2 Ways to Calibrate your Laptop Battery

Calibrating a laptop battery is a straightforward process essential for accurately determining the remaining power percentage 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 low battery or works for a long period when the battery indicator reads low.

The inaccurate battery life estimate and odd device behaviour are because the inbuilt laptop battery meter is confused about the percentage of power left in the battery. To resolve this issue you 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 juice 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?

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 some people who use laptops will 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 device 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 you must 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 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 system fully. After charging allow the system to cool down if the device is hot. You can make use of your laptop while it is discharging.

► Step 3. Disconnect your laptop from power

Disconnect the laptop from the power source and allow the battery to discharge completely. The power setting changes you made in step one will prevent the system from switching to a power-saving mode or hibernating following idleness.

Alternatively, you can drain 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 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 completely discharged, reconnect the charger and recharge fully (100%).

It is better to leave the system idle while recharging, however using the laptop while charging will not significantly affect the battery calibration process.

► Step 5 Calibrate your laptop battery

Once the laptop is fully charged, the manual calibration is completed. Your battery icon should now give the correct estimate of the laptop’s battery life.

You can reset your laptop‘s power settings to the previous settings or retain the current power settings.

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 while the device 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 it 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 have a pre-installed battery calibration program, 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 your laptop battery is still not giving the correct battery life after the battery calibration, then the battery needs replacement.

When should 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 low capacity level at this point Windows will alert you. A red X sign will appear on the battery icon in your laptop taskbar.

Click on the X sign, and you will see 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 of a problem with your battery.

The implication is that your battery can’t hold enough charge to power your laptop for long periods 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 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 must be taken to the manufacturer for battery replacement.

If your laptop is user serviceable you can order another battery online or purchase it physically from the manufacturer depending on your location.

All new batteries should be calibrated as soon as possible. This helps the device accurately read the battery’s state of charge.

Please don’t just buy the cheapest battery out there it may damage your device and also potentially lead to the loss of data. Read also: How to locate a lost device

How to Calibrate Phone Battery

Phones, tablets and other smart devices can be calibrated for accurate battery readings. To calibrate phones, tablets and other smart devices follow the steps below: