Can You Bring Batteries on a Plane? TSA & FAA Rules

Battery Rules at a Glance

The table below summarises current FAA and TSA guidance for the batteries travellers most often ask about. “Spare” means a battery that is not installed in a device.

Step 1: Identify Your Battery Type

Every aviation battery rule starts with chemistry, so before you decide which bag a battery goes in, read the battery itself. Almost all consumer batteries are printed with what you need, usually in small type on the body of the cell, on the underside of a device, or on the label of a removable pack.

• Chemistry: look for “Li-ion”, “Lithium-ion”, “Li-Po”, “Lithium Metal”, “Alkaline”, “Ni-MH” or “NiCd”.
• Voltage (V): 1.2 V or 1.5 V usually means a dry cell; 3.6 V, 3.7 V, 7.2 V, 10.8 V and up usually mean lithium-ion.
• mAh: a charge rating. Useful, but it does not tell you the aviation category on its own.
• Wh: the watt-hour rating. This is the number FAA thresholds are written in — if it is printed, use it.
• Lithium content (g): printed on some non-rechargeable lithium metal cells.

Identifying the battery matters because two batteries that look nearly identical can be packed completely differently. A rechargeable AA NiMH cell can go in your checked bag; a rechargeable lithium-ion camera cell of similar size cannot. If the printing has worn off, check the manufacturer's spec page for the model number before you fly.

Installed Batteries vs Spare Batteries

This is the single distinction that causes the most confusion at the checkpoint and the bag drop. Aviation rules treat a battery sitting inside a device very differently from the same battery carried loose, because a loose battery can short against metal, and because a fire in the cabin can be dealt with while a fire in the cargo hold cannot.

Can You Bring AA and AAA Batteries on a Plane?

Yes. TSA's screening guidance permits ordinary dry-cell batteries — AA, AAA, C, D and 9V alkaline cells — in both carry-on and checked baggage, in quantities consistent with personal use. There is no watt-hour threshold to work out and no airline approval involved, and you do not need to declare them.

The only real requirement is short-circuit protection for loose cells. A pocket or packing cube full of bare batteries, coins and keys is exactly the situation the rule exists to prevent. Keep spares in the blister pack they came in, a hard plastic battery case, or an individual bag per cell.

Rechargeable AA and AAA cells are usually NiMH, which are also dry cells and follow the same permissive rule. Rechargeable lithium AA look-alikes (often sold with a USB-C port in the side) are lithium-ion, and follow the lithium rules further down.

A Note on 9V Batteries

9V batteries deserve one extra second of attention, not because TSA has a special rule for them, but because of their shape: both terminals sit side by side on the same end. That makes them the easiest household battery to short accidentally — a key, a coin or another 9V stacked on top can bridge the contacts and generate real heat.

FAA's general short-circuit guidance covers the fix: leave the battery in its original packaging, snap on the plastic terminal cap if it came with one, or place a strip of tape over the contacts. There is no quantity limit beyond personal use, and no restriction on packing them in checked bags.

Rechargeable Batteries

“Rechargeable” is not an aviation category — it describes how you use a battery, not what is inside it. Two rechargeable batteries can be governed by completely different rules.

• NiMH and NiCd (typical rechargeable AA/AAA, older cordless phone and tool packs): dry cells. Permitted in carry-on and checked baggage.
• Lithium-ion and lithium-polymer (phones, laptops, cameras, drones, e-bikes, power banks, modern tool packs): governed by the FAA lithium rules — spares are cabin-only and capacity can matter.

If your rechargeable battery says Li-ion, Li-Po or shows a voltage of 3.6 V or higher, read the lithium-ion section next. If it says Ni-MH or Ni-Cd at 1.2 V, treat it like an ordinary household battery.

Lithium-Ion Batteries

Lithium-ion is the chemistry behind nearly every rechargeable device you travel with. Under current FAA guidance it is also the chemistry with the strictest packing rules, because a lithium-ion cell in thermal runaway can reach very high temperatures and reignite after being extinguished.

Installed in a device

A device with its lithium-ion battery installed — laptop, phone, tablet, camera, speaker — is permitted in carry-on baggage. It may also be placed in checked baggage, but only if the device is completely powered off (not asleep), protected from accidental activation, and packed so it cannot be crushed or damaged. FAA recommends carrying these devices in the cabin whenever you can.

Carried as a spare

A spare lithium-ion battery — anything not installed in a device, including power banks — must travel in the cabin. There is no size at which a spare lithium battery becomes acceptable in checked baggage. Terminals must be protected against short circuit.

