The EliteBook 840 G3 is the high-water mark of HP business laptop repairability. iFixit gave it a 10/10 repairability score — every meaningful component is field-replaceable with hand tools, and the battery is accessible behind two captive screws and a pull tab. Later generations are still serviceable (the 840 G7 battery, for example, comes out after removing the bottom cover and four 4.5mm screws), but the G3 was the easiest by a meaningful margin.
If you've landed here, you almost certainly need to crack one open. The procedures below are sequenced the way you'd actually do them — battery first because everything else needs the battery removed, then the components in the order they're stacked.
Before you start
Power down. Unplug. Disconnect any external devices. Flip the laptop upside down on a soft surface (not glass — these have rubber feet that grip glass and you'll strip a screw). You'll need a Phillips #00 driver and a plastic pry tool or guitar pick.
The bottom cover is held on by: - 10 rubber plugs along the edges, each hiding a Phillips screw underneath - An SD card blank in the slot (on SKUs that have one) — pop it out - A row of clips along the seam — no glue, just pressure
Lift along the back edge first. The front clips are the directional ones: when you reassemble, press the front edge in flat, then work toward the back. Reverse that order and the front clips bend.
Battery
The battery sits in the center of the chassis. Release the latch (one finger, sliding mechanism), lift it out, drop the new one in, latch. That's it.
Soft-reset before you boot: with the battery removed and AC unplugged, hold the power button for 15 seconds. This drains residual capacitor charge and resolves "won't power on after a battery swap" cases. The manual mentions this. Most people skip it.
Calibration, after the new battery: charge to 100%, run on battery to 5%, charge back to 100%. Skip this and you'll see the battery percentage jump erratically for weeks until the BIOS gauge catches up.
Source: page 40 of the maintenance manual
RAM
Two SO-DIMM slots, exposed once the bottom is off. They're DDR4. Maximum 16GB per slot, 32GB total.
Push the retaining tabs outward on either side of the existing module. It pops up at about 30°. Pull straight out at that angle. Insert the new module the same way, push down until it clicks flat.
If you're upgrading both slots, do it as a matched pair (same speed, same capacity, same vendor if possible). Mismatched modules will boot, but the BIOS drops to the speed of the slower one.
SSD
The M.2 slot is on the system board, not in the 2.5" bay. Some SKUs have both: M.2 boots, 2.5" SATA is bulk storage.
For the M.2: loosen the single retaining screw on the far end of the slot. The drive lifts at 30°. Pull it out at the same angle. Slide the new drive in at the same angle, push down, screw it back. The 840 G3's M.2 slot is sized for the standard 2280 (80mm) form factor — the screw mount is at the 80mm position. Shorter drives (2230, 2242) connect electrically but have nowhere to anchor, so 2280 is what to buy.
If your new SSD doesn't show up after install, three things to check before assuming the drive is bad: BIOS version (some older BIOS revisions don't recognize newer NVMe controllers — update via USB before installing the drive), Secure Boot setting (temporarily disable to test), and that you actually used a 2280 drive.
WLAN / WWAN modules
Both are mini-card modules on the system board, both replaceable independently. WLAN is your Wi-Fi/Bluetooth (combo card on most SKUs). WWAN is the cellular modem — only present if you ordered an LTE-enabled SKU.
Each card has antenna cables that clip on and off. Before you disconnect them, note which color cable goes to which terminal. Standard convention is black to MAIN and white to AUX, but verify before pulling. Reverse the antennas on reassembly and the radio will work but with a 5-10 dB hit, which on edge-of-coverage cellular is the difference between getting data and not.
A single screw releases each card.
When you're done
Reverse the order. Bottom cover front-edge first. Reinsert the rubber plugs (they're not interchangeable — try to put each back where it came from since the screw lengths vary). Battery in last.
Boot it. If something's wrong, the soft-reset (15 seconds with battery and AC out) is the first move, not the second. Then check Device Manager for whichever component you swapped.
When the issue isn't a part
Mid-life EliteBook 840 G3 system boards do fail. If a freshly-installed component (RAM, SSD) isn't detected after a BIOS update and re-seat, the system board is the suspect, not the part. HP Support can look up the part number for your specific SKU.
https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/details/hp-elitebook-840-g3-notebook-pc
Other models in the line
- EliteBook 850 G3 — 15.6-inch sibling, identical service procedures
- EliteBook 820 G3 — 12.5-inch compact variant
- EliteBook 840 G1 — older generation, similar service profile
- ProBook 450 G5 — newer ProBook line if EliteBook is overspec for the workload