Is It Ok To Leave Your Steam Deck Plugged In Overnight? – SlashGear

Valve has not released any concrete statements on whether or not it is safe to leave your Steam Deck plugged in overnight. However, according to the users on the Steam Deck forums, the general consensus answer is “Yes, but don’t make a habit of it.”

Like other similar portable electronics, the way the Steam Deck’s battery recharges is that it powers up to 100%, then internally disables the power cable connection. That connection stays disabled until the battery percentage decreases on its own to 90%, after which the connection starts back up. If you leave the Steam Deck plugged in like this for long stretches, i.e. overnight, it’s going to do that little back and forth over and over for hours on end. That kind of short-span charging and depletion will cause unnecessary wear and tear on the battery, shortening its overall lifespan.

Naturally, the usage of the battery will depend on what you’re actually doing with the Steam Deck. For instance, if you’re actively using it while it’s plugged in, then the console will just draw power from the outlet, and the battery won’t be affected. If you’re planning on leaving the console for multiple days, though, then you should unplug it and power it down completely. Generally speaking, if you’re going to use your Steam Deck multiple days back-to-back, just leave it in sleep mode overnight. It’ll lose a little charge, but you can just charge it while you’re using it.