How to Check Your Apple Pencil Battery Level Without Losing Your Mind

You're mid-sketch or halfway through a frantic meeting note when the line suddenly thins out or stops entirely. It's frustrating. Honestly, for a device as sleek as the Apple Pencil, the way it handles power can feel a bit like a guessing game if you don't know exactly where to look. Checking your apple pencil battery level isn't always as intuitive as looking at the corner of your iPhone screen, mostly because the Pencil itself has zero physical indicators—no lights, no bars, nothing.

It’s just a stick of plastic and tech.

Apple has changed the charging and monitoring method across every generation, from the original "lolipop" plugin style to the magnetic snap of the Pro and USB-C models. If you’re rocking an older iPad or the latest M4 Pro powerhouse, the "where" and "how" of tracking your juice changes significantly.

The Quickest Ways to See Your Apple Pencil Battery Level

The most common way people check their power is through the Batteries Widget. It's basically the gold standard for the iPadOS ecosystem. If you swipe right from your Home Screen or Lock Screen into the "Today View," you should see it there. If you don't, long-press the background, hit the plus icon in the top left, and find the Batteries widget.

I prefer the medium-sized one. It shows the percentage for your iPad, your Pencil, and even your AirPods if they’re connected. It’s persistent. It’s easy.

Then there’s the "Snap and See" method. This only works for the Apple Pencil (2nd Generation), the Apple Pencil (USB-C), and the new Apple Pencil Pro. When you magnetically attach the stylus to the side of your iPad, a little bubble pops up at the top of the screen. It tells you the apple pencil battery level for about two seconds before vanishing. If you missed it, you have to pull it off and snap it back on again. It’s a bit finicky but works in a pinch.

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1st Gen users? You guys have it the hardest. You have to physically plug the Pencil into the Lightning port (or use that tiny, easily-losable adapter) just to get the iPad to recognize it's there and display the charge.

Settings is the Secret Backup

If the widgets are acting up—and sometimes they do, especially after a fresh iPadOS update—you can dive into the Settings app. Scroll down on the left sidebar until you see "Apple Pencil." Tap that. Right at the very top of the menu, you’ll see the current charge percentage. This is also the place where you can toggle your Double Tap settings or find your Pencil if it supports the Find My network.

Why Does the Battery Drain When I'm Not Using It?

This is the question that kills everyone. You leave your Pencil on the desk for two days, pick it up, and it's at 0%. Why?

The Apple Pencil doesn't really have an "off" switch. It stays in a low-power standby mode, waiting for the internal accelerometers to detect movement. If it’s in a backpack that’s shifting around, the Pencil stays "awake" and looking for a Bluetooth connection. Apple designed the 2nd Gen and Pro models to stay magnetically attached to the iPad specifically to combat this; they trickle charge constantly so they are always at 100% when you grab them.

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However, if you have a 1st Gen or the USB-C version, it’s just sitting there losing life. According to various teardowns from sites like iFixit, the battery inside an Apple Pencil is tiny—usually around 0.329 Wh. For comparison, an iPhone 15 has a battery roughly 40 times that size. Because the cell is so small, even a tiny "vampire drain" can empty it in a few days.

The Deep Discharge Danger

Here is something the Apple Store Geniuses might not mention unless you ask: if you let your apple pencil battery level sit at 0% for weeks or months, the battery might actually "die" forever. Lithium-ion batteries hate being completely empty. If the voltage drops too low, the charging protection circuit might prevent it from ever charging again to avoid a fire hazard.

If you aren't going to use your Pencil for a while, try to charge it to about 50% and don't leave it snapped to the iPad if the iPad itself is powered off for a long duration.

Troubleshooting the "Disappearing" Battery Icon

Sometimes the iPad just forgets the Pencil exists. You know it’s charged, but the widget is blank. This usually happens because of a Bluetooth handshake error.

First, try the "Toggle Dance." Turn Bluetooth off in Settings (not just the Control Center), wait five seconds, and turn it back on. If that fails, you have to "Forget This Device." Go to Settings > Bluetooth, tap the "i" next to your Apple Pencil, and hit Forget. Then, re-pair it by snapping it to the side or plugging it in. This forces the iPad to re-index the apple pencil battery level and usually fixes any ghosting issues in the widget.

Is Your Battery Actually Failing?

Batteries are consumable parts. If you've had your Pencil since 2018 and you notice it drops from 100% to 20% in twenty minutes, the hardware is likely shot. Since the Pencil is a sealed unit held together by permanent adhesive, you can't really "replace" the battery like you would on a laptop. If you have AppleCare+, you’re in luck—they usually just swap the whole thing out. Without it, a battery service fee is typically around $29, but in many cases, they’ll just suggest buying a new one because the labor to open a Pencil is more than the device is worth.

Actionable Steps for Battery Longevity

To keep your Pencil healthy and ensure you always know your power status, follow these steps:

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• Keep the Widget Active: Don't rely on the pop-up notification. Add the "Batteries" widget to your Home Screen permanently. It's the only way to see the discharge rate in real-time while you work.
• Store it Magnetically: If you have a 2nd Gen or Pro, keep it on the iPad. The "always charging" state is much better for the Pencil than letting it cycle down to zero on a desk.
• Update iPadOS: Apple frequently tweaks power management profiles. If you're seeing weird battery jumps (like 80% to 50% in a second), an OS bug is often the culprit.
• Clean the Contacts: For the 2nd Gen and Pro, a tiny bit of skin oil on the magnetic connector can interfere with charging. Wipe the side of the iPad and the flat edge of the Pencil with a dry microfiber cloth once a week.

Checking the apple pencil battery level is a minor habit that prevents major workflow interruptions. Whether you're a pro illustrator or a student taking notes, knowing exactly how much juice you have left is the difference between a productive session and a frantic search for a charging cable. Keep an eye on that widget, avoid the dreaded 0% state, and your stylus should last for several years of heavy use.