Extend the Life of a Laptop Battery

Posted: October 31, 2014

Laptop batteries seem to wear out at the most inopportune times. Keeping batteries alive longer is not as difficult as one may think. These simple steps can be taken to prolong the life of a laptop battery. Lincoln Spector, writer for PC World, shares how to keep a laptop battery last longer.

How to extend the life of your laptop battery

Batteries don't last forever. Like everything except diamonds and viral tweets, they eventually wear out. But with proper care, a laptop battery can still carry a sufficient charge until you're ready to move on to a better laptop. But it's a tradeoff. Taking the best care of your laptop battery just may be more of a hassle than it's worth. So let me start with a less effective, but more practical approach: When you're at home, running the laptop on AC power, and you believe that it will stay plugged in for a week or more, shut down the PC and remove the battery. Then, when you need the battery, plug it back in. If it's been more than two months since you last used the battery, check it and charge it before taking it on the road. Of course, you should never remove or insert a laptop battery while the laptop is running. Always shut it down first. That's the practical approach. Here's the extreme care method: For the absolute best results, never charge it past 80 percent or let it drop below 20 percent. When you're working on AC power, keep an eye on the battery's charging. Read the entire article How to Extend the Life of Your Laptop Battery on PC World.