Guide
How to Show Battery Percentage on Your Mac Desktop
Learn how to show battery percentage on your Mac using the menu bar and Control Center, plus how to see AirPods, mouse, and keyboard battery levels.
To show your Mac's battery percentage, open System Settings → Control Center, scroll to Battery, and turn on Show Percentage — the number then appears next to the battery icon in the menu bar. For your Mac's own battery, the native menu bar and Control Center are the most reliable place, full stop. If you also want to see your AirPods, mouse, or keyboard levels, there are good options for that. Here is how each works.
Turn on the menu bar percentage (the real answer)
Your Mac already tracks its battery precisely; you just need to surface the number.
- Open System Settings → Control Center.
- Scroll to Battery.
- Turn on Show Percentage.
The percentage now sits next to the battery icon in the menu bar, always visible. This is the native, accurate, zero-overhead way to keep your Mac's charge in view, and it is the one to use for your Mac's own battery.
Control Center for more detail
Click the Control Center icon in the menu bar and expand Battery to see the current percentage and whether anything is Using Significant Energy. If you are trying to figure out what is draining the charge, our guide on checking what drains your Mac battery walks through Activity Monitor's Energy tab and the battery history in System Settings.
Seeing peripheral and device batteries
Your Mac's percentage is covered by the menu bar, but the levels of connected devices are a separate question. To check AirPods, a Magic Mouse, a trackpad, or a keyboard:
- Open Control Center → Bluetooth and look at each connected device's level.
- Or add the Bluetooth battery view to keep it handy.
Third-party tools can make device levels more glanceable:
- AlDente and similar battery utilities focus on charge management and show levels in the menu bar.
- Various menu bar apps surface connected-device percentages without opening Control Center.
For AirPods specifically, see AirPods battery on Mac.
Show device batteries on your wallpaper with Orbl
If you want your peripheral batteries always visible on the desktop, a live wallpaper dashboard is one way to do it. Orbl is a native macOS app (macOS 14 and later) that can render device and peripheral batteries — AirPods, mice, keyboards — into your wallpaper, alongside machine stats.
A note on accuracy: for your Mac's own battery percentage, the native menu bar and Control Center are still the best answer. Orbl's relevant angle is keeping your connected device batteries glanceable, not duplicating the Mac's own percentage as a headline.
Quick walkthrough:
- Download and open Orbl, then allow it to set your wallpaper.
- Enable the device batteries module so connected peripherals render into the background.
- Optionally add machine stats (CPU, memory, disk, Wi-Fi), a clock, or weather around them.
- Pick a layout and theme so the readouts sit where you want behind your icons.
Because it is a native Swift app, it idles near 0% CPU, stays under 100MB of RAM, and is 100% local. Orbl is free, with an optional one-time $29 Premium upgrade (lifetime, no subscription). It is one approach among several, best when you want device batteries to feel like ambient background info.
Which option should you pick?
| Goal | Best option | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Mac's own battery % | Menu bar + Control Center | Free, native |
| Quick device levels | Control Center → Bluetooth | Free, native |
| Device batteries on the wallpaper | Live wallpaper (Orbl) | Free + one-time |
For your Mac's own charge, enable the menu bar percentage and you are done. For peripheral batteries, Control Center covers it, and a wallpaper-based dashboard can keep those levels glanceable if you prefer them in the background. For the broader widget picture, see our best Mac desktop widgets roundup.
Frequently asked questions
How do I show battery percentage on my Mac?+
Open System Settings then Control Center, scroll to Battery, and turn on Show Percentage. The number then appears next to the battery icon in the menu bar.
Where is the battery percentage on a Mac?+
It lives in the menu bar next to the battery icon once you enable Show Percentage in Control Center settings. You can also expand Battery in Control Center to see it any time.
Can I see my AirPods or mouse battery on my Mac?+
Yes. Open Control Center then Bluetooth, or hover the battery menu, to see connected device levels. A live wallpaper dashboard can also show peripheral batteries on the desktop.
Is there a desktop widget for Mac battery percentage?+
The most reliable place for your Mac's own battery percentage is the menu bar and Control Center. For peripheral and device batteries, third-party tools and live wallpapers can show those too.
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