Reference
Keyboard shortcuts#
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| F1 | Open this manual at the page for the one you are on |
| Ctrl+R | Refresh the readings now |
| Ctrl+, | Open Preferences |
| Ctrl+Q | Quit |
| Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter | Move between controls and activate them; the sidebar rows are keyboard-accessible too |
The main menu#
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Refresh | Reads the battery and everything else again right now. |
| Export Battery Report… | Saves the HTML report. |
| Export Data as CSV… | Saves the CSV files. |
| Preferences | Opens the notification settings. |
| User Manual | Opens this manual at the page for the one you are on. |
| About Battery Health Center | Version, links, credits and license. |
| Quit | Closes the app. |
Command line#
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
battery-health-center | Open the window. |
battery-health-center --background | Start hidden and keep recording history (this is what the login item runs). |
battery-health-center --export-report FILE.html | Write the battery report and exit. |
battery-health-center --export-csv FOLDER | Write the four CSV files into the folder and exit. |
Files and services#
| Path or unit | Purpose |
|---|---|
/usr/bin/battery-health-center | The app. |
bhc-helper | The only part that runs as root. It validates its arguments and writes the charge-limit files and its own configuration. Started through PolicyKit. |
/etc/battery-health-center.conf | The saved charge limit that Keep After Restart re-applies. |
/etc/battery-health-center.schedule | The saved ready-by times and lead time. |
/var/lib/battery-health-center/unplug-log | The unplug times learned by optimized charging. |
battery-health-center-restore.service | Re-applies your limit at startup and after sleep. |
battery-health-center-scheduler.service and .path | Run the schedule; the .path unit starts the service only while a schedule exists. |
/sys/class/power_supply/BAT* | Where the battery readings come from (read directly; no root needed). |
The exact configuration file locations can differ slightly between packages; the How it works notes describe what each piece does.
Glossary#
- Capacity (maximum capacity)
- How much energy the battery holds when full now, compared with when it was new.
- Design capacity
- What the manufacturer rated the battery for when new, in Wh.
- Cycle count
- The number of full charge-and-discharge equivalents. Two half charges make one cycle.
- Wh (watt-hour)
- A unit of stored energy. A 50 Wh battery can power a 10 W laptop for about five hours.
- Charge threshold
- A firmware setting for where charging stops (end threshold) and resumes (start threshold).
- Power profile
- The system's performance setting: Power Saver, Balanced or Performance.
- Energy impact
- An estimate of how much battery an app uses, based on its CPU time.
- Sleep drain
- Battery used while the laptop is suspended, as percent and percent per hour.
- s2idle, S3 and S1
- Sleep states. s2idle (Modern Standby) wakes quickly, S3 (deep) uses the least power, S1 is a light sleep.
- Calibration
- A full charge, a full discharge and a full charge that lets the battery gauge relearn the real capacity.
- PolicyKit
- The standard Linux service that asks for your password before an app makes an administrator-level change.