Laptops have one major advantage over traditional desktops, and that is portability. You can take your laptop with you wherever you go by putting it in a bag. However, this portability primarily depends on the battery of the machine. And one of the most common problems with laptop batteries is that the rate at which they charge can get incredibly slow, especially as your laptop gets older, though newer ones can also sometimes face this issue. To fix this, you can try out a few different solutions.

Fix 1: Perform a hard reset

The first thing you should do to try and fix a slow-charging laptop battery is to perform a hard reset. Depending on the make and model of your laptop, there are different ways you can do so.

If you have a laptop with a removable battery, first, turn the machine off and disconnect the charger. Then, remove the battery from the laptop. Press and hold the power button for around 30 seconds to get rid of any residual charge. Now, you can replace the battery and reconnect the charger before powering on the laptop.

Performing a hard reset can help clear the data stored on the motherboard, which may help fix the slow charging of the battery. If you have a newer laptop with a non-removable battery, skip the battery removal step and follow the same steps to reset your laptop.

Fix 2: Calibrate the laptop battery

There may be nothing wrong with the charging and discharging cycle of the battery but your system may not be reporting it properly. Calibrating the battery may help resolve this and you should do so once in a while.

  1. Completely discharge your laptop battery until it does not turn on.
  2. Once your laptop is completely discharged, connect the charger and charge the laptop fully.
  3. Then discharge the battery fully again and then charge it again. This process can clear up any data that is causing your system to misreport the charge levels and cause your laptop to charge slowly.

Fix 3: Switch to an original charger

If you're using a third-party charger, it can also cause your laptop to charge slowly. This is because original chargers come with power ratings for that specific laptop while third-party chargers may have lower power ratings, which not be able to meet the charging requirements of your machine. That is why you should always use the original charger that came with your laptop to charge it.

Similarly, even if you use an original charger connected to a third-party, low-quality charging cable, it may not be able to handle the required amount of current properly. This can also slow down the charging process. You should get an original charger or charging cable from the manufacturer or a certified one from a trusted brand that can charge your laptop properly.

Fix 4: Make sure your laptop doesn't overheat

If your laptop is overheating, it may be unable to charge quickly. When the internal temperature of a laptop increases, it forces the cooling system to work harder to prevent overheating. This uses more power and causes the battery to drain. Additionally, overheating can result in thermal throttling, which also slows down the charging process and reduces the battery efficiency, causing it to discharge quickly.

To avoid these problems, you should make sure that your laptop remains cool when charging. Place it on a flat, hard surface instead of soft ones like your couch or bed, and ensure that the ambient temperature of the room is low so it remains cool. You should also clean the exhaust vents of your laptop regularly and try to keep the area where you use it free of dust, which will help in maintaining proper airflow.

Fix 5: Check the battery charging limit

In many cases, manufacturers design the battery so you cannot charge it unless it falls beyond a certain limit, which can help make it last longer. This charging limit is usually 90%. So, unless the charge falls below 90%, the battery won't charge to 100%. You can easily check whether this is the case by allowing your battery to discharge to below 50%. Once it reaches that level, connect your charger and charge it fully to 100%. This should help sort out the slow charging issue of your laptop.

Fix 6: Disconnect other devices and peripherals

When you connect devices like external hard disks and smartphones to your laptop, they draw power from it. If you're charging your laptop while such devices are connected to it, they can drain its battery and slow down the charging process, since it will have to power all connected devices as well. That is why, you should disconnect all devices while charging your laptop, which will reduce the energy drain and let it charge quickly. You can get a USB hub with a dedicated power source if you need to connect external gadgets or only connect devices to your laptop when you need to use them.

Fix 7: Charge your laptop in sleep mode

Charging your laptop while you use it means that the various components, such as the RAM, processor, GPU, etc., will keep consuming power, draining the machine and causing it to charge slowly. And if you're running complex, resource-intensive tasks while charging your laptop, the charging process can become incredibly slow. Plus, the heat generated will also make it charge slowly, as explained earlier. So, you can either shut down the machine or put it to sleep when you need to charge it.

