Samsung Galaxy S9 And Galaxy S9 Plus: How To Show Battery Percentage

The Samsung Galaxy S9 and Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus screen are full of helpful information for its users. The phone’s status bar contains notifications and symbols that provide a ton of different kinds of information. One of these important symbols is the battery icon. This battery icon changes color as battery power and information changes. The color change is easy to understand and useful.

If, for example, it’s almost completely drained and the icon is red, then you would already know that it’s time to pick up your charger. However, while the colors give a general idea they may not show the whole picture and, obviously, they’re not as precise as percentages.

Good thing that Samsung provided an easier option – the Battery Percentage option.

The Battery Percentage option indicates how much battery charge is left measured as a percentage of your overall power capacity. It’s the most convenient and easy to read way to measure battery life. This percentage helps you plan your day, giving you plenty of notice when it’s time to plug your phone in, and giving you peace of mind that you have plenty of juice left. It can also be great to pinpoint underlying issues such as battery failure.

If you want your battery icon to show the battery percentage, all you have to do is follow the steps in the next section. 

How to Show Battery Percentage on Galaxy S9 and S9+

If your Samsung Galaxy S9 or Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus is only showing the battery icon and not the battery percentage, just follow the steps below and you’ll be reading battery percentage at a glance in no time:

1. Go to the Home screen of the device
2. Swipe downwards from the top of the screen to access the navigation shade
3. Once the Notification shade is open, look for the Settings gear icon
4. Tap the Settings icon
5. Scroll down and select the Battery tab – this may be located under ‘Notifications’ depending on what software version you’re running
6. Look for and select “Battery status in percent”
7. Toggle the box next to the battery status feature

That’s all there is to it! With these easy steps, the status bar of your Samsung Galaxy S9 or Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus will now display the amount of battery you have left in both visual and percentage form, enabling you to tell how much battery life you have left with just a quick glance.

Helpful Hint: When following tutorials such as this one use the search icon in Settings to quickly locate the option you need. For example, type “battery percentage” into the settings search bar and it will give you the option to go directly to that setting. As updates change the layout and interface of your phone, tutorials may not include the exact path that you need.

If, for some reason, at some point, you want to decide to declutter your status bar, then just untick the “Battery status in percent” option, reversing the steps above. I doubt you’d want to do that as most people find the battery percentage indicator to be very useful.

How to Save Battery on Your Galaxy

There is never a good time for your battery to die on your phone. Whether you forgot your charger at home or you’re four hours into a YouTube binge with no end in sight, no one wants to be tied to an outlet while using their smartphone.

As it stands, there is a lot of things you can do to reduce the battery usage on your Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9 Plus. One of the reasons we love this operating system is the customization options, the freedom to truly make our phone unique. So, let’s talk about how we can save battery life and keep that percentage higher all day long.

Removing Battery Hogging Apps

Depending on what’s causing your battery to lose charge (it could be that your battery is actually going bad), try offloading some applications that you no longer use. Some third-party applications will use so much battery life that your phone will not function properly until they’re uninstalled.

Other third-party applications such as home screen launchers may use more battery because they offer animated home screens. If you have one of these it’s best to remove it.

Use Power Saving Mode

If you visit the Settings on your phone, you likely have the option in the battery section to toggle battery saving mode. Android users get a few different options where “Medium” seems to be the best solution.

Don’t forget to uncheck the “Background App Refresh” option as well while you’re here. This option will make it impossible for apps running in the background to hog battery life with constant refreshing.

Turn Off Functions You Don’t Need

This is an oldie but a goodie so to speak. If you’re on a long road trip turn off the wifi function so that your phone isn’t constantly searching for it. If you’re not using Bluetooth, toggle that off too. If you have extra processes running that you really don’t need, turn them off.

The same goes for closing apps. Choose the multi-tasking function in the bottom left of your home screen and throw all of your apps away (close them out).

FAQs

Why does my battery percentage fluctuate? If your battery percentage is erratic, for example jumping from 100% down to 30% in a matter of minutes, there’s another issue with your phone. It could be related to water damage or a bad battery. There are some troubleshooting tips for Galaxy battery drain issues that will apply to this model as well.

Why doesn’t my battery symbol show it’s charging? Another common issue with Galaxy smartphones is that they don’t want to charge at times. For this, try a wireless charger if you have one available or a different cord. If this doesn’t work, clean the charging port very gently but be sure you don’t damage any of the components. Lint and dust will coat the connections making it difficult to charge your phone. This is especially characterized by a wiggly connection (you can move the charger from side to side even though it’s plugged into your phone).