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Settingly

Battery and charging

Optimized Battery Charging

Most people call this the thing that pauses charging at 80 percent.

Your iPhone learns your daily routine and holds the charge near 80 percent, finishing the last part just before you normally unplug it.

Available

This setting is present on your iPhone.

  • We have this path on file but have not yet confirmed it against an official source.

Where to find it - iOS 18 and later

  1. Settings
  2. Battery
  3. Charging
  4. Optimized Battery Charging

What it does

Lithium batteries age faster when they sit at a full charge. Your iPhone watches when you usually charge and when you usually pick the phone up again. On a charge it expects to be long, it stops around 80 percent and waits, then tops up to 100 percent shortly before you need it.

It only does this on charging patterns it recognises. Charging somewhere new, or at an unusual hour, usually goes straight to full.

What changes

When it is on

Long charges pause near 80 percent and resume later. A notification on the Lock Screen tells you when it expects to reach full.

When it is off

Every charge runs straight to 100 percent and stays there. You lose the protection but never wait for the last 20 percent.

Should you turn it on?

Good reasons to turn it on

  • It is the single easiest thing you can do to slow battery ageing.
  • It is automatic and needs no thought once it has learned your routine.
  • You can override it any time by holding the notification and choosing to charge now.

Good reasons to turn it off

  • Your schedule is genuinely unpredictable and you need full charge whenever you unplug.
  • You are about to travel and want the phone full at an unusual hour.
  • The pause confuses you more than the battery benefit is worth.

Battery

Helps

Privacy

No real change

Performance

No real change

Cellular data

No real change

Storage

No real change

Out of the box: On for most iPhones after setup.

Where this setting used to live

Apple moves settings between releases. This is every location we have on file.

  1. iOS 18 and later

    Settings > Battery > Charging > Optimized Battery Charging

  2. iOS 16 to iOS 17

    Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging > Optimized Battery Charging

  3. iOS 13 to iOS 15

    Settings > Battery > Battery Health > Optimized Battery Charging

Questions people actually ask

Why does my iPhone stop charging at 80 percent?
Optimized Battery Charging has decided this is a long charge and is protecting the battery. It will finish before you normally get up.
Is it bad to charge to 100 percent every night?
It is not dangerous, but sitting at full charge for hours does age the battery faster, which is exactly what this setting reduces.
How do I charge to full right now?
Touch and hold the charging notification on the Lock Screen and choose to charge to full now.

If it is not working

  • If it never pauses, the phone has not learned a routine yet. Give it a week of normal charging in the same place.
  • It is skipped when Location Services for System Services is off, because the phone uses significant locations to recognise home and work.
  • Hold the charging notification on the Lock Screen to charge to full straight away.

Related settings