Check Battery Status from the Terminal with acpi -b

The small acpi utility prints battery percentage, charging state, and remaining-time estimates directly in the shell.

LinuxlaptopPower & SleepbatteryLow risk

Install the acpi package and run `acpi -b` to print each battery's charge level and charging/discharging state; add -a to also see AC adapter status.

01Command

Command

$ acpi -b

02What it does

Desktop environments hide battery info behind tray icons, and the acpi command is easy to forget because it is often not installed by default. `acpi -b` reads the kernel's ACPI interface and prints lines like "Battery 0: discharging, 62%, 01:14:33 remaining". Combine flags (`acpi -bit`) to get battery, thermal, and adapter state in one shot, or `acpi -V` for everything including fan info.

03Risk

RiskLow risk

Requirementsacpi package (apt install acpi / dnf install acpi). Requires a laptop with a sysfs battery (not most desktops).

04Undo

✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.

05Sources

acpi(1) - Shows battery status and other ACPI information
Ubuntu Manpages · technical · 2026-09-17
Evidence: -b, --battery shows battery information; -a shows AC adapter state; -t shows thermal information.

Last verified: 2026-09-17 · Category: System & Settings