Laptop batteries have a limited life. Even in the best of conditions, a laptop battery eventually begins to lose some of its capacity, and will need to be replaced. If you suspect your laptop battery may be failing, there are a few troubleshooting steps you can take to assess the problem.
- Run from AC power only
Most laptops will run fine from the AC adapter with a defective battery. If your laptop will not boot or will not run on battery power only, but runs fine on AC power, you could possibly have a bad battery which needs to be replaced.
- Charge battery overnight with laptop off
Sometimes a weak battery can have trouble charging while the laptop is running. Try shutting down the laptop, connecting the AC adapter, and charging the battery overnight with the laptop off. If the battery still won’t charge, it probably needs to be replaced.
- Use a battery diagnostic tool
An internet search for Battery Health will yield many results for tools that can assess the health of your laptop battery. In most cases, it can tell you the initial capacity of the batter as well as the current capacity. If the current capacity is less than half of the original, the battery likely needs to be replaced.
- If possible, try another battery
This step may be more difficult, but if a friend or a repair shop has a battery that is compatible with your laptop, try installing this battery and see if the issues are still present. If installing the new battery makes the problem or problems go away, the battery needs to be replaced.
Batteries are one of the most likely parts to fail in any laptop, as they only have a limited life. When shopping for a replacement laptop battery, use a parts locator tool to find a battery that is compatible with your specific laptop model to ensure the best performance.