The Best Laptop Backpacks for Work, Travel, and Every little thing Between (2026)

Though I’ve been working from house for the previous 15 years, each freelance and full-time, this typically means needing to be out there 24/7, so I sometimes carry my laptop computer all over the place I am going—together with sports activities practices, day journeys, and holidays.

I’ve used many laptop computer backpacks on this time, and the dividing line between a piece backpack that’s comfy and matches seamlessly into your day by day routine and one which’s aggravating at each flip is a high-quality one. If you’ve obtained restricted closet area, it additionally helps if the backpack can pull double obligation and be used for journey and/or mountaineering. The backpacks beneath are ones both I or one other WIRED reviewer have used extensively in actual life, taking over planes, mountaineering trails, holidays, and work journeys.

For extra bag and backpack suggestions, Bag Check options WIRED staffers’ favourite totes, sleeves, and packs. For extra transportable gear, try our guides to the Best Wireless Chargers, Best Bluetooth Trackers, and Best Travel Adapters.

Updated September 2026: I’ve added the Paramount Daypack Lite 20L and the Navigator Backpack to my fundamental picks. I’ve additionally included the Eagle Creek Tour Lite Travel Pack, North Face Base Camp Voyager Pro, Bagsmart Moss Backpack, Brown Buffalo Conceal Pack, and GoRuck G1 to our honorable mentions record.

Featured Products

Best Value

Everlane ReNew Transit Backpack

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Best for Commuting

Thule Paramount Daypack Lite 20L

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Best Minimalist

Troubadour Apex Backpack 4.0

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Best Laptop Bag

Everlane

ReNew Transit Backpack

I took this backpack on a weeklong work journey, the place I bitched about it endlessly to everybody who would pay attention. However, I need to pretty and objectively conclude that this bag affords large worth for the cash. It’s a lightweight, enticing, rucksack-style backpack that is modern and understated sufficient for work, and it is beneath $120. The 27-liter capability accommodated sufficient gear for a full day’s price of journey, from a shawl for the aircraft to a water bottle, snacks, and different in-flight accouterments. It has a slim profile and lies near your again, so it isn’t exhausting to hold and will not swing into folks on the subway. The pockets are very minimal—simply an exterior laptop computer pocket, an inside pill sleeve, an inside zip pocket, and two giant catch-all pockets—however they work in case you already put your belongings in pouches anyway.

Certain design components simply felt low-cost. I did not just like the curved zipper that offers you entry to the principle compartment—zippers that do not run straight are doomed to get caught. One of the catch-all pockets is annoyingly situated on the duvet flap, the place something inside will flap and bang round. The baggage pass-through is a naked piece of webbing. However, all of it works: it is mild, inexpensive, and appears good. The cloth can also be water resistant, so you’ll be able to put on it within the rain! For most individuals, that is all that actually issues. —Adrienne So

Best Laptop Bag for Commuting

Thule’s latest addition to its already solid backpack lineup was made particularly for schlepping gear to and from work each day, and it reveals. The silhouette is modern and aerodynamic, making it appropriate for bike commuting (there’s even a loop on the entrance to connect a motorbike mild), and it is simply sufficiently big for a laptop computer, a number of notebooks, and possibly a jacket with out feeling too massive or cumbersome. The water bottle holder on the aspect is stretchy for a wide range of sizes.

I additionally love the quantity of group inside for smaller issues like pens and notebooks (the flap folds down for entry to the inside, too, so you’ll be able to entry this stuff subsequent to your desk), in addition to the hidden but simply accessible small pocket beneath the flap for pockets, keys, and telephone. It’s not the roomiest pack, so you are not carrying fitness center gear on this or taking it on an in a single day journey, however in case you’re simply going to and from the workplace with fundamentals and a laptop computer, that is essentially the most well-engineered choice I’ve tried.