A welcome redesign of the Windows 11 battery indicator is on the way with more pixels and colors. Windows sleuth PhantomOfEarth has tested this UI tweak and shared some images of the new look on Twitter/X. The new icons can be enabled in Insider build 26120.2510 which was released to the dev channel recently.
Windows 11's battery icon (in the system tray, quick settings and Settings app) is getting some visual changes: notably, it will turn orange when energy saver is enabled, and green when charging. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/BMYGYBgW5gDecember 6, 2024
Microsoft Windows 11's battery icon is shown in the System Tray area, as well as the Quick Settings and Settings app – on appropriate systems like laptops, tablets, and other portables. However, the current design leaves a lot to be desired, with its stunted size and lack of color. Your smartphone or tablet probably has a battery icon that delivers more info at a glance.
The screen real estate available on typical portable Windows devices vastly outclasses mobiles, so it doesn't seem right that the Windows battery indicator is so short on pixels. In Insider build 26120.2510 testers can beef it up and enjoy a clearer at-a-glance indicator of battery life remaining. It hasn't been scaled so much that it looks out of place, but at such a small scale even a couple of extra pixels helps.
If you enable this UI update, you will benefit from a sprinkle of color, too. It isn't a massive departure, with the icon remaining monochrome unless the energy saver is enabled (goes orange), or the battery is charging (green).
Windows users who are used to seeing a plug-over-battery icon, signifying charging, may notice there is a lightning-bolt-over-battery icon in this latest update. Moreover, the lightning bolt is located over the center of the better icon, rather than to the left, in this UI update.
Last but not least, there are also updates to the battery usage graph's labels.
Enabling the new battery icons
Even if you are using the aforementioned Insider build 26120.2510, you won't see these new battery icons unless you enable them. PhantomOfEarth explains that to update to the new icons users will have to download the ViVeTool app from GitHub and input a few command line strings then reboot. We would only do this kind of tinkering on a test system, not a daily driver PC.
Do you like the new battery indicator? According to PhantomOfEarth's small-ish survey, about 75% of respondents approve.
