Battery Indicator stuck at 100% All day

I'm the person who started this post and I have carefully read every single reply, for which I was so grateful. Since the genius bar basically presented a befuddled and bewildered front. I got rid of the problem by maybe once a month doing the fifteen minute off/on deal, after trying literally everything in Apple's toolbox except for getting an actual new watch. Though now I've read that getting a new watch did not solve the issue. This started with my Series 5. I had all the previous ones with no issue. It started about a month after I got it. So, for now, my only tiny issue is that it drains battery power a little more than before, even though I have, of course, turned off everything possible that could be draining it, per all the usual websites. I just use it to read incoming texts, tell time and to use the timer. These are all heavy usage areas for me. I only have one watch face and it is not animated. I have the turn on with wrist raise turned off. And I am, most definitely, only using the original charger. Though I do now have a collection of them, so maybe I should mess around with changing those out. I use two separate chargers. All my chargers are, of course, pure Apple chargers. And they're all plugged into high-speed plugs. It has been really wonderful to read all these responses and to not feel alone/crazy. Thank you.

I just bought my first Apple Watch a few weeks ago. Series 5. So excited. A huge purchase for me. Now it’s stuck at 100 percent battery life. With COVID-19 I can’t reach anyone at Apple online. A lot of money spent for a problem that I’m learning isn’t anything new. Apple needs to make this right!!

Bonnie826,

Have you tried powering the watch off, and leaving it off for 15 minutes (no less, a little longer to be safe), and then powering it up again? That seems to be a foolproof way of getting the indicator recalibrated and showing the correct amount of charge.

well I did as you suggested. I powered it off for 30 minutes but unfortunately it did not resolve the problem. What’s frustrating is I know it needs charged but I’m not going to know when it’s fully charged. Thanks for trying to help - much appreciated.

I have found that charging it to 100%, shutting it off for 15 minutes, and then re-charging to 100% tends to fix the issue. If you have tried that and it is still not resetting, let us know since I have yet to hear of that approach not working.

I just charge it until it says 100% and the watch isn't warm anymore which it seems to be when it's actually charging. Then I turn it off for 15 minutes leaving it on the table, then it's good to go for a few more days. 🤷‍♂️

I would let the battery run out completely, and then charge it to 100%, repeating the steps above until the issue fixes itself. I have not tried charging it with the wrong number being displayed, but it is possible that that would also work.

Hmm good point on the warm part... I know for a fact its not how we setup the watch, setup new vs old restore. B/c im able to use my wifes S4 with my old restore profile and battery icon works as designed.

Wish we could send our watches into Apple Engineering and they can take it from ther.

I sent my Series 5 into the repair center (well, my Apple Store sent it there) and it bounced back from them after a couple days, saying they couldn't replicate the problem. They were useless. It's like the Apple Watch falls into this gulch, as far as Apple support goes. It's the only thing they can't try to fix in the store, at their own Genius Bar. And they weren't that happy with the Apple repair center either. Before I read about the turn it off for 15 min and then back on again, I had literally tried every single thing except getting a new watch (which the store said I couldn't get, since Apple Care didn't cover a repair when they couldn't find the problem). But I've read about people here who got new ones and it didn't help the problem. I've restored from previous, from scratch, put it in the freezer (worked a couple days), taken it to the Genius Bar three times and talked to support in Cupertino (I pay $500 a year for Joint Venture Business Support) and the only consistent thing I ever got was that it was a software issue. No updates ever helped. My previous four Apple Watches, each of the series, didn't have this problem. But then I did the 15 min off and back on (I can't remember how much it was already charged when I did that. I think I did it when it had said 100% for 24 hours and I knew it would in the next 6 hours just randomly die. I haven't had any problems since then and that's been around 2-3 months ago that I did it. If anything, it uses up the battery a tiny bit faster than it used to.

I got through to an Apple tech via chat and he walked me through diagnostics, had me power down my watch and phone, unpair then, etc. My watch has since gone from 100% after wearing it 24 hours now it’s down to 81%. That still seems high when normally by the end of 12 hours it would be down in the 30’s or 20’s. ?? Brought my charger with me to work just in case.

I am now on my third AW5. All have had the same problem starting after a week or so. It's hugely frustrating and disappointing to have this problem. As many others have said, the battery life itself seems to be OK but the indicator is hopeless. Today my watch died on 64% ! I have had lengthy discussions with Apple Support in the UK since I bought the first watch at the end of Dec 19. It all seems to avail as the only answer they have is despatching a new watch which develops the same fault after a short period of time. I do wonder whether it's linked to wearing it at night which others have mentioned but I am just guessing. This is an issue for Apple to sort out. It must be a major and widespread issue as I can't be that unlucky with having had three watches now !

I posted about this earlier. I really believe the others that this is not a defect in the hardware at all - it’s how Apple has determined how to “read” the battery. I had my Apple Watch S4 for over a year, and the battery indicator issue only started after I wrote the Watch overnight. Turning it off for 15 minutes (making sure it has a charge) was the only way to get the reading to be accurate. Otherwise, I would have the same exact issue as you are having.

I have always worn my watch overnight. Charging it when I get up and before I go to bed. For my first four watches, this was fine. It wasn't until a few weeks after I got the series 5 that this problem started. I did the 15 min off-on thing quite awhile ago and it's been fine. Though when I got up this am it was 98% and now, mid-afternoon, it's 97%. Making me nervous!

Been having this problem off and on for a month. Called Apple about this twice and both times they blamed the beta software I had installed. I don’t buy that exclamation and won’t be going through the length steps to downgrade both my iPhone and watch. Right now it sits at 100 percent or 99 percent for over 12 hours a day. When it begins clicking down, I know it’s about to die, usually around 80 percent. It’s obvious this is a big problem with many users and I find it unacceptable that there remain no solutions.

It has been 2 days now and my battery seems to be registering correctly. Unpairing my watch from my phone, shutting both down and then pairing them seemed to do the trick. I sometimes wear my watch to bed but not always so I can’t say if that triggered the problem. I have to wonder if it’s a software issue but why with so many people experiencing these issues wouldn’t Apple fix it. ?? Very frustrating when these watches are so expensive.