[Solved] Lenovo Laptop Plugged in But Not Charging

By Deep Shrestha Deep Shrestha IT Engineer ( B.E. in IT ) Deep Shrestha works as a computer hardware writer at TechNewsToday with several hardware and programming certifications. Although he has been writing technical content for more than a year, his interest. Full Bio

Learn about our editorial policies Updated May 4, 2023

When you plug in any laptop to a charger, the battery icon on the system tray will change, indicating that the battery is charging. But when you hover or click on the icon, it says “Plugged in not Charging.”

Some Lenovo laptops have Conservation mode enabled. This feature stops the battery from charging after reaching a specified limit. Disabling this feature should get rid of the message, and the laptop should charge normally. But problems with the laptop’s battery or charger can also lead to the error.

Before We Begin

Before going into the core fixes, here are some basic troubleshooting steps you can try.

1. First, check if the charging LED turns on when you plug in the charger, and make sure that there is no loose connection in the AC power adapter.
   
2. Make sure that the AC adapter and the charging port are not faulty or damaged. If it is a faulty charger, the laptop might not turn on the charging LED.
3. Connect the charger directly to a wall outlet.
4. Sometimes, the wall outlet may not provide enough voltage to charge the laptop during a power surge. In such cases, we recommend that you contact your nearest electricity authority.

Power Cycle Laptop

Sometimes, the charge stored in the capacitors of your board could cause complications with the system. It could stop the laptop from charging or even stop the laptop from turning on.

You can power cycle the device to clear these residual charges from the capacitor.

1. Remove the charger from the laptop.
2. Unlock the battery and slide it out of the laptop.
3. Press the power button for one minute.
   
4. Insert the batteries back into the laptop, connect the charger, and check if it starts to charge. If the laptop’s battery is inside the casing, you need to remove its back plate and disconnect it.

Reset the Battery

Some Lenovo laptops come with a reset switch for laptop batteries. By resetting, the system will temporarily disconnect the battery’s connection to the laptop and then reconnect it shortly after.

1. Remove the AC power adapter from the laptop.
2. Search for a small pinhole on the base of the laptop with a battery icon. Some laptops may also have the reset switch on their sides. If you cannot find it, you can refer to the laptop’s user manual.
3. Take a small pin, and press and hold the reset switch for at least 20 seconds.
   
4. Wait five to ten minutes and then turn on the laptop.
5. Connect the charger and check if the laptop starts to charge.

Disable Conservation Mode

Lenovo includes a feature that does not allow you to charge the device above a certain percentage. So, if the configuration is set to charge the battery up to 60%, the charger icon on the system tray will give you a plugged-in but not charging message.

To check if your Lenovo laptop has this feature, you need to discharge your battery for some time and connect the laptop to a charger.

If it still gives the same message, you can move on to the next method. However, if the laptop starts to charge, you need to disable this feature to fully charge the laptop.

1. Open Lenovo Vantage. If you don’t have Vantage installed in your system, download it from Microsoft Store and open the application.
2. Under System Tools, click on Power.
3. Turn off Conservation Mode.
   

Check Recommended Power for Your System

Your laptop requires specific power requirements for it to charge. Using a charger that does not support the laptop’s voltage and current requirement could stop the device from charging even when plugged in. To ensure this is not the case, we recommended that you check the AC power adapter.

Check the laptop’s and AC power adapter’s voltage readings. For laptops you can find these on the base of the laptop. For chargers, they are located on one of its sides. The recommended voltage and wattage on the laptop should match the supplied voltage from the charger.

Note: Refer to the user manual or check Lenovo’s official website to check the recommended power for your laptop.

Run Power Troubleshooter

The power troubleshooter checks for problems and complications with the laptop’s power management. This includes any issues with the battery driver or power settings that could stop the laptop from charging.

Once it finds the issues with the system, it will recommend users to change the system settings, which might fix the problem with the battery.

1. Press the Windows + I key. This will open Windows Settings.
2. Go to System >Troubleshoot.
   
3. Click on Other troubleshooters.
   
4. Scroll down and then run the Power troubleshooter.
   
5. Once the troubleshooter runs, it will suggest you to change some power settings.

Check Battery Status

If the laptop is still displaying the plugged-in not charging message, there is a chance that the battery itself is faulty. You can use Lenovo Vantage to check your laptop’s battery health.

1. Open Lenovo Vantage.
2. Click on Dashboard and select Power.
3. On the right panel, you can see the current battery details.
4. Click on See Battery Details.
   

Here, check battery details and make sure that the battery is not running too hot or too cold. Compare designed voltage and voltage readings. These two values should be close to equal.

The designed voltage will provide a reference point to determine the current condition of your battery. If these values are far apart, replacing the batteries should fix the issue.

Alternatively, you can also use the command prompt to check the laptop’s current battery status.

1. Press Windows + R key and type cmd .
2. Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open Command Prompt as Administrator.
3. Type powercfg /batteryreport and press Enter.
   
4. Copy the file path.
5. Press Windows + E to open File Explorer.
6. Paste the file location and open battery-report.html .
7. Scroll down to Battery capacity history and check Full Charge Capacity and Designed Capacity.
   

These two values should be relatively similar. If the Full Charge Capacity is significantly lower than the Designed capacity, it is an indication that the battery is degrading and needs a replacement.

Reinstall/Update Battery Driver

The battery driver in your laptop is responsible for communicating the physical battery in your laptop to the operating system. This driver is also responsible for the accurate battery icon and current battery condition that you see on the system tray menu.

Any issues with this driver could also cause the icon to display a plugged-in but not charging error message. First, try reinstalling the default battery driver in your system.

1. Press Windows + X key and select Device Manager.
2. Expand Batteries.
3. Right-click on Microsoft ACPI-compliant Control Method battery.
4. Click on Uninstall Driver.
   
5. Click on Uninstall. Once the process completes, the system tray will not display a battery icon.
6. Restart your PC to reinstall the battery driver.

Check if the laptop starts to charge. If the laptop is still not charging, try updating the battery driver using Lenovo’s official battery driver.

1. Go to Lenovo’s official support page.
2. In the search box, type in your laptop’s model and click on your laptop from the list of devices.
   
3. Click on Driver and Software.
4. On Manual Update, click on Select drivers.
   
5. Scroll-down and click on Power Management.
   
6. Expand Lenovo Power and Battery Driver or Power Management Driver.
7. If you are using a Lenovo Thinkpad, you can download Lenovo Battery Firmware Update Utility as well.
8. Click on Download to get the driver installation file.
9. Run the executable file and follow the installation process.
10. Restart your PC once the update is complete.