{"id":4574,"date":"2025-03-27T09:23:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T09:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/?p=4574"},"modified":"2025-03-27T09:23:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T09:23:01","slug":"can-you-charge-a-laptop-with-usb-quick-easy-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/can-you-charge-a-laptop-with-usb-quick-easy-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Charge a Laptop With USB? (Quick & Easy Guide)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

YES, charging a laptop<\/a><\/strong> with USB is possible. Even if your laptop uses a dedicated power adapter (aka DC jack)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not every type of USB can deliver enough power to charge a laptop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be precise, you CAN charge a laptop with USB-C<\/a><\/strong>, but NEVER with USB Type-A. (The rectangular USB-port that most phone charger comes in).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Difference between USB-A<\/a><\/strong> & USB-C<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, you cannot charge a laptop from USB-A ports. And you can find more USB-A ports in cars, hotels, airports than their USB-C counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because USB-A is released in 1996, compared to USB-C<\/a><\/strong> that\u2019s released in 2014. (USB-A has an 18-year headstart to be adopted in cars and outlets.)Why can\u2019t USB-A charge a laptop?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most USB-A ports cannot deliver enough power (W) to sustain a laptop\u2019s consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A laptop needs at least a 45W power to run, typically. And that\u2019s just for basic office laptops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The laptops<\/a><\/strong> for gaming runs on wattages between 60W and 180W.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For that reason, most phone chargers aren\u2019t powerful enough to charge a laptop.How much wattage does USB-A provide?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all USB-A ports<\/a><\/strong> are the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For chargers, USB-A ports usually provide between 4.5W to 12W. With 18W being the most common maximum limit for fast chargers. (18W is enough to charge Nintendo Switch and tablet by the way.)How much wattage does your laptop need?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every model needs a different wattage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All you need is to look at your laptop<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s original charger, which is often in the format of \u201c__V\/__A\u201dHow to check laptop charger’s wattage<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To get the wattage, just multiply V with A. For example, a 20V\/3.25A laptop<\/a><\/strong> will need a 45W power adapter. (20 x 3.25 = 65)USB-A cannot provide the required specific voltage<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every device, regardless of wattage requirement, needs to be charged with specific voltage to prevent damages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? A higher or lower voltage, even by a small difference, will either shorten the device\u2019s lifespan or cause it to shut down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How? If voltage is lower, your laptop may either charge really slowly or shut off on its own due to power fluctuations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, a higher voltage will damage your battery or its components (such as motherboard and processor).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, USB-A is simply designed to only supply power. Meaning that your laptop cannot receive power through its USB-A ports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why can USB-C charge a laptop?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because it supports Power Delivery<\/a><\/strong> standard (PD), which opens up to a whole world of new possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To begin, Power Delivery lets USB-C supply up to 100W power. (More accurately, up to 240W now with the 2.1 update to USB-C specification as of 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means if you\u2019re not using any laptop that needs more than 240W power, USB-C<\/a><\/strong> can charge your laptop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USB-C allows communication between charger & device<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that every device need to be charged at specific voltage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to Power Delivery<\/a><\/strong>, charger can communicate with laptop to decide on the optimal voltage and wattage needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The communication, known as handshake, lets the charger supply 7 different levels of voltage profile: 5V, 9V, 15V, 20V, 28V, 36V, and 48V.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USB-C can both supply and receive power<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does it mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means you can charge your laptop through its USB-C<\/a><\/strong> port, even if it has DC jack port.How to charge a laptop with USB-C?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The methods depends on whether your laptop has a USB-C port with Power Delivery support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll split the methods into these two categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. Your laptop has USB-C<\/a><\/strong> port with Power Delivery<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Your laptop neither has Power Delivery nor a USB-C port<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to tell? Just look for any icons around your USB-C port. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it has either of the symbols below, it has Power Delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: Most Thunderbolt support also includes Power Delivery<\/a><\/strong>. However, there are some manufacturers who do not follow the standard and left Power Delivery out. In this case, the best way to verify is to check your laptop\u2019s user manual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Method A: Laptop has power delivery<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations! All you need is the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any USB-C power source<\/a><\/strong> (with equal or higher wattage your laptop needs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 45W and above USB-C Charger<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 45W and above USB-C power bank<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 45W and above car charger <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, it\u2019s possible to charge your laptop in a car or with a power bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     2. A USB-C to USB-C cable (with equal or higher wattage your laptop needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, this 100W USB-C to C cable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or, better yet, get a universal 100W cable (that includes a Lightning & Micro USB adapters) so it can charge smartphone, tablet, laptop, and any USB-powered<\/a><\/strong> devices you own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a desk or office setting, this is what your set up may look like without the bulky laptop charger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With both, you just need to plug your USB-C cable into the power source and your laptop\u2019s USB-C port to start charging. The exact same way you would follow to charge a smartphone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Method B: Laptop doesn\u2019t have power delivery<\/a><\/strong> or USB-C<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, what you need is exactly the same as above (a power source and a cable) \u2014 just with one more step:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Converting the USB-C<\/a><\/strong> connector into the laptop adapter connector. So it can fit into your laptop\u2019s power port.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to achieve this, you need either:Laptop charger converter adapter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A USB-C to DC Jack converter. An adapter that converts your USB-C cable\u2019s connector into the laptop adapter connector.USB-C to DC Jack Cables For Laptop<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A USB-C to DC Jack cable. A male USB-C to male laptop adapter<\/a><\/strong> connector cable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The converter works best if you already have a USB-C cable, or prefer a more minimal set up (as in you only need 1 USB-C cable to charge every device by switching the adapters.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Otherwise, you may find a dedicated USB-C<\/a><\/strong> to DC Jack cable more suitable for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

YES, charging a laptop with USB is possible. Even if your laptop uses a dedicated power adapter (aka DC jack) But not every type of USB can deliver enough power to charge a laptop. To be precise, you CAN charge a laptop with USB-C, but NEVER with USB Type-A. (The rectangular USB-port that most phone charger comes in). … Continue reading “Can You Charge a Laptop With USB? (Quick & Easy Guide)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2447,2452,2450,2451,2449,2448],"class_list":["post-4574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-charging-a-laptop","tag-laptop-adapter","tag-laptops","tag-power-delivery","tag-usb-a","tag-usb-c"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4574"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4575,"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4574\/revisions\/4575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tech-battery.com\/batteriesblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}