Why capacity matters

For spares, FAA thresholds are set in watt-hours:

• Up to 100 Wh: permitted in carry-on without airline approval. Covers nearly all phone, laptop, tablet, camera and consumer power bank batteries.
• 101–160 Wh: permitted in carry-on with airline approval, limited to two spare batteries per passenger. Common for pro video, drone and larger tool batteries.
• Above 160 Wh: not permitted in passenger baggage. It must move as cargo under hazardous-materials rules.

Where approval is required, request it from the airline in advance rather than at the gate — it is a carrier decision, not something the TSA officer can grant at the checkpoint.

Lithium Metal Batteries

Lithium metal batteries are the non-rechargeable cousins of lithium-ion: single-use cells you throw away rather than recharge. They turn up in watches, key fobs, medical devices, some cameras, and as long-life CR123A or lithium AA cells. Because they cannot be recharged, their limit is expressed in grams of lithium content rather than watt-hours.

• Consumer lithium metal batteries are limited to 2 grams of lithium content per battery. Ordinary coin cells and lithium AA cells are far below this.
• Spare lithium metal batteries, like spare lithium-ion, must be in carry-on and are prohibited in checked baggage.
• Larger lithium metal batteries — mostly medical and industrial — need airline approval and are handled case by case.

For practical purposes: if you are carrying a handful of coin cells or a couple of CR123As, you are inside the limits. Just keep them in packaging so they cannot short.

What Does Wh Mean on a Battery?

Wh stands for watt-hours — a measure of how much energy a battery stores. One watt-hour is enough to run a one-watt device for one hour. A typical phone battery is around 12–20 Wh, a laptop 40–99 Wh, and a large power bank can be 70–130 Wh.

Watt-hours matter because FAA lithium-ion thresholds are written in them: 100 Wh and 160 Wh. Energy, not physical size, is what determines how a lithium-ion spare is treated, so a compact but dense battery can be more restricted than a bulky, low-capacity one. On most lithium batteries the Wh rating is printed alongside the voltage.

mAh vs Wh

Most consumer batteries advertise mAh (milliamp-hours) because it is a bigger, friendlier number. But mAh alone does not determine how a battery is treated in aviation: it describes charge, and you need the voltage to turn it into energy.

Wh = (mAh × V) ÷ 1000

A 20,000 mAh power bank at 3.7 V is 74 Wh — comfortably under the 100 Wh threshold. The same 20,000 mAh figure quoted at a higher pack voltage would be a different number entirely, which is why two “20,000 mAh” products are not necessarily equivalent. For the full breakdown and a calculator, see the power bank capacity guide.

Laptop Batteries

A laptop with its battery installed belongs in your carry-on — you will usually need to remove it from the bag at screening anyway, and FAA prefers lithium devices in the cabin. If a laptop does end up in a checked bag, it must be completely powered off and protected against crushing and accidental start-up.

A spare or replacement laptop battery is a different matter: it is a spare lithium-ion battery, so it must be in your carry-on with protected terminals, even if it shipped with the machine. Most laptop batteries fall between 40 and 99 Wh, which keeps them under the approval threshold — but check the label on high-capacity workstation batteries. Full details in our laptop on a plane guide.

Camera Batteries

Photographers travel with more spare batteries than almost anyone else, and every one of those spares belongs in the cabin. Mirrorless and DSLR batteries are typically 7–25 Wh, so quantity is governed by personal use rather than the 100 Wh threshold; keep each spare in its plastic cover or a battery wallet so the contacts stay isolated. Large cine and V-mount batteries are the exception — those can exceed 100 Wh and need airline approval. See the camera on a plane guide for gear-specific screening advice.

Gaming Consoles & Controller Batteries

Handhelds like the Switch or Steam Deck have installed lithium-ion batteries, so they travel exactly like a tablet: cabin preferred, powered fully off if checked. Controllers vary — some use built-in lithium packs, others use AA cells, and the AA versions are the least restricted things in your bag. Any spare battery pack or charging dock with an internal cell counts as a spare lithium battery and must be carried on. More in the gaming console guide.

Power Banks Are Batteries Too

A power bank is not an accessory — it is a lithium-ion battery in a plastic shell, and aviation rules treat it as a spare battery no matter how you think of it. That means carry-on only, never checked, and a capacity rating that can matter. A growing number of airlines have also added in-flight restrictions on using or charging them.

Battery vs Charger: Important Difference

A wall charger or charging brick with no internal cell is not a battery. It converts mains power and stores nothing, so it carries none of the lithium restrictions: it can go in carry-on or checked baggage freely, along with your cables.

The confusion comes from hybrid products — chargers with a built-in battery, travel adapters with a power bank inside, and charging cases. The moment a product stores charge, it is a spare lithium battery and must be carried on. If you are unsure, look for an mAh or Wh rating on the housing: chargers do not have one. See the chargers on a plane guide.

