A vehicle control device is mounted on a vehicle and the vehicle includes an engine and a battery. The battery can be charged by an amount of electric power generated by an alternator that is driven by power from the engine. The vehicle control device includes an electrical control unit. The electrical control unit is configured to; (i) perform idling stop, (ii) detect a state of charge of the battery, (iii) set a capacity for idling stop that is predicted to be used in a stop and start period between stop and restart of the engine, during stop control, within an usable SOC range of the battery while the vehicle is running, and (iv) control the amount of electric power to prevent a remaining capacity in the usable SOC range corresponded to the state of charge from falling below the capacity for idling stop while the vehicle is running.