The charger buzzes, hisses or whines
Why does my laptop charger make a buzzing sound?
Written by The CommonFixes team · fact checked by CommonFixes review desk
Last updated
Short answer
Power supplies contain coils and capacitors that vibrate at the frequency they are switching at. A faint whine that changes with load is called coil whine and is usually harmless. A loud crackle, a burning smell, heat you cannot hold, or visible marks are different and mean stop. The quickest thing to try first: decide first whether it is safe — Unplug immediately if you notice a burning smell, scorch marks, a cracked case, exposed wire, or a brick too hot to hold for five seconds. Any of those means retire the charger now. Most people are done in about 15 minutes.
Full walkthrough below: 6 steps for Windows and Mac, rated careful.
Sounds like this
- •A high pitched whine from the power brick
- •Buzzing that changes as the laptop works harder
- •It is louder on some sockets than others
Why it happens
Power supplies contain coils and capacitors that vibrate at the frequency they are switching at. A faint whine that changes with load is called coil whine and is usually harmless. A loud crackle, a burning smell, heat you cannot hold, or visible marks are different and mean stop.
Work through these in order
0% done- 1
Decide first whether it is safe
Unplug immediately if you notice a burning smell, scorch marks, a cracked case, exposed wire, or a brick too hot to hold for five seconds. Any of those means retire the charger now.
- 2
Locate the noise precisely
With the laptop off, plug the charger into the wall without connecting it to the laptop. Noise with no load usually points at the brick; noise only under load is normal coil whine reacting to demand.
- 3
Change socket and remove the extension lead
Plug straight into a wall socket rather than a surge strip or extension. Poor mains quality and shared strips make coil whine markedly worse.
- 4
Check the earth connection
If your charger uses a three pin cable, use it rather than the two pin adapter. A missing earth causes a buzz and a slight tingle on the metal chassis, and swapping back to the earthed lead stops it.
- 5
Reduce sudden load swings
Set Settings, System, Power and battery, Power mode to Balanced, and cap the frame rate in games. Whine tracks rapid changes in current draw, so smoothing the load quietens it.
- 6
Replace with a genuine or reputable charger
If it is a cheap third party unit, replace it with the manufacturer's own or a well known brand at the same wattage and connector. Poorly filtered chargers both whine and deliver unstable power.
If none of that worked
A charger under warranty that buzzes loudly is a valid warranty claim; makers replace them routinely. Never open a power brick, since it holds a dangerous charge even when unplugged.
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Who wrote this and how we checked it
The CommonFixes team
Writer and researcher
We are a small group of people who spend our days repairing laptops and desktops for family, friends and small offices. Every guide here starts with a problem someone actually brought to us, and we only write down the steps that put the machine right.
- Everyday repairs
- Windows and Mac
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CommonFixes review desk
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Before a guide goes live, a second person walks through it on a real machine and checks each instruction against the maker's own support pages. Anything we cannot confirm is removed rather than guessed at.
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This guide was last updated on 10 August 2026. If a step no longer matches what you see on screen, tell us on the contact page and we will test it again.
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