You recharge enchanted weapons in Oblivion by spending filled soul gems, using special Ayleid stones, or paying certain mages to restore the charges.

Main Ways to Recharge

1. Using filled soul gems (most common)

  • Fill or find a charged soul gem (Petty → Grand, or Azura’s Star).
  • Open your inventory and “use” the filled soul gem ; the game will then prompt you to pick which enchanted weapon to recharge.
  • Confirm, and part or all of the weapon’s charge bar is restored, consuming the gem (Azura’s Star refills instead of breaking).
  • Higher-quality souls (greater, grand, black) restore more charges, so use low-level gems for cheap enchants and save big souls for powerful gear.

Think of soul gems as portable batteries: click the battery first, then choose what you want to plug in.

2. Paying a mage to recharge

  • Visit a Mages Guild or magic shop (for example, in the Imperial City) and talk to the mage who offers enchantment/recharge services.
  • Choose the recharge option, and you’ll see a gold cost per charge point ; accept to fully refill the weapon.
  • This is convenient early on or when you’re out of gems, but it gets expensive if you constantly rely on heavily enchanted gear.

3. Using Varla stones in Ayleid ruins

  • Inside Ayleid ruins, you can find rare Varla stones on pedestals or in niches.
  • Activating one of these stones will recharge all enchanted weapons in your inventory at once.
  • They are limited and valuable, so most players hoard them for big dungeon runs or boss fights rather than casual topping up.

Don’t confuse Varla stones (recharge weapons) with Welkynd stones (restore your Magicka).

Quick practical tips

  • Always carry a few lesser/common soul gems for routine recharges, and reserve grand/black gems for your main weapon.
  • Learn or buy Soul Trap as soon as you can so you can fill your own gems instead of buying filled ones.
  • Use your strongest enchanted weapon mostly for tough enemies or bosses , and rely on mundane or lightly enchanted weapons for trash mobs to save charges.

TL;DR:
Use filled soul gems by “using” them in your inventory and then selecting the weapon, pay certain mages to recharge for gold, or hit a Varla stone in an Ayleid ruin to refill everything at once.