How keep your laptop’s battery in good health

The rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power most of our laptops may be the most practical battery tech we have right now, but they naturally degrade over time as their ions flow back and forth - it's an inevitable consequence of the way they're built and the way they work. Eventually, the batteries can't hold as much of a charge.

Most modern laptops now come with some kind of smart charging technology built in, to limit the number of full charges that happen. How this is implemented varies between laptops - I'll talk about this, as well as other ways to ensure the battery on your MacBook or Windows laptop stays as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

General battery health

As with smartphones, because of the chemical reactions happening inside your laptop's battery, fully charging it or fully discharging it puts more stress on the battery and shortens its life. According to Microsoft, keeping a laptop plugged in at a 100 percent charge isn't recommended when it comes to long-term battery health, so it suggests that users try and avoid full charges and full discharges as much as possible.

Then there's temperature: Heat and cold aren't good for battery health. They affect the chemical reactions inside the battery and increase internal wear and tear, so make sure your laptop is kept out of boiling hot cars or off of freezing cold balconies as much as possible - and if you do let your laptop get too hot or cold, slowly bring it down to a more normal temperature. (This also goes for extended periods of intense use - if your device starts getting too hot, take a break.)

You also need to consider temperature and charging if you're going to be stowing your laptop away for a while. Make sure it's kept in a cool and moisture-free space, and charge the battery up to 50 percent before shutting down the laptop, which limits the chances of damage from a full discharge.

Even simple steps like keeping case fans clean and clear can help: the better the air circulation inside your laptop, the cooler the components will run and the less power they'll draw.