Powershell: Scripts to check battery levels


Some example Powershell scripts for running one script as a scheduled task. The example is to check battery levels every 10 minutes for 4 hours, but the same approach can be used for any script you want to run periodically.

My “laptop” is a Surface Book 2 getting towards end of life. Its has 2 batteries - one in the base and one in the screen. The battery has be a bit errant of late shutting system down unnecessarily. I want to check the battery levels every 10 minutes for a few hours to see how they are doing. I could do this manually but it is easier to automate it with a script and scheduled task.

Script to run periodically

At c:\temp\batt.ps1

$logFile = "C:\temp\batt.log"
$timestamp = Get-Date -Format "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"

$batteries = Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Battery

foreach ($b in $batteries) {
    $status = switch ($b.BatteryStatus) {
        1 { "Discharging" }
        2 { "Charging" }
        3 { "Fully Charged" }
        default { "Unknown ($($b.BatteryStatus))" }
    }

    $line = "$timestamp | Battery $($b.DeviceID): $($b.EstimatedChargeRemaining)% - $status"

    Add-Content -Path $logFile -Value $line
}

The Task Scheduler script

Run this from an elevated PowerShell prompt to create the scheduled task. It will run the above script every 10 minutes for 4 hours, logging the battery status to a file.

$action = New-ScheduledTaskAction `
    -Execute "powershell.exe" `
    -Argument "-NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File C:\temp\batt.ps1"

$trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger `
    -Once -At (Get-Date) `
    -RepetitionInterval (New-TimeSpan -Minutes 10) `
    -RepetitionDuration (New-TimeSpan -Hours 4)

$settings = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet `
    -WakeToRun `
    -AllowStartIfOnBatteries `
    -DontStopIfGoingOnBatteries

Register-ScheduledTask `
    -TaskName "BatteryMonitor10Min_4Hour" `
    -Action $action `
    -Trigger $trigger `
    -Settings $settings `
    -Description "Logs battery state every 10 minutes for 4 hours"

Responese from the above:

> TaskPath                                       TaskName                          State
--------                                       --------                          -----
\                                              BatteryMonitor10Min_4Hour         Ready

Sample Log Output

2026-06-14 17:53:23 | Battery 3002896806SMPM1030906: 98% - Charging
2026-06-14 17:53:23 | Battery 8030163831SMPM1030911: 78% - Charging
2026-06-14 18:03:21 | Battery 3002896806SMPM1030906: 98% - Charging
2026-06-14 18:03:21 | Battery 8030163831SMPM1030911: 85% - Charging
2026-06-14 18:13:21 | Battery 3002896806SMPM1030906: 100% - Charging
2026-06-14 18:13:21 | Battery 8030163831SMPM1030911: 90% - Charging
2026-06-14 18:23:20 | Battery 3002896806SMPM1030906: 100% - Charging
2026-06-14 18:23:20 | Battery 8030163831SMPM1030911: 93% - Charging
2026-06-14 18:33:20 | Battery 3002896806SMPM1030906: 100% - Charging
2026-06-14 18:33:20 | Battery 8030163831SMPM1030911: 100% - Charging
2026-06-14 19:01:01 | Battery 3002896806SMPM1030906: 100% - Charging
2026-06-14 19:01:01 | Battery 8030163831SMPM1030911: 100% - Charging
2026-06-14 19:11:02 | Battery 3002896806SMPM1030906: 100% - Charging
2026-06-14 19:11:02 | Battery 8030163831SMPM1030911: 100% - Charging
2026-06-14 19:21:01 | Battery 3002896806SMPM1030906: 100% - Charging
2026-06-14 19:21:01 | Battery 8030163831SMPM1030911: 100% - Charging
2026-06-14 19:31:01 | Battery 3002896806SMPM1030906: 100% - Charging
2026-06-14 19:31:01 | Battery 8030163831SMPM1030911: 100% - Charging
2026-06-14 19:41:02 | Battery 3002896806SMPM1030906: 100% - Discharging
2026-06-14 19:41:02 | Battery 8030163831SMPM1030911: 100% - Discharging
2026-06-14 20:21:58 | Battery 3002896806SMPM1030906: 100% - Discharging
2026-06-14 20:21:58 | Battery 8030163831SMPM1030911: 100% - Discharging
2026-06-14 20:31:03 | Battery 3002896806SMPM1030906: 91% - Discharging
2026-06-14 20:31:03 | Battery 8030163831SMPM1030911: 90% - Discharging
2026-06-14 22:11:01 | Battery 3002896806SMPM1030906: 85% - Discharging
2026-06-14 22:11:01 | Battery 8030163831SMPM1030911: 84% - Discharging
2026-06-14 22:52:08 | Battery 3002896806SMPM1030906: 80% - Discharging
2026-06-14 22:52:08 | Battery 8030163831SMPM1030911: 79% - Discharging

Check Task Status

> Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName "BatteryMonitor1Min_1Hour" | Get-ScheduledTaskInfo


LastRunTime        : 14/06/2026 6:33:18 PM
LastTaskResult     : 0
NextRunTime        : 14/06/2026 6:43:17 PM
NumberOfMissedRuns : 0
TaskName           : BatteryMonitor10Min_4Hour
TaskPath           : \
PSComputerName     :

Task Descheduler

> Unregister-ScheduledTask -TaskName "BatteryMonitor1Min_1hour" -Confirm:$false

Nb: Nothing shows for this but can now run the check again:

Check Task Status

> Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName "BatteryMonitor1Min_1Hour" | Get-ScheduledTaskInfo
Get-ScheduledTask : No MSFT_ScheduledTask objects found with property 'TaskName' equal to 'BatteryMonitor1Min_1Hour'.
Verify the value of the property and retry.
At line:1 char:1
+ Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName "BatteryMonitor1Min_1Hour" | Get-Schedule ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (BatteryMonitor1Min_1Hour:String) [Get-ScheduledTask], CimJobException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CmdletizationQuery_NotFound_TaskName,Get-ScheduledTask

Also ..

Pause the Tasl Scheduler

> Disable-ScheduledTask -TaskName "BatteryMonitor1Min_1Hour"

Continue the Task Scheduler

Enable-ScheduledTask -TaskName "BatteryMonitor1Min_1Hour"

Stop

Stop-ScheduledTask -TaskName "BatteryMonitor1Min_1Hour"
 TopicSubtopic
<  Prev:   Code Clean Up
   
 This Category Links 
Category:Coding Index:Coding
<  Prev:   GitHub Copilot v Documentation