Is it safe to use your Laptop during lightning?

Lightning strike

TechDropp is supported by its readers. We may earn an affiliate commission when you buy something from the links on our website.

Table of Contents

Lightning is a natural phenomenon that can be both fascinating and dangerous. While most of us know that it’s important to stay indoors during a thunderstorm, many people wonder if it’s safe to use their laptops during lightning. In this article, we will explore this question and provide you with some tips to stay safe during a thunderstorm.

 

Take Lightning strikes seriously.

First of all, it’s important to understand that lightning is a powerful electrical discharge that can cause serious injury or even death. Therefore, it’s important to take lightning seriously and avoid any unnecessary risks during a thunderstorm. 

Is it safe to use your laptop during lightning?

The short answer is that using your laptop during a thunderstorm is generally safe if you take some precautions. However, there are some risks involved that you should be aware of. 

And we will discuss some ways you can avoid getting shocked while using your laptop or hurting your laptop in general.

Things to do to avoid a lightning attack while using a Laptop

Unplug your laptop from Charging

We strongly recommend charging your laptop during a Thunderstorm. It’s quite possible that the thunderstrike may travel through your home’s wiring and kill your laptop or you, possibly.

Therefore, it’s important to unplug your laptop from the power source and use it for battery power during a thunderstorm.

In case you find it hard to use your laptop with a power source, which could be possible if you use a gaming laptop, you can consider buying a battery bank, something like a Jackery Power Station through which you can power your laptop while staying off the grid.

 

Use Surge Protectors or a UPS

Another risk to be aware of is that lightning can cause electrical interference that can damage your laptop or cause data loss. To minimize this risk, it’s a good idea to use surge protectors or UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) devices to protect your laptop from power surges and electrical interference.

Avoid using your Laptop outdoors

As you might expect, not only is standing outside a bad idea, but it’s also not good to use your laptop outdoors. 

 

We strongly recommend using your laptop indoors and making sure to stay inside as long as the weather does not clear out.

 

Disconnect your Laptop from anything that requires external power

Connecting your Laptop to anything that is connected to AC power is quite risky during a thunderstorm. 

 

This could be external speakers, external monitors, or your Switch/ Router via Ethernet, which can put you at risk of getting hurt by Thunderstrike. Try to stay as wireless as possible.

 

Wirelessly cast audio to your speakers if possible, use WIFi and try to work with a single monitor, i.e., your laptop display, during Thunderstrike to avoid getting hurt or damaging your electronics.

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, using your laptop during a thunderstorm is generally safe if you take some precautions. As long as you follow these basic steps, you will be more than fine for the most part.

 

FAQs

Is it safe to use a computer during a lightning storm?

No, it’s not safe to use your laptop during a lightning storm as it’s quite possible that it could hurt you and your computer while you are using it.

Is it safe to watch a laptop during lightning?

Yes, watching content on your laptop during lightning is safe as long as you stay unplugged from the wall.

How can I protect my laptop from lightning?

Keep your laptop as wireless as possible, don’t plug in unnecessary peripherals, and stay away from anything plugged into the wall.

You might also wanna read…

Connect your Laptop with Ethernet to Internet (Detailed Guide)

Connect your Gaming Laptop to your TV with these simple steps!

Here’s how to fix your Laptop not connecting to WiFi