Batteries in Carry-On Baggage

Carry-on is the correct answer for almost every battery, and the only permitted answer for some. TSA's screening guidance allows dry-cell and lithium batteries through the checkpoint; FAA rules require spare lithium batteries to be there.

• Dry cells (AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, NiMH): allowed, personal-use quantities, terminals protected.
• Devices with installed lithium batteries: allowed; larger electronics may need to come out of the bag at screening.
• Spare lithium-ion up to 100 Wh: allowed, no approval needed, terminals protected.
• Spare lithium-ion 101–160 Wh: allowed with airline approval only, maximum two.
• Power banks: allowed, and this is the only place they can go.
• Damaged or recalled lithium batteries: not allowed anywhere on the aircraft.

Keep spares somewhere you can reach — if an officer wants to see a battery label, digging through a packed bag at the checkpoint is the slow way to do it.

Can Batteries Go in Checked Luggage?

Some can, some cannot — and the blanket answers you see online are wrong in both directions. Here is the actual breakdown under current FAA guidance:

The logic behind the split is simple: the cabin is crewed and the cargo hold is not. An installed battery in a switched-off device is a contained, low-probability risk; a loose battery that can short against the zip of the bag next to it is not.

What If Your Carry-On Is Gate Checked?

On full flights and smaller aircraft, cabin bags are routinely taken at the gate and placed in the hold. When that happens, your carry-on becomes checked baggage — and anything in it that cannot legally be checked has to come out first.

• Before handing the bag over, remove power banks, spare lithium batteries and loose camera or laptop batteries and keep them with you.
• Pack them somewhere accessible in the first place — an outside pocket beats unpacking in the jet bridge.
• If you are unsure what is allowed to stay in the bag, tell the gate agent it contains lithium batteries and follow the crew's instructions.
• Procedures vary by airline and aircraft; the crew's direction on the day takes precedence.

How to Pack Spare Batteries Safely

FAA guidance on spare batteries centres on one thing: preventing short circuits. A spare battery must be protected so its terminals cannot touch metal or another battery. Any of the following satisfies that:

• Leave the battery in its original retail packaging.
• Place each battery in a separate plastic bag or protective pouch.
• Use a hard plastic battery case or the plastic terminal cover supplied with camera batteries.
• Tape over the exposed terminals with electrical or gaffer tape.

Beyond terminal protection: keep spares away from keys, coins and loose metal, do not stack bare cells against each other, and do not pack a spare where it will be compressed. Original packaging is a convenient way to meet the requirement, but it is not mandatory — a case or tape is equally acceptable.

How Many Batteries Can You Bring?

There is no single number that covers all batteries. Quantity depends on chemistry, capacity and the airline:

• Dry cells: quantities consistent with personal use. A pack of AAs for your gear is fine; a case of them for resale is not.
• Spare lithium-ion up to 100 Wh: also personal-use quantities. Photographers and drone pilots regularly carry several without issue, though airlines may set their own cap.
• Spare lithium-ion 101–160 Wh: a hard limit of two spares per passenger, with airline approval.
• Above 160 Wh: zero — these cannot travel in passenger baggage.

Batteries carried for commercial resale or distribution fall outside personal-use allowances entirely and are handled as regulated cargo.

Battery Rules on International Flights

The core lithium limits come from international dangerous-goods standards, so the 100 Wh and 160 Wh thresholds are recognised widely — but the rules you meet on a given flight come from four separate bodies, and only two of them are American.

Do not assume the U.S. answer travels with you. Several Asian and Middle Eastern carriers have introduced their own power bank rules, including bans on using or charging them in flight and requirements to keep them visible rather than in the overhead bin. Check each carrier on a multi-leg itinerary, not just the one you booked through.

Check Your Battery Before Flying

Common Battery Packing Mistakes

• Assuming every battery follows the same rule. AA cells and spare lithium packs are governed differently — chemistry comes first.
• Confusing installed and spare. The camera can be checked; the second battery for it cannot.
• Packing spare lithium batteries in the hold. Prohibited at any capacity, and the most common reason a bag gets pulled.
• Putting a power bank in the wrong bag. It is a spare battery, not an accessory.
• Ignoring Wh capacity. Large tool, drone and cine batteries cross the 100 Wh line more often than people expect.
• Looking only at mAh. Without the voltage, mAh does not tell you which FAA band you are in.
• Leaving spare terminals exposed. Loose cells with keys and coins are exactly the short-circuit scenario the rule targets.
• Travelling with a swollen or damaged battery. Forbidden in both bags — replace or recycle it before the trip.
• Forgetting batteries when a carry-on is gate checked. Pull the power bank and spares out before you hand the bag over.
• Assuming TSA rules apply worldwide. Foreign authorities and individual carriers can be stricter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where This Guide Fits