10 Simple Ways Keep Your Laptop from Overheating

Tips and tricks to prevent your laptop from getting too hot

Co-authored by Luigi Oppido and Rain Kengly

Last Updated: March 20, 2024 Fact Checked

Is your Windows laptop or MacBook overheating? Many laptops overheat because the fan on the bottom is blocked, which can cause the hard drive and other components to fail. Here are the easiest ways to cool down your overheating laptop, identify causes of excess heat, and fix the problem for good.

Easy Tips to Keep Your Laptop Cool

Your laptop can overheat when it's unable to circulate air properly. This can cause damage to internal components, discomfort, and even system failure.
Use a stand or other flat surface to elevate the laptop. Make sure to keep the vent holes free.
Avoid overusing your laptop with demanding programs for extended periods of time.

1

Elevate the laptop.

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Use a stand, book, or other flat surface under the laptop. This slight tilt allows a lot more air to flow under the laptop, keeping it significantly cooler. Ensure that the item is not blocking the bottom fan hole.
- If a book doesn't help, you can try something more uneven. Try sticking four sockets from an egg tray on four corners of your laptop. Either you can stick them with a sticky tape/masking tape or use hook and loop tape for flexible design.

2

Use a laptop cooling mat.

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Cooling mats are made to help heat issues with your laptop. There are many types of laptop cooling mats to choose from. Brands like Thermaltake, Xion, and Targus make cooling mats that are widely available at electronic stores. You can even buy risers, or computer stands, that have built-in fans and other forms of ventilation.
- If you can't afford or find a cooling mat, always prefer something hard under the laptop rather than something soft. For example, use a plastic casing, a lap desk, tray table or even a wooden cutting board, to provide a solid flat surface for proper airflow. Just be sure to not block the vent holes.

3

Use your laptop on solid surfaces only.

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Any vents on the bottom of your laptop will be blocked and airflow will be reduced, causing it to overheat. Your laptop may even overheat enough to catch on fire.

4

Keep a cool environment.

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This is especially important in warmer climates. A climate-controlled environment will help your laptop regulate its temperature better by allowing it to cool down.

5

Get a program to keep track of your temperature.

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Install a PC temperature monitoring app like Open Hardware Monitor, Speedfan, Core Temp, or Real Temp. When you see the temperature rise, you can close CPU and GPU-intensive apps to cool things down.

6

Avoid overclocking.

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If you're already having trouble with your PC overheating, don't start overclocking now. If you didn't have overheating issues before overclocking, it's best to undo the overclocking to preserve your hardware.

7

Adjust your brightness settings.

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This can also help preserve your battery life if you have issues keeping your laptop charged.^{[1]
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8

Clean out your laptop.

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Use a can of compressed air to clear out any dust or unwanted particles so your fans function smoothly. Always make sure to power off your device completely and unplug all connected cables before cleaning it.

9

Replace old batteries.

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If you've had your laptop for a long time, replace the battery. Old, defective, and worn-out batteries can cause thermal damage by overheating all components in your laptop. If the heat is coming from the battery, it's time for a replacement.
- Newer laptops have batteries that can't be removed.

10

Spend less time on your laptop.

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Until you can safely repair the laptop, avoid using it until you've corrected the problem. Otherwise, you may cause irreparable damage to the components.

Expert Q&A

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Question

Is it OK if my laptop gets hot?

Luigi Oppido
Computer & Tech Specialist
Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years.

Luigi Oppido

Computer & Tech Specialist

Expert Answer

If you feel heat coming from the laptop, that means that the machine is at least 120 degrees and that it's probably warmer than it should be. And if it's too hot to touch, then you know it's too hot to be running.

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Question

How can I cool my laptop if the fan vents are underneath and in the center?

Community Answer

Put four items under the corners of the laptop to lift it and give the fan airflow.

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What can I do if my laptop overheats so badly that it lags and begins to sound strange and loud?

Community Answer

Buy an external fan for laptops. And make sure the room you're in has a nice cool temperature. Also, make sure you don't multitask too much, if you're running lots of programs at once, you may be giving your laptop more than it can handle.

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Tips

Even though laptops have a word "lap" in their name, don't put them on your lap for a longer period of time. Fabrics will block the airflow, which lead to overheating.

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Warnings

Don't put your laptop on your lap if it's overheating.

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Never block the fan for your laptop.

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