There are many issues occurred while operating any electronic equipment and when it comes to laptops the most common problem is its battery.
The battery goes under the hammer no matter how expensive the laptop you are using and its quite natural laptop loses its power capacity over time.
However, it’s very annoying even if the new machine starts to underperform, if you ever encounter the issue where the laptop only works when plugged in a new battery or an old device then this post going to help you to identify and solve the issue.
For instance, we are going to cover possible causes why the laptop only turns on when charging and its solution.
In case your device is older than 2 years then chances are your battery has reached its charging cycle typically battery serves about 350-500 cycles that can last up to 2 years max now don’t jump straight to a conclusion let’s try a few ways before taking any decision.
Also Read: How to charge laptop with HDMI
Can I keep the laptop plugged in all the time?
No this is the worst idea many users apply to keep laptops on charging all the time it puts a negative impact on the entire system.
Basically, this trick not only damages your laptop’s battery but also harms the inner hardware like processor, ram, and GPU as the device heats up faster, also your adaptor can stop working in a very short time, this all ends up in spending money to replace its battery and charger.
My laptop only works when plugged in
- Restart System and Test laptop
The sudden power down indicates the battery failure however at times it is not the only reason, there are also chances system or in-built components becomes faulty.
Before going into detail you should always start with basics, suggest you turn off the laptop make sure you have drained the entire battery, and remove the battery you can watch the videos on how to safely remove the battery from the laptop.
Now assemble your device’s battery again to check if everything is working, if not yet fix read the below steps to fix laptop charges only while charging.
Moreover, if the problem still exists then use your laptop’s power cord and adaptor with another laptop to see if any issue, this test is essential before doing any changes to the settings.
- Change Power Management settings
The power setting in your laptop sometimes causes issues as the system of the device is built in a way it changes its power according to the need automatically overall completely depends on what kind of work you do.
This you can control by taking a few steps, basically, this will minimize the CPU usage that will help the laptop’s battery to increase its life as once you reduce the power battery does not drain its resources, below is a quick guide.
- To change its setting go to start and search for powercfg.cpl or you can do this by typing edit power plan both methods are similar.
- Now if you have typed powercfg.cpl click on change plan settings, now in next step goes into the change advanced power settings.
- There are a few options just go a little down click on the + sign with Processor power management and choose Maximum processor state, you have to change the battery number and keep it anything between 25 to 30 percent.
- This is it you are almost done checking the system if the problem is solved if it hasn’t turned off the laptop and restart or follow more methods as mentioned below.
Note: If you have searched with edit power plan then you might have seen changed advanced power settings click on it and other steps are similar that we have discussed above.
- Update the battery Drivers
If you have tried the above method and there is no positive effect, then it’s time to reinstall the battery drivers.
As there is a possibility your laptop still running on outdated drivers and that causes the battery failure, follow the below instructions to reset it promptly.
There are 2 methods you can use to update battery drivers trying both is essential to see the results so let’s begin.
Method 1
- Go on to the search bar type device manager and click on batteries, there are 2 options you just have to press right-click on Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery.
- Next click on Disable Device.
- Wait for some time and again go back to Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery and tick on enable device.
- Restart your laptop to see the result.
Method 2
Now if disable device option has not worked out you can also try to use Uninstall Device method to solve the issue.
The steps are the same in the device manager- batteries and right-click on Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery and click on uninstall the device and eliminate the current drivers.
In the next step shut down your device, start your system again go into Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery, right-click, and tick on Search automatically for updated driver software.
Moreover, if there is another option your laptop is showing such as Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Embedded Controller then make sure to click on it, that is it you are done with the process.
Close all settings and restart the laptop to check if the problem is fixed, read more about laptops that won’t turn on unless plugged in.
- Run Trouble-shooter
The troubleshooting is another method you can apply if none of the above worked, after running troubleshooting on the laptop system automatically identifies the issue to fix them.
It’s not that technical you have to search for troubleshooting settings and click on additional trouble-shooters, scroll down to find power, and then tick on run the troubleshooter, restart the system once everything is done.
- Reinstall Windows and Update BIOS
The above tricks are effective for fixing the problem laptop only works when plugged in, however, if nothing has improved the situation then it’s time to reinstall your operating system and also check if your laptop has the latest BIOS.
To find the BIOS version of your laptop press windows + R, write msinfo32 and click on ok, take the advice of an expert on whether the BIOS is the latest or outdated and update it if required, moreover you can also search online what is the latest BIOS for windows.
- Check the Motherboard and battery
The motherboard also plays a very important role in making your laptop battery durable, after trying everything there is no harm in taking the advice of a technical person if your laptop is under warranty go to the service center.
If the motherboard causing problem, you can replace it but it’s quite costlier, the service center is the best place to take guidance and also check if the battery is dead as the battery is replaceable in most laptops at a very low cost.
Also Read: Can you connect the laptop as a Monitor for Xbox
How to fix the Laptop screen that only works when plugged in?
This problem is usually related to the brightness you might have set the brightness at a low level, to solve this issue instruct your laptop to edit power plan and click on Change advanced power settings.
Scroll down to select display now click on turn off display after, set the brightness and plugged into maximum level most probably you can change the duration up to 5 hours or 300 minutes.
Why do laptops only charge when Off?
This is very frustrating even more than a laptop only charges when plugged in, as you cannot operate the machine at all.
In this situation first, you must check the battery and adaptor of your laptop as most of the time one of them makes your laptop behave weirdly.
Additionally, also wait for some time as there are chances you have used the complete laptop’s battery it takes time for the laptop to boot up and start over again.
Also, if you are using the laptop for any heavy tasks like rendering or gaming devices it intends to heat up and deny to start off so just be patient and see the results and restart the laptop.
However, if the adaptor or battery is at fault then you have to buy a new AC adaptor or battery, or you can once try testing out your power plan settings, windows updates, and BIOS settings read above all the steps to know more in detail.
Why laptop charging stops while playing games?
Gaming is a resource Hungary task ideally advised to play games on charging rather than the battery as it puts a lot of pressure on the battery, the gaming sessions drains the battery quickly and also reduces the durability.
However, if the gaming laptop denies charging after connecting to the charger even though this is very rare yet if it happens then with the battery your adaptor not handling the pressure of the game.
Keep the game settings at a low level to minimize the stress on the battery or AC adaptor, and monitor the situation if it didn’t work out then check the adaptor with another laptop or consult with a technician.
The laptop battery says 100 but dies when unplugged
Unfortunately, this is a clear indication your laptop battery is dead and you must consider replacing it with a new one however you can also try the above-mentioned tricks to check if it works.
Additionally, check the connection of the motherboard sometimes battery losses its attachment and that can also cause this issue in these circumstances you do not need to change your battery instead take experts to help to fix it.
