If you want to extend the life of your laptop battery, try these battery care tips

Keep your laptop battery in tip-top condition with these handy battery care tips

  • Don’t routinely fully discharge and recharge your battery. Modern lithium-ion batteries don’t have the “memory” problem that older NiMH batteries have, so this is unnecessary and can be damaging.
  • It’s okay to let your battery discharge to around 20%, but avoid letting it drop below that.
  • Keep your laptop plugged in and charged when possible. Modern devices stop charging at 100%, so this won’t damage your battery.
  • If you’re storing your laptop for an extended period, discharge or charge it to 50% before putting it away.
  • Keep your software up to date. This can help improve the way programs use power and extend your battery’s lifespan.
  • Avoid using your battery too often. Each charge cycle decreases a battery’s capacity, so try to conserve power and use your battery less frequently.
  • Use power-saving modes and settings to extend your battery’s life. This can include hibernation modes, power-saving settings, and quitting background apps.
  • Avoid extreme temperatures. Batteries don’t perform well in extreme heat or cold, so try to keep your laptop in a moderate environment.
  • Consider buying a new battery when your current one starts to lose capacity. This can help you avoid problems and extend the life of your laptop.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you should avoid placing your laptop anywhere it might become hot. That includes your car on a hot summer day, beneath a window that gets direct sunlight, or near a space heater. Unusual conditions such as these can do a lot of damage to a battery in a short period of time, though you may not realize it immediately.

Cold temperatures usually aren’t a problem down to a certain point, and storing a battery in a cool place is recommended, but don’t leave your laptop in freezing temperatures. Too much cold can also kill the battery permanently or reduce its lifespan. If you want to watch temperature even more closely (say, you live in a particularly hot climate), then there are a number of apps you can run that will monitor laptop heat. This includes CoreTemp and Real Temp for Windows, which you can download for free.