery does not improve battery power or repair a faulty battery it simply gives you an accurate estimate of the power left in the battery.
The battery life of any battery usually declines with time irrespective of how you use the battery.
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How often should you calibrate your Laptop battery?
You should calibrate your laptop battery every two to three months. This will prevent your laptop from suddenly going off, which may lead to a potential loss of important data.
Some laptops especially the newer generation come with an inbuilt battery calibration tool, which you can easily use to calibrate your laptop battery.
However, many laptop brands are not equipped with this inbuilt calibration tool. This means that a significant number of people who use laptops will at one point or another have a need to calibrate their laptop battery. You can calibrate your laptop battery manually or via the BIOS.
How to calibrate your laptop battery manually
To calibrate your laptop battery manually follow the steps below:
► Step 1.
To manually calibrate your laptop battery, the first step requires changing the laptop‘s power settings.
This is done to prevent your laptop from automatically going into sleep/hibernation/power-saving mode, after a few minutes of inactivity.
If your laptop sleeps/hibernates/enters power-saving mode the calibration process will be halted thus it is important you follow the setting below to change your laptop power setting first
How to change your laptop power setting
- Navigate to the taskbar on your screen display, and right-click on the Battery icon.
- Select Power Options.
- Under Power Options, select Change when the computer sleeps.
- Click on the Turn off the display drop-down menu, and select Never.
- Select the Put the computer to sleep drop-down menu, and choose Never.
- Click on the Change Advanced power setting button.
- Click on the + battery option.
- Click on the + Critical battery action option, and select Hibernate.
- Click on the + Critical battery level option.
- – Click On Battery, and set the percentage to a low value: 1% to 5%.
- Click Apply at the lower right-hand corner of your screen.
- Select OK, and Save Changes.
Once you have successfully changed the power settings as stated above, then proceed to step two.
► Step 2. Connect your laptop charger
Connect the laptop to a power source and charge the laptop till it is fully charged. After charging allow the system to cool down if the laptop is hot.
► Step 3. Disconnect your laptop from a power source
Disconnect the laptop from the power source and allow the battery to discharge completely. The power setting changes you made in step one will not allow your system to switch to a power-saving mode or hibernate following a period of idleness.
You can make use of your laptop while it is discharging. Alternatively, you can discharge the laptop battery more rapidly using HP PC Hardware Diagnostics. To do this please follow the steps below.
- Disconnect the laptop charger from the power source.
- Press and hold the laptop Power button for at least five seconds to turn off the computer.
- Turn on the computer and immediately press the f2 key repeatedly, about once every second, until the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI menu displays.
- Click on Component Tests in the main menu.
- On the list of Component Tests,
- – Click on Memory.
- – Then click Extensive Test
- – Click on Loop until the error starts the test. Let the test continue until the battery is completely discharged and the computer shuts down.
► Step 4 Reconnect your laptop charger
Once the laptop battery has been fully discharged, reconnect the charger and charge the battery fully (100%) again.
It is better to leave the system idle while you are re-charging, however using the laptop while re-charging will not significantly affect the calibration process.
► Step 5 Calibrate your laptop battery
Once you have fully recharged your laptop to 100%, the manual calibration is completed. Your battery icon should not give the correct estimate of the laptop’s battery life.
After you calibrate your laptop battery, you can reset your laptop‘s power settings back to the previous settings, or you can retain the current setting.
How to Calibrate your Laptop battery using BIOS
To calibrate your laptop battery using BIOS follow the steps below:
- Power off your laptop, and power it on again.
- Press the F2 laptop key immediately while the laptop is booting.
- select the Power menu.
- Navigate to the Start Battery Calibration section, and click on the Enter key ( note: your screen background will change to blue).
- Follow the on-screen command and plug in your laptop charger.
- Once your laptop is fully charged (100%), disconnect the laptop from the power source.
- Allow the battery to discharge completely until it automatically powers off.
- Reconnect the laptop charger (do not power on the laptop while it is charging).
- Once it’s fully charged, the laptop battery calibration process is complete.
- You can then unplug the charger and power on your device.
Note: Some laptops may come with a pre-installed battery calibration program, which is embedded in their BIOS. However, a significant number of laptops are not equipped with such programs.
If your laptop has an inbuilt Battery Calibration program [in its BIOS (basic input/output system)], follow the guidelines above to calibrate your battery.
Run a battery test after calibrating the laptop battery. Calibrating the battery improves the accuracy of the battery life estimate.
If after the calibration your laptop battery is still not given the correct battery life, then the battery needs replacement.
When do you replace your laptop battery?
Windows do not normally monitor your battery’s capacity level. However, your laptop battery life decreases with use. When the level of decline becomes significant, you will notice that your laptop battery does not last as long as it used to.
Eventually, your battery will reach a very low capacity level at this point Windows will alert you. You will see a red X sign appear on the battery icon in your laptop taskbar.
Click on the X sign, and you will a message from Windows informing you that you should “consider replacing your laptop battery.
Windows will also inform you that your computer might shut down suddenly because there’s a problem with your battery.
The implication is that your battery can’t hold enough charge to power your laptop for long when it is not connected to a power source.
Note that the older versions of Windows will not likely get this notification/warning.
Replacing Your Laptop Battery
The laptop battery life will gradually decline irrespective of where how you use it, however, factors like heat tend to shorten the life span, consequently removing the battery when the system is hot may prolong its lifespan.
Some laptops especially the big size older laptops are usually user-serviceable supported, meaning the user can easily change the battery on his or her own.
However, if your laptop is not user-serviceable friendly it means the user will not likely be able to change the battery on his or her own without assistance. In this instance, the laptop needs to be taken to the manufacturer for battery replacement.
If your laptop is user-serviceable friendly then you can order another battery online or purchase it physically from the manufacturer depending on your location.
Please don’t just buy the cheapest battery out there it may damage your device and also potentially lead to the loss of data.
For questions on how to calibrate your laptop battery please use the comment section.
Read also: How to locate a lost device
