Our laptops allow us to be more mobile than ever before, but still always in search of convenient outlets to charge them. If you are in the middle of charging a laptop and need to move to a different outlet while it is still running, will it damage it? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answer to a curious reader’s question.
Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.
Photo courtesy of Alan Levine (Flickr).
The Question
SuperUser reader Donna wants to know if it is safe to unplug a laptop while it is running, then plug it back in:
Is it safe to unplug a laptop while it is running, then plug it back in?
The Answer
SuperUser contributors Journeyman Geek and Schwern have the answer for us. First up, Journeyman Geek:
Followed by the answer from Schwern:
Stuff to watch out for? Tripping hazards. While barrel connectors are fairly robust, they have been known to fail, especially with a sideways “impact” force. Completely unplugging the power connector would mitigate both this and the risk of tripping. There are special mechanisms for laptop HDDs that park the head in case you drop it.
In essence, anything that can kill a laptop while moving it would kill it anyway. I have had a few desktop divas experience the same failure modes, so it is not especially dangerous to move a laptop.
Have something to add to the explanation? Sound off in the comments. Want to read more answers from other tech-savvy Stack Exchange users? Check out the full discussion thread here.
Modern laptops use lithium-ion batteries, which have no such problem. They also have sophisticated hardware and software to monitor the battery, keeping it in good condition and preventing anything a consumer is likely to do from harming it.
