You can do lots with an Apple Watch.

From answering phone calls to listening to podcasts and paying for items, your Apple Watch can help you with almost any task you have to carry out.

But this type of diverse functionality is useless if battery life isn’t up to the job.

So many people wonder if how they charge their watch will impact long-term battery health.

Is It Bad To Charge An Apple Watch Every Night?

A woman wearing an Apple Watch with a white strap

It is not bad to charge your Apple Watch every night. In fact, Apple recommends that you charge your watch every night.

Charging through the night is actually ideal.

With normal usage, you should get about 18 hours out of your Apple Watch after an overnight charge.

The lithium-ion batteries in these watches are okay to be charged for a few hours each day (either at night or during the day).

In fact, it’s better for Apple Watch batteries not to be completely drained between charges.

Lithium-ion batteries last longer with regular partial discharges rather than regular full discharges.

It’s also fine to charge them for a few minutes multiple times each day.

Apple watch batteries are built to be pretty durable and you don’t need to be too concerned about how you charge them.

Following 1,000 full charge cycles, the battery in your watch is designed to retain up to 80 percent of the capacity.

So, even if you were to fully charge your watch every 24 hours, it would take around two years and nine months before your watch’s battery would be operating at 80 percent capacity – which will still allow you to use your watch as normal!

And depending on how you use your watch, you may be able to go a couple of days before having to charge again.

But the best way to ensure you don’t end up with a dead battery when you’re in the middle of a workout or when you’re waiting on an important email is to charge your watch each night. 

If you wear it at night for sleep monitoring, then it’s also fine to charge it for a couple of hours every day.

Related Article: Can An Apple Watch Have Its Own Phone Number? (Explained)

Should I Let My Apple Watch Drop Below 10% Battery Life Before Charging It?

There is no reason to allow your Apple Watch to get to a specific percentage before you charge it.

While that’s what has been recommended to consumers for decades regarding the charging of electronic devices, it’s not necessary for an Apple Watch.

You can charge your Apple Watch at any percentage without harming the battery life.

Why It’s OK To Regularly Charge your Apple Watch

The Apple Watch has a different type of battery than what older phones and devices had.

Apple uses lithium-ion batteries in its watches.

They don’t require you to use a certain percentage of the battery charge before recharging it.

Just try to keep the level of the battery above 10% as allowing it to fully discharge over and over may shorten its life.

The charging cycle is different.

The lithium-ion batteries work through complete charging cycles that are built cumulatively.

For instance, one night, you charge your Apple Watch when it was at 40%.

The next night, you charge the watch from 60%.

Those two nights added together equal one complete charging cycle. 

The battery doesn’t lose anything from charging the watch at greater percentages. 

Should I Fully Charge My Apple Watch Each Time?

An Apple Watch doesn’t need to be fully charged each time you charge it.

If you only have a half-hour to charge your watch before you’ll need to put it on, that’s ok.

It won’t harm the battery.

You can charge your watch whenever you’d like because of the lithium-ion battery.

Can An Apple Watch Be Overcharged?

Your watch cannot be overcharged and can stay on the charger for as long as you leave it there.

Apple Watches contain a special chip called a Power Management Unit.

This chip manages how the battery functions and will disconnect it once it reaches full capacity.

There’s practically no risk of overcharging or causing any harm to the battery by leaving your watch plugged in.

Final Thoughts

It’s not bad to charge your Apple Watch every night and Apple even recommends that you do.

The lithium-ion battery in an Apple Watch allows for charging as much as you want, at whatever percentage you want, and for as long as you want.

There’s no risk of damage or harm to the battery.

Go ahead and charge your Apple Watch every night, so you never have to go without it.