Restore a Missing Battery Icon on Windows 10’s Taskbar

Windows 10 normally displays a battery icon in the notification area, also known as the system tray, when you’re using a laptop or tablet. This icon shows the current battery percentage. Here’s how to get it back if it vanishes.

Your battery icon might still be in the notification area, but “hidden.” To look for it, click the up arrow to the left of your notification icons on the taskbar.

If you see the battery icon here (an area Microsoft calls the “notification area overflow pane”), simply drag and drop it back to the notification area on your taskbar.

If you don’t see the battery icon in the panel of hidden icons, right-click your taskbar and select “Taskbar Settings.”

You can also head to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar instead.

Scroll down in the Settings window that appears and click “Turn system icons on or off” under Notification area.

Locate the “Power” icon in the list here and toggle it to “On” by clicking it. It will reappear on your taskbar.

You can also toggle other system icons on or off from here, including Clock, Volume, Network, Input Indicator, Location, Action Center, Touch Keyboard, Windows Ink Workspace, and Touchpad.

If the Power option here is grayed out, Windows 10 thinks you’re using a desktop PC without a battery. The taskbar’s power icon won’t appear on PCs without a battery.

Even after you’ve restored the battery icon, it won’t show an estimate of the remaining battery time when you mouse over it. Microsoft has disabled that feature—likely because it’s generally inaccurate. You can still re-enable the battery life estimate with a registry hack.