Why Is My Laptop Overheating?

Chris Campbell16 Feb 2022

You're working on your laptop when it unexpectedly begins to heat up, slow down, and possibly stall. Is your laptop getting too hot? We've all been in that situation. When running numerous apps at once, laptops can become overheated and incur long-term damages. And, with many working or studying on laptops, it's more crucial than ever to ensure your computer is performing at peak performance and is safe from harm.

Why Is My Laptop So Hot?

Nearly every single laptop owner has faced this - you're working on your laptop when your palms start to feel it's getting hot. Contrary to popular belief, a heated laptop does not always indicate a serious problem. A typical laptop will get warm while being used, and most laptops will work quite well in temperatures as high as 95 degrees. Overheating protection is built into many modern computers. That is, they will shut down before they reach a harmful temperature.

A heated laptop that is having issues cooling down, on the other hand, might be difficult to detect at first. Because there are several causes for your laptop to feel hot, you might have to attempt a few different diagnostic steps before you discover the culprit.

Here are ways to find out if you're laptop is overheated:

  • Clean your laptop thoroughly. Fans and vents may collect a large amount of dust, and a dusty fan will have a hard time effectively cooling down your CPU.
  • Assess the temperature of the environment in which your laptop is located. If you leave your laptop in a car on a hot day, it will most likely start acting up.
  • Close any apps that you aren't using. If the fan on your laptop is going on more frequently, or the laptop fan is always very loud, consider closing all and any heavy apps that you are not actively using.

How To Stop a Laptop From Overheating

Your laptop fits a lot of computing power and memory into a tiny package. That productivity and efficiency have a cost - excessive heat. Overheating is the most dangerous hazard to your laptop. It has the potential to cause hardware failure and irreparable harm.

Overheating will eventually destroy your laptop. This is how to cool it down and keep it from overheating:

  • Repair the interior cooling system. When your laptop overheats, the first and most crucial thing you should do is to clean the fans which cool the CPU and graphics card.
  • Place your laptop on a hard, flat surface. If your laptop's input grills are located at the bottom, an uneven surface such as a couch or your lap will restrict airflow. As a result, cooling is compromised, heat accumulates, the surface becomes heated, the inner temperature rises, and the laptop ultimately overheats. This situation can readily be avoided by keeping the laptop on a solid and flat surface. You may use something as basic as a table, or you can get a specialized holder or stand.
  • Make use of a laptop cooler. Laptop coolers are designed to give extra cooling. Choosing the incorrect cooler, on the other hand, might exacerbate the situation. Before selecting a cooler, you should be aware of the ventilation into and out of your laptop. Most laptops draw cooling air in from the bottom. This sounds reasonable since hot air rises. A cooler that rests beneath the laptop and sucks air away from it, on the other hand, does not help cool a laptop but instead increases overheating.

How To Fix Overheating Laptop Without Taking It Apart

It's pretty uncommon for laptops to overheat at the bottom. This is understandable,  a computer operates at full capacity 24/7.  Laptops, like us, become exhausted after many hours of work. When numerous operations are done consecutively and rapidly on a laptop, the internal components are prone to overheat. Even if you first disregard this issue, it is critical to understand that continuous bouts of overheating can severely damage your laptop.

Here's how to fix an overheated laptop without disassembling it:

  • Switch it off. Instead of setting your laptop to sleep, you should shut it off. Most end up hibernating laptops rather than properly turning them off. Regrettably, this severely degrades your laptop's cooling efficiency over time. As a consequence, your laptop will get overheated.
  • Place your laptop on a flat surface at all times. Before you curl up in bed to binge movies or series on your laptop, bear in mind that softer surfaces might cause your laptop to overheat. The vents on most laptops are located at the bottom. When you set your laptop on a soft surface, the air flow is disrupted, resulting in overheating. As a result, it's advisable to keep your laptop on a level surface. You may try utilizing a neighboring desk. There are also holders and stands to choose from.
  • Clean up your laptop. When your laptop begins to overheat, a basic troubleshooting step is to clean the fan. You can use cotton swabs or alcohol wipes. Just be sure to press out any extra liquid so that it's moist but not soaked.
  • Get a cooling pad. Cooling systems are often positioned on the bottom surface of laptops. A cooling pad is something you put under your laptop to keep the fan cool.
  • Make use of a compressed air canister. This is a useful tool for cleaning and cooling your laptop without disassembling it. Simply shake the container and blast air into the vents on your laptop.

How Hot Is Too Hot for a Laptop?

Generally, temperatures up to 70 degrees Celsius are OK, but if the temperature rises over that, you may experience issues. Depending on the laptop model, your CPU and GPU will often begin throttling between 90 and 105 degrees Celsius. Temperatures that dip into the negatives or climb over 110 degrees Celsius are also incorrect. This indicates that your laptop's heat sensor is either damaged or that the application does not support it.

Why Does My Laptop Get So Hot When Playing Games?

Gaming laptops become so hot since they actually contain high-performance CPUs and specialized graphics cards, both of which create a huge amount of heat when used. Because these components are jammed into such a compact chassis, ventilation is hindered, causing heat to build up within the laptop.

Why Is My Laptop Overheating: Mac?

MacBooks can overheat due to both software and hardware problems. While older Mac computers tend to overheat more frequently, even the most recent MacBook models will overheat when memory-intensive operations overwhelm the CPU or if the internal fans fail.

Don't dismiss it if you've noticed your laptop becoming hotter and slower than normal. It could be that your laptop is overheated.  If you don't handle it right away, you risk significant hardware failure and permanently damage your laptop.

Chris Campbell

Chris Campbell

Thanks for reading! I'm Chris, an avid tech fanatic that enjoys keeping up with the latest laptop models. Hopefully my tips & tricks can help you out!

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