This is a step by step beginner’s guide shows how to configure your Ubuntu laptop to limit the maximum battery charge level.
For those who keep laptop plugged in for long term, it’s better to set battery charge limit to reduce the battery wear by constantly trickle charging.
Linux Kernel supports battery charge threshold, and there’s a merge request to provide graphical UI options in Gnome Control Center. Until GNOME officially support this feature, you can follow this tutorial to do the job step by step.
Got wireless mouse, keyboard, or controller connect to your PC? You can have a glance at the battery level of them in top-bar of Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 24.04, Fedora 36/37, Arch/Manjaro with GNOME desktop!
Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 24.04 user can get the extension simply by following the steps below one by one.
1. First open Ubuntu Software (or App Center), then search for and install the Extension Manager tool.
Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu Software/App Center
2. Then, press Super (Windows Logo) key on keyboard to open Activities overview, search for and open the Extension Manager.
3. When the tool opens, navigate to ‘Browse’ tab. Finally, search for and install either extension below:
UPower Battery. – it just works but no configuration (also support Ubuntu 24.04).
Battery Indicator (upower) – with option to toggle which device to display on panel and manually refresh.
The applet should be there in system tray area immediately after installation, though it can be empty if no wireless device detected.
For Fedora, Arch/Manjaro Linux with GNOME 42/43, just open the link Battery indicator or UPower Battery and use ON/OFF switch to install it. And install Gnome Extensions app from Gnome Software for configuring extensions.
Want to change system power mode between Performance, Balanced, and Power Saver automatically when plug / un-plug power supply?
Here’s an extension can do the job for Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, Fedora 38/39, Debian 12, Arch and other Linux with GNOME from version 42 to 46.
GNOME introduced setting options to switch power mode since v40. For laptop running on AC power supply, user may use ‘Performance’ mode for gaming or doing heavy work. To prevent from draining power fast after un-plug AC power, it’s better to switch to ‘Balanced’ mode, or even ‘Power Saver’ mode when battery level is low. To automate this work, ‘Power Profile Switcher’ extension was born. Continue Reading…
Running Ubuntu laptop without power supply? It’s wise to keep an eye on the battery percentage. And, here’s how to make Ubuntu 22.04 display the info in top-right corner just besides the battery icon.
Method 1: Single command toggle display battery percentage
For those OK with Linux commands, just press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, paste the command below:
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface show-battery-percentage true
You’ll see the change immediately after hitting Enter to run the command.
Method 2: Use Gnome Control Center -> Power settings
In Ubuntu 22.04, the GNOME Tweaks tool no longer provide the option to toggle display battery percentage. Because, GNOME has merged this option into system settings (aka gnome-control-center).
1.) Firstly, open ‘Settings’ either from the dash or top-right system tray menu.
2.) When it opens, navigate to Power panel in the left. And, finally use the on/off switch in bottom right to toggle display battery percentage:
It displays an icon on GNOME top bar in system tray area, along with the battery remaining time. By clicking on the applet, it shows battery percentage based on both current and original maximum capacities.
As well, it shows battery health via current and original maximum capacities, and the original and current Voltages.
Battery Health
A setting dialog is also available to configure the refresh time, warning, and colors, etc.
Battery Status Settings
How to Install ‘Battery Status’ in Ubuntu:
The app is available to install as GNOME Extension. At the moment, it supports for Gnome 3.36 and Gnome 40. Which means, user may install it in Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 21.10 via following steps.
1. Install ‘chrome-gnome-shell’:
Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to install the ‘chrome-gnome-shell’ package if you don’t have it:
sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell
This package enables ability to install Gnome Extensions via a web browser.
2. Install the Extension:
Next, click the link button below to go to the extension web page and turn on the slider icon to install it:
If you don’t see the toggle icon, install the browser extension via the link in that page and refresh it.
NOTE: The pre-installed Firefox in Ubuntu 21.10 is a Snap package that does NOT support for installing Gnome Extensions so far. Use another browser or install Firefox as deb.
The indicator should appear immediately after installation. If not, try to enable it via “Gnome Extensions” app, which can be installed via command:
Battery Monitor is a simple tool written in Python3 and PyGTK3. It notifies battery status of charging, discharging, fully charged through desktop notifications. When the battery is below 10%, it plays a sound and pops up a notification bubble.
No command typing on terminal, no extra indicator, the tool just pop notifications when the battery status changes.
How to Install Battery Monitor in Ubuntu:
1. Use PPA.
Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run the commands below one by one to install it from the PPA:
This quick tip is going to show you how to display your laptop’s battery percentage and time remaining to Ubuntu 14.04 panel. So that your system tray area battery icon will look like this:
This can be done easily by doing a little changes through dconf Editor, install it via Software Center if you don’t find it in application menu or Unity dash.
1. Open dconf Editor. On the left side, navigate to com -> canonical -> indicator -> power.
2. Check the boxes that say “show-time” and “show-percentage” on the right.
