Can I Leave my Laptop Plugged in 24/7?

Charging your laptop can be a thing you rarely pay attention to. You’ll simply plug it into the wall socket and leave it there until it’s completely charged. A lot of people may also use their laptops while charging them.

So, a very genuine question would be, “Is that healthy for the longevity of your battery?” Well, all of that highly depends on how old your laptop is.

In this article, we’ll talk about leaving your laptop plugged in overnight (or sometimes 24/7) and also about some ways that you can use it to increase its battery life. Let me explain further…

Key Takeaways

  • It is safe to charge the laptop overnight, as the charging process will automatically stop when the battery reaches 100% capacity.
  • Using a laptop while it is charging can cause a minor decrease in the maximum capacity of the battery.
  • Lithium-ion batteries are the most common type used in laptops, and they have a set number of charging cycles before they need to be replaced.
  • To preserve the battery and extend its life, you can set a limit on the battery charge using the power settings on the laptop.
  • Laptop batteries are relatively cheap and can be easily replaced if needed.
Table of Contents

Should I leave a laptop plugged in overnight?

You can safely charge your laptop overnight without running any risk of reducing its battery life. Every laptop on the market will automatically stop the charging process upon reaching 100% battery capacity.

Can I charge my laptop while using it?

Modern laptops are designed to shift the power from the battery to the laptop itself once the battery is fully charged to avoid damaging the battery.

However, using the laptop while charging is known to cause a very minor decrease in the maximum capacity of the battery.

What types of batteries are used for laptops?

At the moment, there are three types of batteries that are used for laptops: lithium-ion (the most common one), nickel-cadmium, and nickel metal hydride.

These are rechargeable and will self-discharge over long periods of time, even if they are not used. So, these batteries have a set number of charging cycles.

By charging cycles, I mean the number of times that they can be recharged before you replace them. They obviously don’t last for an eternity.

Now, that number is usually very high. For instance, 1 million times or something similar. 

Conservation Mode can increase the battery life of your laptop

If you don’t want your laptop battery to fully charge, you can set a limit in the laptop’s power tab. Simply do the following:

  1. Navigate to the Save Power tab.
  2. Click Battery Conservation.
  3. Enable Conservation Mode
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This will make it so that the battery won’t be fully charged on each charge. If you choose to disable it, then the battery will be charged fully.

The Bottom Line

Even if you do try to preserve the battery and remove it from the laptop (as I mentioned above), the impact is gonna be very minimum. It will increase the battery life but we are talking about a very slight increase.

So, should you charge your laptop overnight? Yes, even if it’s an old laptop. It’s not like the battery is gonna explode if you leave it plugged in.

You might have to replace the battery a bit sooner. Laptop batteries are quite cheap so you can easily find a new one at a reasonable price. Let me know if you have any more questions on this topic. I’ll see you at the next one!

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Lampros Koukis
Lampros Koukis

I am Lampros, co-founder of c4re.gr. I am passionate about gaming, technology, and computers. I have been involved in that industry for about 15 years. I have been a tech writer for the last 5 years so I am bringing to you guys the expertise and knowledge I have gathered through the years.

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