How you're charging your tablet is quietly killing it – 3 mistakes to avoid (and the right way)

ZDNET’s key takeaways

Unplug at 100%, keep battery between 20% and 80%.Avoid draining to 0%; store unused tablets at 50%.Use certified chargers to prevent stress and overheating.

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As someone who uses a tablet daily, I’m constantly looking for ways to make its battery last longer. However, some habits you don’t think twice about could actually be hurting your battery over time. There are ways to extend your tablet’s battery life, and there are some things you should avoid that do the opposite.

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Most tablets offer six to eight hours of use on a single charge, though battery life diminishes with age and continued use. While there are many things you can do to conserve battery life, here are the ones you should avoid to ensure your battery’s longevity.

1. Leaving your tablet plugged in overnight

This isn’t always a problem with newer tablets, but most tablets on the market will suffer from being left plugged in overnight. Tablets typically charge to 100% and stop using electricity. However, leaving your tablet plugged in can cause it to continue trickle-charging to keep the battery full, which can stress the battery over time and diminish its lifespan.

Instead, unplug your tablet when its battery reaches 100%. As a rule of thumb, it’s best to keep your battery charged between 20% and 80%.

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Like all the common charging mistakes we make with our tablets, leaving it plugged in overnight once or twice won’t permanently damage it. Battery damage happens when these incorrect practices become a habit and are followed often.

2. Letting the battery drain to 0% (and forgetting it)

I’ve been guilty of letting my tablet’s battery drain to 0% only to set it aside and forget to charge it for a couple of days. Repeatedly letting your battery drain to 0% makes it age much faster, risking battery death, requiring a replacement or repair to revive it.

I’ve unfortunately learned this the hard way after leaving my discharged Nintendo Switch Lite in a drawer for a couple of months, only to learn that its battery had been irreparably damaged.

Lithium-ion batteries are simply not meant to stay empty, so most tablets don’t truly hit 0% when they shut down. Instead, they shut down with a little charge to protect the battery, which is why a low-battery screen appears when you try to turn them on. If you leave your tablet with a drained battery for days, weeks, or months, the battery keeps slowly discharging until the voltage drops too low, damaging the battery’s internal chemistry.

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Repeatedly doing this results in a battery that is less capable of holding a charge or, worse, incapable of recharging altogether.

To prevent this and prolong your battery’s life, avoid letting the battery drop below 20%. If you won’t use your tablet for some time, charge it to 50% capacity and shut it down before storing it.

3. Using the wrong charger

Your local dollar store may be a good spot to get party and craft supplies, but not electronics. No matter how enticing the idea of buying a $1 charger seems, it’s probably best to avoid it. Using a cheap, non-certified, or incorrect charger for your tablet can deliver inconsistent power, overcharge it, or result in inefficient charging. All of these result in increased strain on your battery and a shorter lifespan.

Using the wrong charger on your battery can do more than simply prolong its charging time. If a charger’s wattage isn’t properly matched to the battery, it can overheat your device as it struggles to supply enough power, or even overload the tablet’s circuits if it can’t regulate the power draw. Cheap chargers can also deliver fluctuating voltage, which stresses the battery and wears out its chemistry.

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Many certified chargers, like Apple-certified or USB-PD ones, have built-in safety measures that off-brand and cheap chargers skip. These measures prevent surges and overheating that could damage the battery and charging port.

When charging your tablet, it’s best to look for a charger that is either certified or properly matched for your device, from the cable to the brick.