Apple Explains Why You Might See 'Not Charging' When a Mac is Plugged In

If you have a Mac and have seen a "Not Charging" warning when plugging it in to power, Apple last week released a support document that explains why.

macbookpro16inchdisplay
Macs running macOS 10.15.5 or later have a Battery Health Management feature to preserve the life of the battery, and occasionally, the Battery Health Management option will cause the Mac to pause its charging for calibration purposes.

Depending on its settings, your Mac might temporarily pause charging to help calibrate battery health management, a feature designed to improve the lifespan of your battery.

Apple says that when Battery Health Management is activated, "Not Charging" could be displayed and the charge level might be lowered temporarily, which is a normal function of the feature. Charging to full will resume based on usage habits.

When battery health management is turned on, you might occasionally see "Not Charging" in the battery status menu of your Mac, and your battery's maximum charge level might be lowered temporarily. This is normal, and it's how battery health management optimizes charging. Your Mac resumes charging to 100 percent depending on your usage.

Battery Health Management features are available on Mac notebooks that have Thunderbolt 3 ports and that run macOS Catalina 10.15.5 or later. The option improves the lifespan of a Mac's battery by reducing the amount of time that the battery spends at a maximum charge, which can cut down on chemical aging.

Battery Health Management works based on the battery's temperature history and charging patterns, so if you often leave your Mac charging overnight after using it during the day, the Mac might charge up to around 85 percent and sit there for a bit before charging to full ahead of when it's needed in the morning.

If you use your Mac while Battery Health Management is active, you might see the "Not Charging" warning that Apple mentions. Battery Health Management is enabled by default, but it can be turned off by checking the Battery Health Management option in the Energy Saver section of the System Preferences app once ‌macOS Catalina‌ 10.15.5 or later has been installed.

There are some other reasons that Mac users might see the "Not Charging" warning, such as when the Mac isn't getting enough power to charge the battery. In these situations, Apple recommends people follow the steps in its support document covering charging with a USB-C power adapter.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.1 Coming Soon, Likely With iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Fix

Thursday September 18, 2025 9:17 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The update will have a build number of 23A350, or similar, the account said. It is likely that iOS 26.0.1 will fix a camera-related bug on the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models. In his iPhone Air review, CNN Underscored's Henry T. ...

Top Rated Comments

szw-mapple fan Avatar
67 months ago
This is a terrible UI decision on Apple’s part. It should at least say something like “charging paused for battery health”
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
samelot628 Avatar
67 months ago

This is a terrible UI decision on Apple’s part. It should at least say something like “charging paused for battery health”
Agree. Maybe it should just say "Charging paused" to distinguish from other states when there is an issue with the battery or charger.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
67 months ago
Some people tend to use their Macbooks at their desk all day, every day, only occasionally taking it out and about and using the battery. Is this feature smart enough to leave those Macbooks at 80-85% all the time?
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheOldChevy Avatar
67 months ago

How low can this get? I have a non-Apple USB-C cable and thought something was wrong with it when I saw this happening. Seems like it wouldn't be ideal if it decided to dip low for someone about to do some traveling and needing their laptop charged to the max.
Yes, the UI is not good. We need to know when it happens, and we need a way to by-pass it when we want to.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
67 months ago
Thanks for the informative article, MacRumors. I like what Apple has been doing lately with better battery management.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
xnu Avatar
67 months ago
So "Your charging it wrong." There is an attorney somewhere preparing something I am sure.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)