Should You Leave Your Laptop Plugged in All The Time?

2/11/2020 Should You Leave Your Laptop Plugged in All the Time?
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Should You Leave Your Laptop

Plugged in All the Time?
By Andy Betts / Updated December 8, 2019 08-12-2019 / 5 minutes
Andy Betts
203 articles
Andy is a former print journalist and

magazine editor who has been
Af liate Disclosure: By buying the products we recommend, you help keep the site alive. writing about technology for 15
Read more. years. In that time he has
contributed to countless
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publications and produced
copywriting work for large tech
companies. He has also provided
expert comment for the media and
hosted panels at industry events.
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There are two main types of battery used in laptops: lithium-ion and lithium-
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the same way, generating power through the movement of electrons.
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https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/leave-laptop-plugged-time/ 1/8

For both types of batteries, the following statements are true (at least as
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as it hits 100 percent it will cease charging and won’t start again until
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the voltage falls below a certain level.
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become completely empty for an extended period can put it into a
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Things That Damage Lithium Batteries

The truth about lithium-based batteries is that they are inherently unstable.
They begin to lose capacity from the moment they are produced, and there
are numerous factors that hasten their decline. These include:
Charge/discharge cycles. Every battery has a nite number of times it

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High temperature, over 30 degrees celsius. This can cause
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The last two are the ones that we’re most concerned with here. A by James Bruce
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and high temperatures will shorten the life of a battery in isolation, and
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Charge or Voltage Level by Kris Wouk
Lithium-ion batteries charge to 4.20 volts per cell, which amounts to 100
percent of its capacity. At this level, the battery will have a lifespan of 300-
500 discharge cycles.

Every 0.10V/cell reduction in the charge doubles the number of discharge Latest Videos
cycles, until the optimum level is reached: 3.90V/cell, with 2400-4000
discharge cycles.
Unfortunately, at this level the battery is only around 60 percent charged.

The runtime will be little more than half of a fully-charged battery.
Heat
And then there’s heat. High temperatures, typically classi ed as being over 10 Sites to Download Royalty
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30 degrees Celsius, will shorten the life of a battery irrespective of any
other factors. Simply leaving your laptop in your car on a summer’s
afternoon is a bad idea.
When you combine the stress of high temperature with the stress of high
voltage, the effects are even worse.
The Battery University study shows that a battery stored with a 40

percent charge at 40 degrees would see its capacity fall to 85 percent
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Charged to 100 percent the capacity falls to 65 percent under the same
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plummets to 60 percent in just three months.
The evidence seems clear. Keeping the battery permanently charged at 100
percent will slowly shorten its life. Keeping it at 100 percent and exposing it
to high temperatures will shorten it much quicker.
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And remember, these high temperatures are not just environmental.

Resource intensive tasks such as gaming or video editing will considerably
increase heat levels, and using the laptop on a pillow or in a poorly
designed case will trap that heat as well.
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For the sake of your battery, it’s always a good idea to x an overheating
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Should You Remove the Battery? Lifetime
If heat is such a danger, it begs another question. Should you remove the
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Obviously, this isn’t possible on the growing number of laptops that sport Lifetime
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Where they are replaceable, the answer seems to vary from one Audials One $60
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the battery on AC power, but should remove it if you aren’t going to use it
for several days. When Apple produced laptops with removable batteries,
it advised against ever taking them out.
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It all comes down to the power management setup in the laptop. Some may
reduce the power when a battery isn’t present, just as some do when the
battery level gets low. This could leave you with subpar performance.
If you do choose to remove the battery, ensure that you store it properly.
This usually means charged to between 40 percent and 80 percent, and
kept at room temperature.

Should You Keep Your Laptop Plugged In?

Does leaving your laptop plugged in ruin the battery? Yes it does. But then
so does charging it every day.
Curiously, the industry as a whole doesn’t seem to have settled on a single

answer for the question about whether to use your laptop on AC or battery
power.
We’ve seen that Acer recommends removing the battery when you aren’t
using it. Asus says you should drain the battery to at least 50 percent
every two weeks. But Dell says there’s no problem leaving the laptop
plugged in at all times.
keep laptop plugged in
Apple’s advice is no longer on its website, but you can still read it online.
The company recommends against leaving a laptop plugged in all the time.
Instead, it suggests:
“An ideal user would be a commuter who uses her

notebook on the train, then plugs it in at the oﬀice to
charge. This keeps the battery juices flowing…”
Leaving your laptop plugged in will not cause short term damage, but if you
only ever use it on AC power you’ll almost certainly nd that after a year the
battery’s capacity has been signi cantly reduced. Similarly, if you only ever
use it on battery power you’ll get through the battery’s discharge cycles
quicker.
So, the best solution is something of a compromise between the two: use it
on battery power some days, and keep it plugged in on others. And
whatever you do you’ll want to make sure it doesn’t get too hot.
Want some more tips on prolonging the life of your laptop battery? Check
out these tools for analyzing your laptop’s battery health.
The 6 Best Tools to Analyze Laptop Battery

Health
Do you pay attention to your laptop's battery? Here are the best
tools to stay on top of your laptop's battery life and health.
Read More
Explore more about: Battery Life, Hardware Tips, Laptop.
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2/11/2020 Should You Leave Your Laptop Plugged in All the Time?

PC & MOBILE LIFESTYLE HARDW ARE