Last Updated on May 3, 2020 by kavin

If your Laptop is heating while using it on heavy applications, then you are at the right place. Here I will discuss “How to fix overheating laptop“.

Laptops have turned out to be more influential and compact than ever before. As CPU performance is increasing day by day due to the increase in the number of transistors inside the CPU unit heating problem also arises.

As these CPUs are designed for higher graphics and performance, these draw more power and thus generate heat. If your Laptop overheats then it is a greater threat for your machine, other than your tea.

This can cause a hardware disaster and permanent loss.  In this article, we are exploring the causes of the laptop overheating along with its remedies i.e. “How to fix overheating laptop” so that the performance of your machine is optimized. Overheating is a very common issue in almost all types of laptops. Solutions discussed here are easy to carry while some will be hard for beginners.

Symptoms of Laptop Overheating

While working on your laptop, the sudden freezing of your laptop screen is a symptom of Overheating. Delay in copying or moving of file, a blue or Black screen appearance with a lot of writing on it can also be a good guess. Your windows do not start or the windows start but the screen does not respond. When performing a task it takes more time to complete.

Windows restart repeatedly and display an error message on each restart. When playing a game and it suddenly stops is also assigned to overheating. Some overheating signs can also be detected from the spinning of laptop fans at higher speed and a blow of very hot air from laptop exhaust. The viruses and malware can also cause overheating of your laptop. Other reasons can be, corrupted or unlicensed operating systems.

In most of the cases, overheating can damage our systems if a proper corrective action on the cooling system is not taken into account or you don’t know “How to fix overheating laptop“. The major issue of overheating is inadequate air ventilation and airflow through the motherboard of our laptop or computer. There are many ways for proper cooling of the laptop.

How to find if the Laptop is overheating?

The easiest method to find whether your laptop or PC is overheating or not is to observe the laptop exhaust heat. However, the warm blowing air from the exhaust or warm laptop case doesn’t mean that it is overheating.

Another positive sign of laptop overheating is when its cooling fan is running at extreme speeds. In most cases of laptop overheating you will observe the fan working harder than normal and spinning faster for longer periods making loud noises, which can sound like clicking, whirring or beeping originating from the fan. The laptop fan is trying to spin much faster and faster to exhaust the heat.

Sometimes the windows updates or updated drivers are the cause of CPU fan madness, thus it is important to first investigate the problem. While running just random applications, if errors or warnings are displayed, it can be a cause of overheating, if you observe crashing or broken screen lines it is then due to Overheated or loose video/Graphics Card.

To confirm the overheating of the laptop we use the two sensors installed on the CPU/ GPU inside the fan, which is temperature sensor and hall sensor respectively. The temperature sensors are installed on various Laptop components like CPU, GPU, RAMS, and Hard drives which collects the temperature information.

The Hall sensor is a magnetic field detection sensor which is used to find the Laptop fan revolutions per minute. The CPU and GPU sensors can be accessed from the Computer BIOS/EFI settings. Windows software such as Realtemp, core temp, etc can be used to find the temperature of various components that is basically free to use the software. If you want to find more detailed data from your laptop sensors you can install SpeedFan for that.

To check if your Laptop is overheating or not, run a heavy application on your laptop and notice the temperature from above-discussed solutions, you can easily point out the affected component that is generating heat. As every CPU/GPU has its own specifications and optimal operation temperature, find your CPU/GPU specification at the CPU world and compare it to your obtained results. The nominal operation temperature considered for CPUs is 35C.

A reduction in performance can also be observed as a result of over-heating because the laptop reduces its clock speed to consume less power and generate less heat. The computer hardware is designed in such a way that it will initiate a sudden shutdown when the Laptop reaches a specific higher temperature or such software can be installed which automatically turns off the laptop when a higher temperature is reached.

What causes The Overheating Problem?

The main cause of Overheating is the insufficient cooling of the laptop. Other potential reasons are dust in the intake air vents blocking the proper flow. Also in many cases jammed or broken fans are the reason for overheating. A degenerated thermal paste is one reason for laptop overheating. The thermal grease is used between the processor and heat sink to transfer heat. In some cases, the thermal paste is degraded by dust with time or removed by the user unknowingly.

Let’s go step by step and see “how to fix overheating Laptop” you can deal with an overheating laptop with six simple and easy ways to keep your laptop from overheating. You can perform all the fixes by yourself, though some of the fixes may not be an easy job. In this article, our main concern will principally be laptops overheating fixes, but several of the identical fixes can be applied to desktop computers, as well. Also as always, before you start messing around with hardware—especially anything involving disassembly — take the time to back up your PC first.

      1-       Reduce the Workload

A simple solution to fix the overheating Laptop is to reduce the workload of your laptop. First of all, go to the task manager and remove the auto startup application that you are not using often. Always close the internet browsers when not using them. When playing a game reduce the resolution to a point that is not harder to be handled by CPU/GPU.

Always close those applications which you are not working on. Overheating in your laptop may be an effect of intense processes.  You can avoid overheating of your laptops by avoiding processes in which the CPU is required to work hard like flash players. Flash player can be used only when it is required thus relaxing the processor which ultimately helps out the system to remain cool.

Also, the software can be used to avoid intense overheating. One can reduce the screen brightness or reduce the CPU clock speed to resolve the overheating problem. In a Windows operated machine, under-clocking or under-voting is done in the BIOS. There are some software tools available to reduce the clock speed of your machine.

