Missing Battery Percentage Charge Indicator in Menu Bar

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Level 3

807 points

Missing Battery Percentage Charge Indicator in Menu Bar

After a recent MacOS update the battery charge level for my bluetooth mouses that was displayed under the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar at the top right of my screen has vanished. It now only shows if the devices are switched on or not.

I can’t find the settings to restore this function, so I would be grateful of I could be pointed at it please.

I have tried looking in ‘Bluetooth Preferences’ and under ‘Dock & Menu Bar’ but I haven’t found it in either location.

iMac 27″, macOS 12.6

Posted on Jun 11, 2023 08:11 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

El Deanio Author

Level 3

807 points

Jun 12, 2023 05:38 AM in response to VikingOSX

Somehow I managed to fix it. Not sure how though.

I’ve restarted many times and run Disk First Aid too.

I went in to System Preferences/Mouse after Keyboard and Trackpad prefs. I looked at the ‘Set Up Bluetooth Mouse’ button. I found one of my Mouses listed there. The one where the plug goes in to it’s rump and the charge lasts ages.

I exited and looked in the menu bar again. No change. Went back to System Preferences/Mouse again and, lo! There it was at the bottom, showing the charge level graphic. Yay!

Back to Menu bar again, and this time it was there for at least that mouse.

No sign of the other, yet. Then, about an hour later, the second wireless mouse mysteriously appeared too.

At some point I recall turning Bluetooth ‘off’ in its Preferences and immediately turning it back on again. It was at the top of a small window in a small area to itself. I’m wondering if doing that fixed the problem.

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Answer 2

koivo

Level 1

5 points

Feb 8, 2024 04:43 AM in response to El Deanio

I had the same problem with an old silver trackpad and keyboard. Found this other thread where a person went to Settings > Bluetooth > click the small (i) > click Trackpad Settings ... > click Set Up Bluetooth Trackpad ... and suddenly the percentage was there again in the menu bar's bluetooth flyout. Still does not appear in the battery desktop widget. But at least it's back in the menu bar's bluetooth flyout.

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Answer 3

VikingOSX

Level 10

122,088 points

Jun 11, 2023 12:51 PM in response to El Deanio

Apple Bluetooth devices will show a battery percentage, and non-Apple devices likely will not do so on macOS. Sometimes, Apple devices don't show a charge indicator and that is usually remedied as ku4hx mentioned, by a reboot, or by recharging the devices.

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