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Most “must-have laptop accessories” lists are padded with junk. These are the accessories that actually make a laptop more comfortable, more useful or longer-lasting, grouped by the problem they solve.
In this article
1. A laptop stand (fixes neck and back pain)
Looking down at a laptop screen for hours is the main cause of laptop-related neck strain. A stand raises the screen to eye level. Pair it with an external keyboard and mouse at a desk. A raised laptop also gets better airflow underneath, so it runs a little cooler.
Best value: Nulaxy adjustable laptop stand
Folds flat, adjusts height and angle, and holds laptops up to about 17 inches. It’s the one we’d buy for most desks and to carry in a bag.
Best simple aluminium stand: BESIGN LS03
Sturdy, open design that helps cooling. Fixed height, but it looks good and costs little.
Best premium desk stand: Rain Design mStand
A solid slab of aluminium that has been a desk favourite for over a decade. It doubles as a heat sink and has a cable-routing hole at the back.
Best for travel: Roost V3
Folds to the size of an umbrella, weighs about 6 oz, and raises the screen much higher than flat stands. Great for remote workers and hotel desks.
2. A proper mouse (fixes wrist strain and slow work)
Best overall: Logitech MX Master 4
Comfortable sculpted shape, a fast electromagnetic scroll wheel, a thumb wheel for side-scrolling spreadsheets and timelines, and pairing with up to three computers. Lasts weeks per charge.
Best for travel: Logitech MX Anywhere 3S
Most of the MX Master’s features in a pocketable size, and it tracks on glass.
Best budget: Logitech Pebble 2 (M350s)
Slim, silent clicks, Bluetooth and a battery that lasts about two years. It’s perfect for students and libraries.
3. Protection (most laptop damage happens in bags)
Best sleeve: tomtoc 360° Protective Sleeve
Reinforced corners protect against the drops that crack screens. Available sized for the 13-inch MacBook Air, 14-inch, and 15.6–16-inch laptops.
Best budget backpack: MATEIN Travel Laptop Backpack
A padded laptop compartment, a luggage trolley strap and a USB pass-through, with over 100,000 reviews. See how to carry a laptop safely in a backpack.
4. Cooling (gaming and heavy-use laptops)
Be realistic: a typical cooling pad lowers temperatures by a few degrees, and much of that benefit comes from simply raising the laptop. That still helps a gaming laptop hold higher clock speeds and keeps the keyboard more comfortable. For ultrabooks and MacBooks, a stand is usually enough.
Best budget cooling pad: KLIM Wind
Four fans, quiet operation and an adjustable angle. It’s an affordable, popular way to give a hot laptop more airflow.
Quiet alternative: havit HV-F2056
Three large, quiet fans, a mesh top and two height settings. Good for 15.6 to 17-inch laptops.
Best for gaming laptops: llano V12
A powerful turbo fan and a sealed foam gasket force air directly into the laptop’s intake vents. It’s far more effective than open fan pads, but also louder and pricier.
More ways to keep temperatures down: how to stop your laptop overheating.
5. Cleaning kit
Electric air duster: WOLFBOX MegaFlow 50
A rechargeable blower that replaces cans of compressed air. Use it to clear dust from vents and keyboards. Hold the fan still with a toothpick so it doesn’t over-spin.
Microfiber cloths: MagicFiber 6-pack
Safe on every screen, including OLED and Apple’s nano-texture glass (use Apple’s own cloth for that).
Screen cleaner: WHOOSH Screen Shine Go
Alcohol- and ammonia-free spray that won’t damage anti-glare coatings. Spray the cloth, not the screen.
Step-by-step guides: cleaning a laptop screen, cleaning a keyboard, and cleaning the fan without opening the laptop.
6. Power and ports
- A small GaN charger to replace the bulky original. See best laptop chargers and power banks.
- A USB-C hub for HDMI, USB-A and SD cards. See best USB-C hubs and docks.
- A portable SSD for backups and extra space. See best portable SSDs.
Accessories to skip
- Silicone keyboard covers trap heat and, on MacBooks, can crack the screen when the lid closes.
- Thick webcam covers on MacBooks have cracked displays for the same reason. Use the camera’s privacy light and macOS permissions instead, or a cover thinner than 0.1mm.
- Hard-shell snap-on cases trap dust and heat and scratch the finish over time. A sleeve protects better.
- “Battery calibration” or “RAM booster” apps. They don’t help modern laptops.
More accessory guides: webcams and microphones for video calls · laptop backpacks · monitors for MacBook Air
