How To Make Your Mac Stop Charging at 80%

You may have heard contradictory advice regarding charging your Mac, but certain experts and laptop manufacturers seem to think charging your Mac up to 80 percent is better for your battery life. How can you ensure that your Mac is never charged more than 80 percent?

To make your Mac stop charging at 80%, try manually unplugging it once it reaches 80% whenever you can. Try enabling Optimized Battery Charging, counting cycles, or using a third-party app to stop charging even when your laptop is connected to power and to make the battery last longer. 

If you want to know more, read the rest of this article. I will explain all the necessary steps you need to take for each different way.

Moreover, I will give you some extra tips on how to make the battery of your Mac last longer.

1. Unplug Whenever You Can

The simplest way of stopping your Mac from charging at 80% is to simply unplug it yourself.

When you’re using your Macbook while it’s charging, keep an eye on the battery. When it gets to or near 80 percent, make sure to unplug it from the power outlet.

Naturally, this is easy if you’re on your Mac at that very moment. If you don’t plan on using your Mac while charging or when it gets near 80%, you may try checking it once in a while to ensure you unplug it when it’s time.

However, most people are too busy to pay attention to the battery percentage every time they charge their Mac.

As a result, they look for different ways of automatically interrupting the charging process once it reaches a certain percentage in order not to worry about unplugging anything manually.

2. Enable Optimized Battery Charging

This method would not have been possible a few years ago, but thanks to a significant development in one of the Mac iOS versions, it is now available for most users.

Apple has introduced battery health management in Macs, allowing you to take steps to extend the battery life of your device by avoiding overheating and harmful chemical reactions.

By enabling Optimized Battery Charging, you make charging smart and efficient.

This particular setting can observe and predict your charging habits and adjust the charging speed to ensure you don’t damage the battery. 

If this tool predicts that you will keep the laptop plugged in for a long time, it slows down the charging process considerably to ensure the battery doesn’t get to 100%.

As a result, the battery of your Mac is likely to have reached around 80 percent by the time you unplug it.

Here’s how to enable Optimized Battery Charging:

1. Open your Mac.
2. Go to the Apple Menu in the upper left corner of your screen.
3. Go to System Preferences.
4. Select Battery.
5. In the new window, find Battery on the left.
6. Find Optimized Battery Charging and enable it by checking the box next to it.

Once you enable the feature, your laptop will try to predict your charging habits and extend your battery life.

Some users have complained that this method has not worked for them, or worse, it has made the battery deteriorate more quickly.

If you find that it’s not working for you, you can disable this mode by unchecking the box.

3. Use a Third-Party Application

Given that battery life is one of the most crucial issues regarding laptops and Macs, many app developers have created useful applications that can extend your battery’s life in different ways, including stopping your battery from going over 80 percent. 

Naturally, there are certain issues with third-party apps since they can’t control your Mac once it’s turned off.

Whatever limit you set using an app, your Mac will stop charging at the desired level only if the Mac is turned on or in Standby mode.

However, if your Mac is turned off, it will continue to charge as usual until it reaches 100 percent.

To avoid the issue of the hardware overriding the apps, you can simply leave the Mac on Sleep or Standby while it’s charging.

Alternatively, unplug your Mac from the charger if you want to shut it down and then plug it back in once you’re ready to turn it on.

You may find several different apps that can help your Mac stop at 80 percent while charging; all you need to do is do a quick search on the App store.

However, I will recommend the most popular and effective ones:

AlDente

You may have already heard of this app if you’ve done a simple search regarding your battery life issue.

AlDente is a well-known app that can change the maximum level your Mac’s battery can reach while it’s plugged into an outlet.

This application can be downloaded for free, but you need to pay for the premium version to have access to more options, like Heat Protection or Calibration Mode.

Here’s how to use AlDente to make your Mac stop charging at your desired percentage:

1. Install AlDente on your Mac.
2. Find the file in Downloads.
3. Drag the file to Applications and open AlDente.
4. You will get a warning alerting you that you are about to open a file downloaded from the internet; select Open to dismiss it.
5. You will be prompted to install a Helper application so that AlDente can make the necessary changes to your Macbook; choose OK and then enter your password to confirm.
6. Select Install Helper.
7. Go to the Apple Menu on the upper left corner of your screen and select System Preferences.
8. Find Battery and select it.
9. Choose Battery on the left side of the new window.
10. Check the Optimized Battery Charging option I mentioned above; if it’s on, uncheck the box to turn it off.
11. Select Turn Off to confirm.
12. Find AlDente on the upper part of your screen.
13. Drag the slider to set the percentage you want your Mac to stop at; in this case, set it to 80 percent.

