Dell laptop plugged in charging but percentage not increasing

The battery is one component of a laptop that degrades over a period of use. This can affect its ability to store power and can lead to a situation of laptop battery charging but percentage not increasing.

Most of the time, it’s resulted from a bad battery. But before you buy a new one or has it repaired, try these fixes first.

What to Do If Your Laptop “plugged in, not charging“

When faced with a non-charging laptop, what this indicates is that the battery is not storing up the energy remitted to it from the charging port. In such a situation, you have the following options for Windows and Mac:

General Fix: Restart System

The first thing you ought to do when faced with the issue of your laptop not saving energy is to try restarting it. The aim of restarting the system is to reset the operating system. 

Performing a restart requires:

Restarting a Windows 10 System

Step 1.1: Go to the “Windows” icon on the left side of the desktop

Step 2.1: Click it

Step 3.1: Select the “Power” menu

Step 4.1: Choose the option for “Restart” from the pop-up menu

Restarting a Mac System 

Step 1.2: Go to the “Apple” logo in the toolbar of your Mac.

Step 2.2: Click it

Step 3.2: Wait for a pop-up menu

Step 4.2: Choose the option for “Restart” from the pop-up menu

Fixing Laptop Battery Charging But Percentage Not Increasing On Windows 10

Hard Reset

If you restart a Windows 10 device and the issue of battery percentage, not increasing persists, the next thing to do is perform a hard reset. Restarting the PC is what we called soft rest. However, for hard reset, the activity here requires resetting the device that is running the operating system.

To perform a hard reset, follow these steps:

Step 1: Ensure the AC Adapter/charger is disconnected from the laptop

Step 2: Shut down the laptop

Step 3: Place the laptop on a table with the bottom up

Step 4: Remove the battery from the laptop

Step 5: Flip the laptop with the top up 

Step 6: Hold down the power button of the system for half a minute to discharge the capacitors

Step 7: Flip the laptop again with the bottom up and replace the battery

Step 8: Press the power button to put it back on

Step 9: Replug the charger and confirm that the percentages are increasing

Uninstall then reinstall the Battery Device Driver 

A software problem could be the reason why your laptop fails to store the energy from the power source. In this case, a driver connected to the performance of the battery may be affected. Therefore, check if you recently updated your drivers then try uninstalling.

The steps for uninstalling and reinstalling include:

Step 1: Ensure the AC Adapter/charger is disconnected from the laptop

Step 2: Go the “Windows” icon on the bottom left of the desktop home

Step 3: Place the cursor/arrow on the icon and right-click

Step 4: Wait for a pop-up menu

Step 5: Look out for “Device Manager” and select it

Step 6: Wait for a new window to open

Step 7: Look out for the menu tagged “Batteries”

Step 8: Right-click the drivers or adapters seen under the menu

Step 9: Wait for a pop-up menu

Step 10: Select “Uninstall”

Step 11: The computer will showcase a prompt asking you to confirm the uninstall action.

Step 12: Press the “Enter” key

Step 13: Once the adapter or driver no longer shows in the menu, restart the system.

Step 14: When the system comes back on, repeat Steps 2-9

Step 15: Select “Scan for hardware changes”

Step 16: Wait for your system to search for new updates and install a new driver.

Step 17: Plug back the charger to confirm if the problem has been resolved.

Fixing Laptop Battery Charging But Percentage Not Increasing On Mac

Reset System Management Controller on Mac

The System Management Controller (SMC) on Mac is responsible for a lot of functions inclusive of battery and thermal management. Therefore, for any issue relating to power and battery, this is the setting to go to.

To reset SMC, follow these steps:

For non removable battery

Step 1.1: Go to the “Apple” logo in the toolbar of your Mac.

Step 2.1: Click it

Step 3.1: Wait for a pop-up menu

Step 4.1: Choose the option for “Shut Down” from the pop-up menu

Step 5.1: Wait for the system to shut down

Step 6.1: Press and hold down the following hotkeys together “Shift+Control+Option”

Step 7.1: Press the “Power button” at the same time for half a minute.

Step 8.1: Release all the keys

Step 9.1: Put the Mac back on again and check if things are back to normal.

For removable battery

Step 1.2: Go to the “Apple” logo in the toolbar of your Mac.

Step 2.2: Click it

Step 3.2: Wait for a pop-up menu

Step 4.2: Choose the option for “Shut Down” from the pop-up menu

Step 5.2: Remove the battery

Step 6.2: Press and hold down the “Power button” for half a minute.

Step 7.2: Reinstall the battery

Step 8.2: Put the Mac back on again and check if things are back to normal.

Conclusion

If none of the above-mentioned fixes work, then the next thing to check is whether your charger is functioning well. You can borrow your friend’s charger or head to a retail store with your system to test the charger directly. But, if the charger is not the problem, it is time to take the laptop to a repair store.