How to Prevent your Laptop from Overheating

Laptops are notorious for overheating, ever more so than desktops. But if your laptop is reaching ridiculous temperatures frequently or within a short period of time, there may be a problem.

Your laptop may be overheating due to dust buildup in and around its internal fan. Remove the casing and clean the computer’s cooling components as thoroughly as possible. If there was a lot of dust buildup, that dust was likely hindering the functions of your laptop’s parts.

Dust may not be an issue for your laptop, so instead, observe the environment in which your laptop is most often up and running. When any electronic device is kept in a hot or bright environment, it’s bound to catch that energy and heat up quickly. If you can, move it to a cooler area with more shade and start using it there if you see improvement.

Two other possible culprits are the material your laptop rests on and the software on your computer’s system. If you typically place your laptop on a soft, absorbent material, move it to a hard surface so the vents allow air in and heat out. If you have too much downloaded software, consider uninstalling a few programs to free up some space and allow your computer’s processor to run more smoothly.

Laptops are supposed to give off a certain amount of heat, otherwise they would underperform. But if your computer frequently heats up to the point of automatic shutdown or sluggish processing, look into possible solutions. A great way to check the fans, for example, is to simply raise your hand to the vents and feel for air gently hitting your hand. Absence of air means the problem is most definitely with the fans, while presence of air points to a different problem.

Usually, laptops overheat for one or more of the reasons we discussed. If you’ve tried all these tips and your laptop is still overheating, call a professional to have a look at it. Soon enough, your laptop will be running at a safe temperature again, and you’ll know how to keep it that way.