See your MacBook's battery history and screen-on time

Why it happens

Your MacBook keeps a running record of its battery level and of the time the screen was switched on. Battery settings turn that record into two graphs, so you can spot when the charge fell quickly. Desktop Macs have no battery, so they show Energy settings instead and have no graph.

How to fix it

1. Click the Apple menu, choose System Settings, and click Battery in the sidebar.

   Battery

2. Click Last 24 Hours. The top graph shows the Battery Level hour by hour, and the one below it shows Screen On Usage, so you can match a drop in charge to the time you were using the Mac.

3. Click Last 10 Days to see the same story a day at a time: how much battery you used and how long the screen was on each day.

Still not fixed?

1. If the graphs are empty or short, give it time. A new Mac, or one that was just set up again, needs a while of use before there's much to show.

2. To find out which app used the most power, open Activity Monitor from Applications > Utilities and click the Energy tab. The battery icon in the menu bar also lists apps using significant energy.

   Activity Monitor›Energy

3. If the battery seems to run down much faster than it used to, click the info button next to Battery Health in Battery settings to see its condition.

   Battery›Battery Health

4. If Battery Health says Service Recommended, or the charge drops sharply even when the Mac is idle, contact Apple Support or an Apple Authorized Service Provider. The battery may need replacing, which is a hardware repair.