Yes, you can use your laptop without a battery and it will not do any harm, but you will need to make sure that it’s not suddenly unplugged before it has a chance to shut down properly if you don’t want to lose data or risk permanently damaging your laptop.

If you go into settings and open up the device manager, you should see that the laptop’s battery and AC adapter are recognized as two separate power inlets.

This means that your laptop will be perfectly fine running off either one of them.

Just remember that without a battery, if you suddenly unplug your laptop it will instantly power off and abruptly stop any file saves or software updates that may be working.

This can cause damage to the file system and physical parts of the hard drive which can permanently damage the laptop or stop it from working properly.

Once you’re careful to shut it down before you unplug it, a laptop will work fine without a battery.

It just won’t be as portable as it was when it had a battery.

How Can I Use My Laptop Without A Battery?

You can use your laptop without a battery as long as you remember that it now functions more like a desktop and will need to remain tethered to the wall when you use it.

And because your laptop no longer has a battery installed as a backup power supply, there are a few extra precautions you need to take.

Always Shut Down Your Laptop Properly

To avoid damaging components in the hard drive and losing data, it’s important that you never plug out the laptop while it’s still working.

You run the risk of corrupting data when the correct shutdown procedure is not followed and data in temporary memory will not get the chance to be processed and transferred to long-term memory.

Any files that are mid save could be lost and abruptly stopping any system updates could corrupt your operating system causing loss of data and your laptop to become slower.

A sudden shutdown can also cause the spinning read-write head of the hard disk drive to scrape across the rotating hard drive platter and cause permanent physical damage.

This could require a new hard drive and reinstallation of the operating system.

This is considering the worst-case scenario.

Computer components and modern file systems are much more robust than they used to be and will probably be able to stand up to a power cut.

Use The Right Adapter

You can safely use your laptop without a battery as long as you continue to use its original power adapter (or a compatible adapter that uses the right amount of voltage).

Using an adapter that provides the wrong amount of voltage could cause damage to your laptop, to your power cord, adaptor, or it may just cause your device to not work the way it should.

Use A UPS Device

If you live somewhere where there are frequent power surges or outages then using an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) will help to ensure that the voltage is correct and that power is not suddenly cut to your laptop.

During any periods of inadequate voltage or outages to your electricity supply, a UPS device, like the CyberPower UPS, will keep your laptop running by continuing to provide the correct flow of electricity.

Keep Fingers Away From The Battery Slot

Touching the exposed battery contacts when your laptop is plugged in has the potential to give you an electric shock so, just to be on the safe side, try to keep fingers clear of the compartment where the battery goes.

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Is It Bad To Use My Laptop Without A Battery?

It is not bad to use your laptop without a battery as long as you use the right charger, remember to shut the laptop down properly before unplugging and plug it in where nobody is going to trip over the lead and suddenly cut power to it.

When your laptop has a battery it doesn’t matter if it suddenly gets plugged out because the battery will continue to power the laptop and you will still be able to shut it down properly.

When your laptop has a battery installed, you will get numerous warnings before it runs out and the device will automatically go into power-saving mode once the battery level drops to a certain amount.

There is only a chance of data corruption and physical damage to your laptop when power is suddenly cut and it does not have a chance to shut down properly.

What Are The Advantages Of Using A Laptop Without The Battery?

While you should leave the battery in your laptop if it is functioning properly, there are still some advantages to using your laptop without a battery.

You Can Use It For Longer In Performance Mode When Plugged In

One of the biggest concerns when using a laptop on a battery is how you can conserve power so that the battery lasts longer.

This will have you going into the settings and looking for options like “Power Saver” mode to turn on.

When turned on, this will dim your screen, limit CPU utilization and turn off push notifications for some apps.

When you have your laptop plugged in you don’t need to worry about saving the battery and can use it for as long as you want in performance mode.

It Weighs Less

Considering laptop batteries can weigh around 2 lbs, they are considerably lighter to carry around without their batteries.

It Won’t Get As Hot

Some older batteries can generate a fair bit of heat when in a laptop and having the battery out creates a large vent that allows heat to escape from other components.

What Are The Disadvantages Of Using A Laptop Without The Battery?

Because the whole concept of the laptop was created around the portability that a battery can provide, removing the battery takes away a laptop’s biggest advantage, portability.

Nobody buys a laptop to use as a desktop and as soon as there’s no battery, you’ll have a long cable to deal with while your laptop is always going to have to be tethered to the wall, wherever you choose to sit.

Sure, a laptop is still a lot lighter to carry out of your house, but it’s still a much bigger nuisance having to find a seat in a coffee shop that’s right next to a socket.

Will My Laptop Perform Better When It’s Plugged In?

When your laptop is plugged in it is usually set to operate at maximum performance because there isn’t a need to save power.

But when your laptop is plugged out and running off the battery, there may be some power-saving features that automatically kick in to extend battery life.

When enabled, power-saving features will make your machine slower, dimmer, and less productive.

But it is not the fact that your laptop being plugged in that makes it faster, it is down to the mode your laptop is set to perform at, i.e. “Power Saver”, “Balanced” or “Performance”.

So if you use your laptop in performance mode – whether plugged in or running off the battery only – its performance will be the same.

The only difference is that the battery will run out faster when the laptop is set to run on performance mode.

What About Using A Laptop With A Dead Battery?

If the battery is functioning properly but just out of power, then there is no problem using your laptop plugged in as it will just recharge the battery.

And if the battery is just old and not holding much of a charge, but it is not overheating or deformed in any way, then it’s probably fine to just leave it in your laptop for a while.

But if the battery is not charging due to wear or a fault and the charger is putting current into it, it will cause the power supply to continually run under a full load and the battery may begin to overheat.

If you notice that the battery is getting excessively hot then it could be a fire hazard, so removing it as soon as possible would be a good idea.

It’s also fine to remove the battery and just use your laptop when it’s plugged in.

But if you’re sure that you are going to use the laptop for another two or three years and decide to buy a new battery, beware of super-cheap batteries and make sure that the one you choose is rated for your laptop (that it fits and is the correct voltage).