How to Show Battery Percentage in Your Mac's Menu Bar - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

How to Show Battery Percentage in Your Mac's Menu Bar

by

If you're the sort of person who likes to know exactly how much battery life your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air has left, then you'll want macOS to show the percentage next to the battery level icon in the menu bar. This article explains how.

2018 2018 macbook pro battery
If you look at the right-hand side of the menu bar in macOS Monterey, you'll notice a battery level icon indicating the amount of charge your Mac has left. This provides you with a good approximation, but you would get a more accurate representation of how much battery life you have if there was a percentage next to the icon.

Since macOS Big Sur was released, Apple has the battery level percentage turned off by default, but you can easily enable it by following the steps below.

  1. Launch System Preferences from your Mac's Dock, from the Applications folder, or from the Apple menu bar ( -> System Preferences...).
  2. Click Dock & Menu Bar in the preferences panel.
    sys-prefs

  3. In the sidebar on the left, scroll down to the "Other Modules" section and click Battery.
  4. In the Battery options, click the checkbox next to Show Percentage. Make sure the box next to Show in Menu Bar is also checked.
    sys-prefs

Now that's done, you'll see the percentage next to the battery icon in the menu bar, giving you a more accurate idea of how much juice your Mac has left before you have to plug it in to charge again.
show battery percentage mac3

Did you know that you can also get a battery percentage on your iPhone? Check out our dedicated article to learn how.

Popular Stories

macOS 27 on MacBook Pro

Apple Says macOS 27 Won't Be Compatible With These Macs

Wednesday June 3, 2026 8:29 am PDT by
During WWDC 2025, Apple revealed that macOS 26 Tahoe would be the final major macOS version for Intel-based Macs. macOS 27 will be compatible with Apple silicon Macs only, meaning that you will need a Mac with an M-series chip or a MacBook Neo with an A18 Pro chip in order to install the software update. Apple will unveil macOS 27 during its WWDC 2026 keynote this Monday, June 8, and the...
MacBook Neo on Yellow Feature

MacBook Neo is So Popular That Apple Reportedly Doubled Production

Wednesday June 3, 2026 9:24 am PDT by
On an earnings call in late April, Apple's CEO Tim Cook said that customer response to the MacBook Neo was "off the charts," and the popularity of the laptop has reportedly led the company to significantly boost production. Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo this week said he believes that MacBook Neo shipments to Apple were doubled from an initial target of 5 million units to 10...
iphone 18 pro blue%402x

iPhone 18 Pro: Dark Cherry, Light Blue, and Dark Gray Chassis Leaked [Update]

Thursday June 4, 2026 5:18 am PDT by
Update: Since publication, new information has come to light suggesting the images have been AI-manipulated and are not in fact iPhone 18 Pro chassis parts. The original article follows. The color options Apple is reportedly planning for the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max have appeared online today in the form of images of chassis parts of unknown authenticity....