Furthermore, you can reduce the workload of your laptop by disconnecting all the unnecessary hardware like printer scanner and mobile charging from your laptop. Your laptop gets heated if you connect too many devices via wire or a USB cable. I’d recommend adding wireless devices that will not overburden your laptop as compared to the wired configuration. Almost any external device comes with a wireless model. These wireless models are generally pretty cheap like you can get a wireless printer under $100. 

     2-        Give a Full PC SCAN to your laptop

Malware, spy wares, and viruses can be potential candidates for CPU Overheating. These malicious software use computer resources without your knowledge, occupying your processor time, RAM and Hard Drive, generating delays and drawing out more power. To remove these you can use your Windows defender and run a complete computer scan to remove any malicious software. Other antivirus software available free can be used to remove this malicious software.

      3-       Plug charger when using games.

If you are using high graphics games of applications without plugging the laptop charger, this could be a potential reason for overheating Laptops. This is because when playing games those with higher graphics draw more power from the battery. This is due to the low specification of the battery which is unable to deliver that much power. To overcome this issue, connect laptop chargers when playing high spec games. Thus you can fix overheating Laptop easily.

      4-       Check if the laptop fan is working.

One of the main reasons for overheating Laptop is the malfunction of Fan. First of all, you have to confirm that the laptop fan is working, to do so turn on your laptop and listen to its fan spinning sound, or feel the blowing air from its exhaust. If there is no blowing air from its exhaust your laptop fan has been broken or dust has accumulated in its spinning mechanism and is jammed. Usually, when the dust starts accumulating in the fan you will hear random sounds that are an early warning.

      5-       Cleaning a Jammed Fan

If your laptop fan is jammed try to blow air into its vents using canned air or a blower. First shutdown your laptop, remove the power cable and battery. Place your laptop on a table and find the fan ducts. Use a canned air bottle or electric air blower to remove the dust from the fan turning mechanism. Wait five to three minutes then connect the battery and power cord, turn on your laptop and listen to its fan spinning sound, investigate if it is running smoothly. If the fan is not working then it is broken and you have to replace it.

      6-       Use cooling Pad for proper Heat dissipation

Overheating of laptop occurs due to insufficient air circulation under the laptop. The cooling fans are designed to take cool air from one side and exhaust the hot air from the other side. Usually, the air intake is below the laptop, placing the laptop on surfaces like blanket, pillow, fabric on your lap can block the air intake. This problem can be resolved by placing the laptop on a flat surface or uplifting your laptop and placing a small book under the machine. Thus you can fix overheating Laptop from this problem.

Apart from using a book, the laptop can be placed on a tray or it’s even better to purchase a laptop cooling mat to provide enough standard ventilation under your machine. Cooling mats for laptops are available online and can be purchased accordingly from Amazon.

      7-       Use a Flat surface for Proper ventilation

Another technique to deliver sufficient air circulation to place it on a flat surface. Usually, the laptops have the small rubber feet which are designed to make sure the proper airflow beneath the laptop. Though, some people place laptops on their laps when working on them. This limits airflow beneath the laptop and leads to overheating. A laptop desk can be used to avoid this problem. Always place your laptop on a sturdy and flat surface

      8-       Provide your laptop in a cooler environment

Lastly, overheating of your laptop may be due to its environment, in case if your laptop is placed inside a closed shelve or in a close heated room. It may occur due to extreme exposure to direct hot sunlight, particularly during summer. High temperatures areas such as in an industrial environment may cause a computer to overheat due to an expansion of hard drive and battery damage.

Therefore, it is essential to keep your machine in the shade or provide a proper cooling mechanism whenever temperatures are high. If your machine is shutting down repeatedly and slowing down as an effect of Overheating, it requires urgent attention.

      9-       Opening laptop and Clean the Fans

If you have confirmed that the laptop temperature is getting increased. Then fix the overheating laptop by cleaning the air ducts.  To check whether the laptop fan is working properly, you can feel the hot air coming out from the vent. if there is no air, then dust might be accumulated or a laptop fan is broken.  These fans are mounted generally on CPS and GPU’s to provide cooling.

You need to open your laptop and blow out the dust using an air blower or vacuum cleaner (it is important to stop the fan from spinning when using an air blower or vacuum cleaner). In case of a broken or jammed cooling fan, find a good replacement at a laptop hardware shop. Dealing with disassembling and assembling a laptop is not an easy task and if you are not feeling comfortable with it, take it to a professional to do it.

Before cleaning the laptop, follow these  steps

        Secure backup of your data

        Properly shut down the Laptop

        Unplug the Power

        Remove the battery

        Ground yourself

        Take care of laptop parts while opening it

  10- Replace the Thermal Paste.

The thermal paste used to conduct the heat from CPU or GPU to the heat sink which then dissipates the heat using a fan. In most of the cases, this paste degrades with time and does not conduct heat properly. In some cases during the cleaning process of the computer unknowingly applying the past on the CPU is forgotten and can make a headache. So using the above steps to open a CPU heat sink apply the paste between the CPU upper surface and heat sink. A blob of thermal paste is enough as it will be sandwiched between the CPU and its heatsink

Conclusion

Laptop overheating is a very serious issue if not handled properly and on time. By reading this article one can become vigilant about the issue and can handle the problem with great ease. If still, you are not sure how to deal with the overheating issue, consult an expert to solve the problem and save your expensive system from permanent damage.

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