Once you’ve set the percentage, you can continue using your laptop as usual. When you charge it, the battery level will reach 80% and will not be charged anymore.

If you click on the battery, it will simply say, “Battery is Not Charging”.

Charge Limiter

Another third-party application you could try is Charge Limiter. This app also allows you to choose a maximum percentage of the battery level after which the charger is disconnected.

This application is more likely to work with older Mac versions.

In order to use Charge Limiter to make your Mac stop charging at 80 percent, follow these steps:

1. Download Charge Limiter using your browser.
2. Open Charge Limiter from Downloads.
3. You will get a warning since this application will be able to make changes to your Mac, and its developer is not recognized by your device; select Open to continue.
4. When you open the app, set the limit to 80 percent.
5. Click on Set Charge Limit.

The charge limit is set. Once the battery reaches 80 percent, it will stop charging, and you will see the same “Battery is Not Charging” notice as usual. 

BatteryStatusShow

BatteryStatusShow is pretty similar to the two other apps I have described above. It can make your Mac stop charging once it reaches the percentage you want.

Like Charge Limiter, it is more likely to work with older Mac versions. This application is free and, unlike Charge Limiter, has a few more options for you to try.

If you want to give BatteryStatusShow a try, follow these instructions:

1. Use your browser to download BatteryStatusShow online.
2. Open BatteryStatusShow from Downloads.
3. The app will open, showing you several different settings; go to Charge Level at the bottom.
4. Change the level by dragging the slider to 80 percent or whatever level you wish.
5. To confirm this setting, click OK.
6. Enter the password of your Mac if you’re prompted to, and then press OK again.

Next time you start charging your Mac, it will stop once it reaches 80 percent. If you want to reverse this setting, simply find BatteryStatusShow again and drag the slider to 100 percent once again.

4. Set the Percentage Manually

This way of making your Mac stop charging when the battery level reaches 80 percent is not for everyone.

In fact, this method might only work on specific models of Macs, and you can only use it if you really know what you’re doing.

It is possible to manually change the maximum level your battery can reach while charging using developer tools.

BCLM or Battery Charge Level Max can allow you to set the maximum level you want using specific commands.

Developers typically use these methods to make their laptops run better and more efficiently.

If you’re unsure what these commands are or how to even start, it’s better to try one of the above methods or just let your Mac keep charging.

This method is quite complicated, and it’s not worth checking out unless you have an idea of what to do.

5. Let the Laptop Charge Completely or Leave It Plugged In

As I mentioned in the beginning, there is no overwhelming consensus when it comes to the best method of making your Mac battery last longer.

While keeping the battery levels between 20 and 80 percent seems to be the most popular life-extending tip for the battery, you may not be able to notice much of a change for a long time.

Some laptop manufacturers argue that you should keep your device plugged in most of the time so you don’t drain the battery often.

Some others say that letting the battery go to 100% is not as harmful as one might think, especially with the latest technologies.

If the above methods do not work, or you simply don’t have time to try any of them, you can just let your Mac fully charge and only unplug it when you can.

You may also try leaving it plugged in for a while so that it runs on AC instead of the battery.

Considering the major leaps in battery technology, you’ll be able to use your Mac for a long time with no issues if you only take some basic steps.

Pay Attention to the Cycle Count and Overall Condition of Your Battery

Once you have tried some of the above methods, it’s important to know how your Mac is doing and how many charging cycles it has gone through.

Manufacturers at Apple claim that Macs’ batteries can work at their best during the first 1000 charging cycles. After that, you may notice your battery deteriorating faster.

If you have an older Mac model, the maximum cycle count before the battery deteriorates may be below 1000. Some models only have 500 or even 300 cycles before the battery needs replacing.

To check how many charging cycles your Mac has gone through, as well as other important settings that can tell you whether your battery is healthy or not, follow these simple steps:

1. Open your Mac.
2. Go to the Apple Menu in the upper left corner of your screen.
3. Select About This Mac, typically the first option on the menu.
4. Select System Report on the left side of the new window that opens.
5. On the sidebar on the left, find Power.
6. You will see several indicators regarding your battery, like maximum capacity and condition; you will also find the total number of charging cycles.

The more cycles your Mac has gone through, the faster the battery may deteriorate. Keep an eye on the capacity and condition as well.

Check these settings frequently to see whether the above methods work for your battery.

Final Thoughts

Although there are many different opinions on the best way to charge your Mac, many experts agree that stopping it when it reaches around 80% can keep the battery healthier for much longer.

This is not a default setting on your Mac, but there are different methods of achieving it.

The best method is to use Optimized Battery Charging, a built-in tool that can keep your battery in good shape.

However, if that does not work for you, you can try third-party apps that stop charging at your desired level. You may also simply unplug when you can.