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Sure, we all know what wardrobe essentials for work professional women are supposed to have in their closets, but if you’re buying one for the first time or replacing one you’ve worn into the ground, it can be a pain to find exactly the right incarnation in stores. In “The Hunt,” we search the stores for a basic item that every woman should have.
Which are the best laptop bags for work, readers — which ones have the pockets you need, the weight (or lack thereof) that you like, and generally looks great on your commute?
Do you prefer to have a laptop sleeve within a larger tote bag, or a laptop bag by itself? How big is your computer — and how important is padding to you? (Or – do you prefer a laptop backpack, either for ergonomics, a biking commute, or other reasons?)
In the past, we've shared 6 tips for buying a new laptop, as well as rounded up the best laptop accessories for working from home.
{related: tote or backpack? readers discuss}
Readers, what do you look for in a laptop bag? Which are the best laptop totes in 2024?
Our Latest Favorite Stylish Laptop Sleeves
As we've noted in the past, a great way to save money is to buy a separate laptop sleeve to protect your laptop — and then you can move it from bag to bag at will!
As of 2024, Society 6 is always a great spot to look for colorful, artistic laptop sleeves, but Amazon Basics has a no-frills one for $11. (You can also find laptop sleeves with pockets, or get a totally no-frills laptop case with interior pockets (which may or may not work with your packing system for travel).) You also may want a leather document and laptop holder like these options from Leatherology and Cuyana.
The Best Laptop Totes of All Time – Reader Favorites!
A Closer Look at Some of the Best Laptop Totes
Quince Revive Nylon Tote
If you're hunting for a really lightweight laptop bag, this nylon tote from Quince is getting great reviews, and it has a laptop sleeve. It doesn't have a top zipper, which isn't ideal especially for laptop totes — but otherwise I like the recycled leather trim, as well as the external slip pockets. It looks perfect!
The bag is selling for $89.90, and currently comes in five colors.
Lo & Sons Seville Laptop Tote
This one is not the most affordable, but it's one of the all-time reader favorites — many women who have Big Jobs (partner, CEO, etc) say they prefer this bag to the many other, more expensive bags they could get.
It is, of course, the Lo & Sons Seville tote. It's designed to carry a 15″ and 13″ laptop — you can purchase separate interchangeable options for exterior shells (so you can change your bag from nylon to leather, from black to blue, as the mood strikes). The tote comes with a “Soft Touch Travel Shell” that's lightweight, water-resistant, and attaches to your suitcase handle. Nice.
The base tote is $578; additional shells are $220-$240.
(All of their bags have thoughtful designs like this – the O.G. is another bag that has a nice laptop sleeve; they also have some backpacks.)
Tumi Valetta Laptop Bag
Tumi is always another reader favorite. They have a ton of cute laptop backpacks — if you're definitely in the market for a tote, I like the Valetta. It's made of nylon so it's lightweight. It has a padded compartment that fits most 15″ laptops, as well as a travel sleeve.
Interestingly, “the bag includes Tumi Tracer®, an exclusive, complimentary program that helps reunite lost or stolen bags with their rightful owners using a one-of-a-kind 20-digit number affixed to the bag.” Huh!
It's $478 at Nordstrom (black and gold) and Tumi (black & gold, black & silver, lavender, and a light gray).
Cuyana System Tote with Laptop Sleeve Insert
Cuyana totes are another big reader favorite. They sell a laptop sleeve separately (for both 13″ and 16″ laptops); it is intended to go in their System Tote system, which has lots of snaps for you to add and subtract pockets as you'd like.
The big drawback here is that there is no top zipper, and it has no trolley sleeve to attach to a rolling suitcase. Their Easy Tote does have a top zipper (or, at least, an option for one) — you could just use the Cuyana laptop sleeve, or another laptop sleeve.
The Cuyana laptop sleeve is $98; the System Tote is $278-$298.
BÉIS The Large Work Tote
We featured this BÉIS tote recently – it's a bestseller at Revolve. It has a padded laptop sleeve pocket with velcro closure, and at 16.75″ wide it should fit most laptops. The bag does have a detachable shoulder strap, as well as a travel sleeve to fit over a rolling bag. It's only $138!
Other bags in this price range include the Knomo laptop bags (old reader favorites that are increasingly harder to find — they do seem to have more backpacks in stock right now) and this very structured CLUCI leather briefcase at Amazon ($160).
CALPAK Haven Tote
There aren't a ton of color options here, are there? CALPAK doesn't have a huge amount of options, but it does have a baby pink in their “classic” collection — the dark green bag pictured is in their limited collection; they also have a baby blue.
These bags are a bit boxier than some of the others, but I like that they do have a travel sleeve. The bag itself does not zip closed, but the removable laptop sleeve does have a zipper along the top.
The Haven tote is $178.
Tory Burch Perry Triple Compartment Tote
Tory Burch totes are another perennial best-selling favorite. At 14″ wide, it can fit a 13″ laptop comfortably. (It isn't padded, but it is the middle compartment in the tote so your laptop should be protected. The bag also comes in a variety of colorways, which is nice.
The pictured tote is $478 at Zappos, Nordstrom, Tory Burch, and other spots. Note that the popular and super lightweight Ella tote is also big enough to fit a laptop (but does not have a separate compartment, so a laptop sleeve would definitely help!).
Also in this price range and similar: the structured leather Jemma Tote ($578), or the Kaai tote ($795+) we just featured in our roundup of luxury work bags. Another option I've been getting social media ads for: Code Republic, around $790.
Readers, what do you look for in a laptop bag? Which are the best laptop totes in 2024?
Like this feature? Check out other recent installments!
work bags what remains =
2024 post with many redirections: best work bags for women
stylish-professional-satchels — turn into purse post?
stylish-work-bags — jean's
(best work totes – redirected ATM but are work totes different than work bags?)
best-laptop-totes – winner for laptop bags (added sleeves)
best-work-bags – winner for INTERVIEW bags (URL sucks but hopefully targeted enough otherwise? make new URL?)
best-work-backpacks – winner for backpacks
briefcases post
