A very common event regarding laptops is that they become slow, choppy, or otherwise laggy when the charger is plugged into them. This is of course very annoying since you have to charge your laptop once in a while, and you might still want to use it while charging.
That’s why I’ve decided to discuss the most common reasons and solutions for laptops that lag when connected with a charger. Hopefully, after reading this resource, you can use your laptop with a charger without having lag issues.
The most common reason why laptops start lagging when you plug in your charger is your power settings in Windows. The power settings change depending on if you have the charger connected or if the computer is running on battery power. Therefore, you should change the power plan for “plugged in” to match the “battery” power plan.
Now that you are aware of the most common reason why charging laptops can lag, continue reading to find out how to fix this, and other reasons for why your laptop might be lagging when plugged in. I have not listed the problems and solutions in any specific order.
1. Check Your Power Settings
As I mentioned briefly before, your power settings make a difference in your computer’s overall performance. A power-saving profile will obviously save power and make your battery last longer, but will as a result pull back on resources and make your computer perform worse.
There’s a good chance that your computer has two different-looking profiles depending on whether or not you have your charger connected or not. To check your power-saving settings, follow the steps below.
- Go into your computers power options by clicking on the Windows icon and typing “Edit power plan”
- Click the icon
- Click on “Change Advanced Power Settings”
- Scroll down until you see “Processor Power Management” and click the plus next to the text
- Under “Maximum Processor State”, change the “Plugged In” option to 100% of processing power
Using these settings, your processor won’t hold back resources just because you’re charging your laptop and as a result, it shouldn’t lag.
2. Check Wattage On Battery And Charger
It’s important that your battery’s wattage and your charger’s wattage match. If they do not have the same indicated wattage you might have to replace your battery charger. If your charger is not providing enough power to your computer, then your computer will perform worse.
First, check the indicated wattage on your charger. It should be marked on the bulkier piece of the charger. After this, check the wattage of your laptop’s battery. You need to access your computer’s BIOS which is done by pressing a specific key when the computer is starting up.
Exactly what key depends on what motherboard you have, so I would simply recommend you to find out before trying it. When you start your computer, you should see a quick prompt that will get you into BIOS.
To check the wattage of your battery, follow the steps below.
- Go into your computer’s BIOS
- Head into the “Battery Information” area (Again, exactly what this is called depends on your BIOS)
- Look for an indicated wattage of your computer’s AC adapter
- See if it matches the wattage on your charger
3. Reset Or Update BIOS / UEFI
UEFI and BIOS are the names of the software that initializes hardware for your computer. It is essential for your computer to work at all. Whether you have BIOS or UEFI depends on what computer you have, UEFI is in short a better BIOS.
As previously touched on, BIOS and UEFI contain settings for your computer. This can also include power settings for your laptop. Consequently, you can try and reset your BIOS / UEFI to see if that fixes your lagging laptop issue.
To reset your BIOS / UEFI, head into it as described in solution number 2 and look for settings that reset your BIOS / UEFI. If this does not fix your issue, you can update the BIOS. This is a little more complicated to do, but it’s pretty essential for your computer to run as best it can so I would recommend it.
Be careful, however, because if something goes wrong with the update, it can hurt your computer to the point of it being useless.
4. Software That Is Set To Run While Plugged In
It’s a worthwhile endeavor to check if you have programs or updates that are set to run only when you charge your computer. If that’s the case, then your computer might be running more programs when charging and as a result lag.
This is a rare occurrence but we might as well be thorough and sift through all possible solutions to your problem. If this is the case, look for settings that change the program’s boot options and you should be good to go.
5. Check Your Battery Drivers
Another rare but not impossible reason your computer is lagging can be the drivers of your battery. If they are bad or bugged, it can cause your computer to lag when charging your computer. To check for updates to your battery drivers, follow the steps below.
- Type “Device Manager” into the Windows search bar and click the icon
- From the list of devices, go into “Batteries” by double-clicking it
- Right-click on “Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery”
- Click on “Search automatically for updated driver software”
6. Other Software Issues (Reinstall Windows)
If none of the solutions above have fixed your issue, one option is to just reinstall Windows to make sure that all software problems related to your lagging issue go away. I would only recommend doing this if the other options don’t work, however, since it can take a long time and is a bit irksome.
Also if possible, create backups of your files and work before doing this. To reinstall Windows, follow the steps below.
- Go into your settings by pressing the Windows key + I
- Go into “Updates & Security”
- Click on “Recovery”
- Click “Get started”
- Click on “Remove everything”
- Wait patiently
7. A Bad Battery
A bad battery might be the reason that your laptop is lagging. If your computer is of the older variety, then it’s possible that your battery has gone bad and needs replacing. Whether or not that is worth it financially is up to you.
Batteries aren’t usually all that expensive depending on what computer you have, so it might be worth it for you. One strong indication of the battery going bad is if your computer runs out of battery very quickly when not plugged in.
Can I Charge My Laptop With A Different Charger?
Generally, you should not try to charge your laptop with another random charger as there are no standard laptop chargers. Whether or not you can successfully charge your laptop with a different charger depends on the voltage of your laptop, so don’t try it without doing some research first.
Usually, you can’t connect any one charger to your laptop because the charger cables and charge connectors on laptops vary in shape.
Read more: Are Laptop Chargers Interchangeable?
Can You Replace A Laptop Charger?
You can absolutely replace a laptop charger if it’s gone bad, broken, or has some sort of manufacturing error. Keep in mind that you usually also can repair your charger cable with a bit of know-how.
As I mentioned previously, chargers aren’t universal. This means that you have to find out a bit about your computer before buying a replacement charger. The most important information to know is the following: the model number on your laptop, and the wattage of your equipment.
The model number laptops are available either on your powered-on computer or at the bottom of it in the form of a little sticker. When you know the model number, you can proceed in looking for chargers that fit that particular model of computer.
Can You Replace A Laptop Battery?
As with chargers, you can also replace laptop batteries. Look up the model number of your computer, available on your powered-on machine in Windows, or at the bottom of the machine in the form of a little sticker.
Also, remove the battery from your laptop and see what model the battery is. With this information, you should safely be able to buy a new battery from either the manufacturer or a store.