Whether you use your laptop exclusively at home and don’t move it around or you are simply having an issue with your laptop’s battery and don’t want to replace it, you might be wondering whether or not a laptop will work without a battery.
Laptops will work without a battery as long as they are plugged into the AC adapter. Disabling the battery within Windows or physically removing the internal battery completely allows a laptop to run on the AC adapter alone without any potential for damage and can even help prolong the battery’s life by reducing the number of charge cycles.
Read on to learn how a laptop can work without a battery, how to disable it or remove it, and more information about any long-term effects it could cause.
Will a laptop run without a battery?
Laptops are designed to be easily carried from place to place and used in a variety of situations but not everyone moves their laptop around often and might then wonder if it is good for the laptop’s battery to be constantly plugged in.
You can run a laptop without a battery as it only needs power from the AC adapter to run. In fact, Windows actually manages incoming power from the AC adapter and battery separately. When the laptop is plugged in, the laptop uses the AC power to charge the battery and run the laptop. If the AC adapter is unplugged, Windows switches over to the battery for power input.
In practice, this means that there is no hardware-specific reason why a laptop can’t run without a battery because the laptop is able to use the AC power directly.
By the way, if you would rather learn more about this by watching it, check out this video from my YouTube channel on the subject!
Can a laptop work without an internal battery?
For all the differences between desktop computers and laptops they are really basically the same when it comes to their hardware and software.
In fact, the only real difference between a laptop and a desktop computer is the addition of the battery along with separate power profiles within Windows 10. Disabling or removing the battery in a laptop simply causes the laptop to rely on the AC adapter alone for power.
With the laptop disabled, it no longer needs the battery-saving features and options that would normally be selected when using the battery power profile so it can also run at full performance at all times.
Will Dell, HP, Lenovo, and other laptop brands work without a battery?
Every laptop manufacturer offers slightly different laptops when it comes to features and design but they all pretty much use the same hardware under the cover.
Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI, and all other laptop brands will work without a battery without any issues.
The only practical difference between brands will be how they’ve installed the battery inside the laptop if you choose to physically remove it.
Potential benefits of using a laptop without a battery
By disabling the battery or removing it entirely, it will no longer go through power cycles as it charges and discharges throughout the day.
Interestingly, preventing a laptop battery from charging by disabling or removing it can actually help preserve the battery’s lifespan because it reduces the number of power cycles the battery is forced to go through. It can also lower overall temperatures inside the laptop case by removing the heat from charging and using the battery itself.
According to some reports, the average laptop battery only lasts about 500 power cycles (a complete discharging and recharging of the battery). If you have disabled your battery through Windows 10 or physically removed it, your laptop will be using AC adapter power only and won’t be forcing the battery to constantly discharge and recharge.
How to disable a laptop battery without removing it
I mentioned before that it is quite easy to disable your battery through Windows 10 because it handles AC adapter power and battery power separately.
To disable your laptop’s battery without removing it, you’ll just need to head into the Device manager within Windows 10 and disable or uninstall the ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery.
I’ve covered this issue in a related article as well. Click here to read more about a laptop that only runs when plugged in!
Here is a step-by-step for how to do that:
- Click the Windows 10 search bar and search for ‘Device manager’
- Once the Device Manager is open, look for the ‘Batteries’ tab near the top of the list.
- Open up the battery tab and right-click on ‘ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery’ and select ‘Disable.
That’s it!
After following these steps, your laptop will only run on power from the AC adapter and Windows 10 won’t allow it to use the battery for power.
How to remove an internal battery
If you would like to go ahead and remove your battery completely, it’s also fairly simple to do even if you have an internal battery.
To remove an internal battery from your laptop you’ll need to power down the laptop and disconnect it from the AC adapter, remove the bottom cover, disconnect the power supply cable from the motherboard, remove all of the screws holding the battery inside the case, and pull the battery out.
Let’s take a look at that step by step:
Turn off the laptop and unplug the AC adapter
First, make sure that your laptop is turned off and that you’ve unplugged it from the AC adapter power cord.
Remove the bottom cover form the laptop
Next, turn the laptop over and remove each of the screws holding the laptop cover onto the frame.
From there, take a guitar pick, debit card, or other soft plastic object and gently pry into a corner of the case. Once inserted slightly, run the object around the edge of the laptop cover to gently release the snaps holding it in place.
After the cover has been released from the snaps, gently remove the entire cover and set it aside.
Disconnect the battery from the motherboard
Next, you’ll take a plastic prying tool and gently disconnect the battery’s power cable from the motherboard.
Remove internal battery
Next, you’ll need to remove any screws used to hold the battery in place inside your laptop. Be sure to keep these screws in a safe place so that you’ll have them when you decide to reconnect your battery.
Pull the battery out and then follow all steps in reverse to put your laptop back together.
At this point, you can simply plug your laptop into the AC adapter and use it as normal. Remember that your laptop will turn off immediately if you ever unplug it – just like a desktop computer!
Is it okay to use a laptop without a battery?
Since laptops are designed and built with a battery as one of the primary features it might seem strange to want to remove it and you might worry if it can be done safely.
Practically speaking, there is no danger when using a laptop without a battery as the AC adapter will simply power the device without charging the battery at the same time. A laptop will still be able to function in exactly the same way without a battery other than the fact that it will immediately power down if you unplug it.
Of course, you shouldn’t just randomly disable or remove your battery – there should always be a good reason. If you plan on moving around a lot with your laptop, for instance, you will quickly be irritated by having to shut down your laptop and move the plug to a different adapter.
If you plan on only using your laptop at a desk and never plan to move it then it might make sense to remove the battery to help preserve its lifespan.
What happens if a laptop battery is not replaced?
Did you remove your battery because it was defective and now you are worried that it could cause some harm?
There is nothing wrong with removing a laptop battery and not replacing it as long as you are still able to use the laptop in the way that you need it. If you are simply waiting for a replacement battery and want to use the laptop while you wait, there is no issue with that either.
Using a laptop with a dead battery
If your laptop battery has failed completely, you might wonder if it is okay to continue to use the laptop with AC adapter power alone.
If your laptop battery has stopped working, you should always physically inspect the battery and remove it if you see signs of swelling or excess heat. Either of these signals could mean a higher chance that your battery will catch on fire, split open, or cause other safety concerns.
In most cases, you should simply physically remove a dead laptop battery but there might not be a huge danger in leaving it connected if there is no bulging or heat.
Can you play games on a laptop without a battery?
Absolutely!
There is no issue with playing games without a laptop battery, your laptop will simply use the AC adapter to power it while you play games.
In fact, removing the battery could help performance as your laptop will not be forced to charge the battery at the same time that you are playing and it can help reduce overall heat inside the laptop which helps it perform at optimum levels!
