Laptop Plugged In, Not Charging, How to Fix It

Windows shows “Plugged in, not charging” when it can see the power adapter but the battery is not accepting charge. The battery itself is usually fine. Work through the fixes in order, starting with the one that catches most cases: a charge limit that is doing its job on purpose.

First, check whether a charge limit is stopping it

If the battery sits at a round number, usually 60% or 80%, and simply will not go higher while plugged in, that is almost certainly a battery-care feature, not a fault. Laptop makers cap charging on purpose because lithium-ion cells age faster when they sit at 100% for long periods.

Turn the limit off or raise it, then wait a few minutes and check whether the percentage starts moving. If you want the battery to last longer, leaving the limit on is the better choice.

The fixes, in order

  1. Check the physical connection. Push the charger firmly into the laptop and the wall. Try a different wall outlet, and look for damage on the cable and the connector. A loose or frayed cable causes more “not charging” reports than any driver problem.
  2. Try a charger with enough watts. A charger that is too weak can run the laptop but leave nothing over to charge the battery. This is common with USB-C laptops charged from a phone charger. If the laptop only charges while asleep or switched off, the charger is almost certainly underpowered.
  3. Reinstall the battery driver. Right-click Start, open Device Manager, expand Batteries, right-click Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery and choose Uninstall device. Also uninstall Microsoft AC Adapter if it is listed. Shut the laptop down, unplug it, wait about 30 seconds, plug it back in, and start it up. Windows reinstalls the driver automatically.
  4. Do a power reset. Shut the laptop down, unplug the charger, and if the battery is removable, take it out. Hold the power button for 30 seconds, put the battery back in, plug in the charger, and start up.
  5. Run the Power troubleshooter. In Settings, go to System, Troubleshoot, Other troubleshooters, and run Power.
  6. Check battery health. Open Command Prompt as administrator and run powercfg /batteryreport, then open the report it saves and compare Design Capacity with Full Charge Capacity. A battery holding far less than its design capacity is worn out, and no driver fix will bring it back.
Stop and get help if the battery is swollen. A bulging bottom case, a lifting trackpad, or a battery that feels puffed up is a safety hazard. Stop charging it, do not puncture or press on it, and contact the laptop maker or a repair shop for a replacement.

If it still will not charge

If a known-good charger and cable, a reinstalled driver, and a power reset all fail, the fault is usually the charging port, the battery, or the charging circuit on the board. A loose, burnt, or wobbly port and a battery that the health report shows as badly worn are both repair-shop jobs. Take the battery report with you: the design capacity and full charge capacity numbers tell a technician immediately whether the battery is the problem.

Common questions

My laptop says “plugged in, not charging” at 80%. Is that broken? Usually not. Most laptop makers cap charging at 60% or 80% on purpose to slow battery aging. Check your maker’s battery app, such as Lenovo Vantage, Dell Power Manager, or MyASUS, and raise or turn off the limit if you need a full charge.

Why does my laptop only charge when it is switched off? The charger is probably not powerful enough. While the laptop is running, it uses every watt the adapter can supply, leaving nothing to charge the battery. Sleeping or shutting down frees up that power. The fix is a higher-wattage charger, not a new battery.

Will reinstalling the battery driver delete anything? No. Uninstalling the Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery driver in Device Manager only removes the driver, and Windows reinstalls it automatically when the laptop restarts. It does not touch your files or settings.

Related guides

Laptop Battery Not Detected · Laptop Battery Stuck at a Percentage · MacBook Not Charging · Battery Replace Warning

Was this helpful?