How to charge a Chromebook without a charger

Google’s ChromeOS-powered laptops aka Chromebooks tend to be lightweight, low-power devices. While peak power draw can match that of a decent consumer laptop, Chromebooks rarely draw more power than the average tablet. Because of this, charging a Chromebook is also relatively simple when you misplace or damage your original charger.

Phone chargers

Most Chromebooks support the USB-PD spec for charging. USB-PD or Power Delivery is a protocol for fast charging that is standardised across the industry. The spec currently supports up to 100W of power delivery, and since most Chromebooks need much less than that, any USB-PD charger will suffice, including a phone, laptop, or tablet charger that supports USB-C.

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Note however that the charger must support the right USB PD standard. Even if the phone charger is rated at, say, 45W, it won’t work at 45W unless it complies with the USB-PD spec for charging at 45W.

As a rule of thumb, most chargers that support over 20W charging speed are at least compliant with 20W USB PD, which means your Chromebook can be charged, albeit slowly, with a phone charger. We’d recommend 30+ W for faster charging.

Power banks

Power banks that support USB-PD are also a great choice for Chromebooks. Most power banks these days manage at least 20W via the USB-PD spec, so if you have one of those, you can charge your Chromebook that way.

Car charger

The standard 12V cigarette lighter port in a car can be used to deliver up to 100W (typically about 20W) to any device, including a Chromebook. Some cars also come with built-in USB-C charging ports that deliver at least 20W of power and should suffice for a Chromebook in an emergency.

One important caveat to all of the above is that you also need the right USB-C cable to ensure that adequate power is being delivered to your Chromebook. Most USB-C cables can manage 20W of power, but you’ll need cables specifically rated for higher loads to safely charge your Chromebook with high-power chargers.