Microsoft just pumped the brakes on a flashy new Windows 11 feature that had laptop users buzzing. The tech giant paused the rollout of its revamped battery icon, which used color-coded visuals to show power levels at a glance. The sudden halt left fans scratching their heads, including XDA Developers’ Simon Batt, who called the feature his “favorite” upcoming upgrade.
For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, you can check out the video below:
The battery indicator, first released in test builds earlier this month, aimed to simplify how users check their device’s juice. A green icon meant charging, yellow signaled energy-saving mode under 20%, and red warned of critically low power. Toggling a setting could also display the exact percentage next to the icon. But behind the scenes, things weren’t running smoothly.
Microsoft quietly edited its blog posts about the feature and its availability with the 26100.3321 update. A note added on February 25 read, “We have stopped the roll out of this change to address some issues.” The company didn’t spell out every problem, but one tester alleges the pause was due to glitches with color displays and compatibility hiccups on lock screens. In some cases, the icon’s hues didn’t match the actual battery status, confusing users instead of clarifying it.
There’s an issue where it’s colored incorrectly if you use custom color modes, also the new battery icon doesn’t appear on the lock screen in current builds, yay inconsistency.
— phantomofearth ⛄ (@phantomofearth) February 25, 2025
While not everyone gets Preview updates immediately, the battery icon had started reaching some devices. Now those users might see it vanish as Microsoft pulls the plug temporarily. For now, the company says it’s ironing out kinks and plans to reintroduce the icon “in a future update soon.”
We’ll keep tabs on the situation and will update the article if and when Microsoft stars rolling out the handy battery icon update.