In sleep mode, only the battery will get charged as no other components will be active. And since no processes will be running, overheating will not be an issue and your battery will charge more quickly. Finally, the overall health of your laptop and its battery will remain in good condition for a longer period with this approach.

Fix 8: Reduce laptop usage when charging it

It is not possible for everyone to put their laptops in sleep mode or shut them down every time they need to charge them. In that case, you should try to limit how you use your laptop while it is being charged. Avoid running tasks that require a lot of power, such as games or video-editing software as these can drain the battery quickly and make your laptop charge slowly. You can run light tasks and wait for the battery to get charged before resuming your normal activities.

Additionally, it is a good idea to turn on airplane mode, lower the screen brightness, and close unneeded background applications to conserve power. The Power Saver mode can also help you do so and here is how you can enable it.

  1. Click on the battery icon on the lower right of your Windows PC.
  1. Then click on the 'Energy Saver' toggle in the pop-up menu to toggle it on.

Fix 9: Check the battery health

The charging capacity or battery health of a battery is maximum when it is new and slowly goes down with use. When it can no longer hold any charge, you need to replace it. You can check the current maximum capacity of the battery of your laptop using various applications. Some manufacturers, like Dell, provide software for this purpose but you can also use third-party programs for the same. Dell users can use the Dell Power Manager, which will indicate when you need to replace the battery. If you have a laptop from some other brand, try BatteryInfoView.

If your laptop battery is too old, it may not be able to hold any charge or may have become defective. You can check the battery health of your laptop and get information regarding its charge cycles, charging capacity, and overall condition. Windows PowerShell can even help you generate a battery health report.

  1. Open the Start menu, type powershell and click on 'Run as administrator'.
  1. When the PowerShell window appears, type powercfg /batteryreport and press Enter.
  1. Now, open the Windows File Explorer and go to the following location to find your battery health report: C:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\battery-report.html. If you do not see it there, check inside the System32 folder in C:/Windows. In case your battery health appears to be poor, you will have to calibrate it or get a new battery.

Fix 10: Check the voltage of the charger

Another reason your laptop is charging slowly may be that your charger is faulty. Electronic equipment like chargers use capacitors that can store electric current for a specific period. And just like the capacity of a battery decreases with time, the capacity of capacitors also goes down. When that happens, the charger may not be able to deliver enough power to your laptop, causing it to charge slowly.

You can connect a multimeter or a voltage tester to the charging pins of your charging cable to check whether your charger is working properly or not. If your multimeter or voltage tester shows an output less than what is printed on the charger, you may have to replace it.

Fix 11: Use a wall outlet for charging

Another reason your laptop is charging slowly may be that you have connected the charger to a low-quality power strip, which often suffers from fluctuations. You can plug the charger directly into a wall outlet, which will provide a stable power supply and let your laptop charge quickly while also being safer to use. If you need to use a power strip, make sure it supports the charging wattage required by your charger and is of high quality.

Fix 12: Update your BIOS

The BIOS is the basic OS present on your computer and updating it may help issues with the machine. However, tampering with it without proper knowledge can damage your laptop and make it unusable, so only use this fix if nothing else works.

  1. Use the Win + R shortcut to open the 'Run' dialog and type msinfo inside it before pressing Enter.
  1. This will bring up the System Information window. Check the BIOS Version/Date.
  1. Now, open a web browser and go to the website of your laptop manufacturer. Download the latest BIOS update and install it. Hopefully, this should fix the slow charging issue of your laptop.

Things to know

  • Sometimes outdated drivers can lead to high power consumption and cause your laptop battery to charge slowly. To avoid that, download and install the latest drivers for your machine.
  • If your laptop battery is in good condition but the machine is still charging slowly even with the original charger and cable, you can try using a faster charger. However, again, make sure that the charger and cable you use are of good quality and from a reliable brand.
  • Consider opening up your laptop by removing the back cover and cleaning it up using a soft cloth so that all the dirt that has accumulated within is removed. This can help improve the airflow and prevent your laptop from overheating.
  • When updating your BIOS, keep your laptop plugged in and make sure the process is not interrupted, otherwise it may become unusable.