Microsoft's updated Windows battery indicator rollout runs out of juice

How hard can it be to add colors and percentages?

Microsoft has halted the rollout of a revamped battery indicator to Windows 11 Insiders in the Release Preview Channel.

A gradual rollout of the feature began last week as part of build 26100.3321.

Windows has had a battery indicator for a while; the tweak in the update was meant to add some color so users could make a quicker visual check. In the updated icon, if the battery is green, then all is well. Yellow means the PC has dropped into power-saving mode. Red indicates that power is low, and connecting the device to a power source is a good idea.

It is also possible to show the power percentage via a toggle in the same way that many other mobile devices have been able to for years.

Thanks to OEMs and third-party applications, there are plenty of ways to make that percentage visible without hovering over the battery indicator. However, making it native is something that Windows users very much want to see happen.

It appeared that users' wishes – at least as far as the battery was concerned – were about to be granted as the functionality began to roll out. However, Microsoft abruptly slammed the brakes yesterday "to address some issues."

It did not immediately clarify what those issues were, but it seems cruel to tease Windows users with a much-requested feature and then whip it away at the last minute. Microsoft said: "We plan to begin rolling it out in a future update soon."

Still, it looks like the feature to find out more information about a background image or something showing in the lock screen is staying. The one that adds color to the battery icon and displays a percentage next to it is, alas, on hold for the time being.

Microsoft did not immediately respond when we asked what the issues were. In the meantime, we asked Copilot for some code to do the deed, and it responded with examples in Rust and C++ that we'd be happy to forward to the Windows team if required. ®