Will leaving a fully charged laptop harm the battery.

[rk24]

I use my laptop at my desk at home mainly and can leave it plugged in.  My question:  Will leaving a fully charged laptop harm the battery?  

[Chippers · Accepted solution]

Hey rk,

This shouldn't harm your battery. After the battery is fully charged, but still plugged-in, the power no longer goes to the battery, it bypasses it. So no harm will be done to your battery.

The only factor that could change that is if your laptop gets hot when it is plugged in and sleeping. A hot environment will make your battery detiorate faster.

[SwatantraD]

Hi @rk24 Swatantra here.

Welcome to the HP forums.

There are two main type of battery used in laptops: lithium-ion and lithium-polymer. Although they are different technologies, they function in broadly the same way, with power being created by the movement of electrons. This flow also helps to keep the battery healthy.

• A battery cannot be overcharged. There’s no danger of a battery being overcharged if you leave it plugged in all the time. As soon as it hits 100%, it will cease charging and won’t start again until the voltage falls below a certain level.
• Fully discharging a battery will damage it. Having a battery fully discharged for an extended period can put it into a deep discharge state, from which it might never recover..

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 find that after a year the battery’s capacity has been significantly 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 in all cases, you’ll want to ensure it doesn’t get too hot.

Hope your issue will be resolved.

Happy to help.

-Swatantra
HP Support