How to Fix Laptop Overheating (and Stop It Shutting Down)

Work through these in order. The first three are free and take about two minutes each.

1. Move it to a hard, flat surface so the vents underneath can breathe.
2. Close what is maxing out the processor (Task Manager on Windows, Activity Monitor on Mac).
3. Switch to Balanced or Best power efficiency, and set Maximum processor state to 99% on Windows.
4. Use your laptop maker's cooling mode (Quiet, Cool or Balanced in its control app).
5. Blow out the vents with short bursts of compressed air while holding the fan still.
6. Check the temperatures against your processor's official limit (see Fix 6).
7. Update the BIOS, drivers and firmware.
8. Test the fan with the built-in diagnostics, and have the thermal paste replaced on older laptops.

Most overheating laptops are not broken. They are choked: dust in the heatsink, a blanket over the intake vents, or a background app keeping the processor at full speed. The steps below give the exact menu paths for Windows 11, Windows 10 and macOS.

Start here. Find the row that sounds like your laptop, then jump to the fix it points to.

Laptops are supposed to get warm. A warm base and a fan that speeds up during heavy work are normal.

These are the signs of real overheating:

• Sudden shutdowns or restarts while you are working, especially under load.
• Heavy slowdowns that ease after the laptop cools down. That is thermal throttling: the processor slows itself to shed heat.
• A fan that runs at full speed constantly, even at idle.
• Parts of the case too hot to keep your hand on, usually near the exhaust vent.
• Warning messages about temperature or the fan at startup. Several brands show these before Windows loads.

Processors protect themselves: near their limit they slow down, and if that is not enough the laptop shuts off. You lose speed and unsaved work, and the battery and fan wear faster.

If your PC only got slower after an update, see computer slow after a Windows 11 update.

Most laptops pull cool air in through the bottom or the sides and push hot air out the back or side. A bed, pillow, couch cushion, blanket or your lap seals those intake vents, and temperatures climb quickly.

1. Put the laptop on a hard, flat surface such as a desk, table or a large hardcover book.
2. Find the exhaust vent (the one blowing warm air) and make sure nothing is within a few inches of it: no wall, no stack of paper, no mug.
3. If you must use it in bed, put a tray, a flat board or a laptop stand under it.
4. Do not leave it running inside a bag or closed sleeve. A laptop that did not fully go to sleep can get very hot in there.

Raising the back edge a little with a stand opens a bigger gap under the intake and often helps on its own.

If the fan is loud while you are only reading email, something is keeping the CPU busy. Finding it takes a minute.

Windows 11 and Windows 10

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager. If you see a small window, click More details.
2. On the Processes tab, click the CPU column header to sort by CPU use.
3. Look at the top few entries. A browser with dozens of tabs, a stuck update, a game launcher, cloud sync or a video app are common culprits.
4. If it is something you do not need right now, right-click it and choose End task. Do not end entries you do not recognize as Windows system processes.

Windows Update and the built-in antivirus can briefly use a lot of CPU after an update. Let them finish; that load goes away.

Mac

1. Open Activity Monitor from Applications > Utilities, or search for it with Spotlight (Command + Space).
2. Click the CPU tab, then click the % CPU column to sort.
3. Select an app you do not need and click the stop button (the X) at the top of the window, then choose Quit.

An unknown process that sits near the top of the list all the time, even right after a restart, can be malware such as a hidden cryptocurrency miner. If you suspect that, follow our guide on removing a virus from your computer. If the laptop is also sluggish in general, our slow computer guide covers the rest of the cleanup.

A laptop set to maximum performance lets the processor boost to its highest speeds more often, which means more heat. A balanced or efficiency mode trims those peaks. For browsing and office work you usually will not notice the difference, but the fan will.

Windows 11

1. Go to Start > Settings > System > Power & battery.
2. Under Power mode, choose Balanced or Best power efficiency. On newer builds you can set this separately for plugged in and on battery.

Windows 10

1. Click the battery icon in the taskbar.
2. Drag the power mode slider toward the battery-saving end. If you do not see the slider, your laptop maker may control this, or a custom power plan is active. In that case open Control Panel > Power Options and select Balanced.

Cap the processor speed (Windows 10 and 11)

This is the strongest power setting for heat. It stops the CPU from running at full boost.

1. Open Control Panel > Power Options, then click Change plan settings next to your active plan.
2. Click Change advanced power settings.
3. Expand Processor power management > Maximum processor state.
4. Set Plugged in to 99% (or lower, such as 80% to 90%) and click OK.

On many Intel laptops, any value below 100% turns off turbo boost, which can drop temperatures noticeably at the cost of some peak speed. Set it back to 100% when you need full performance.

Mac

Go to System Settings > Battery and set Low Power Mode to Always, Only on Battery or Only on Power Adapter. Low Power Mode reduces energy use, which also cuts heat.

If your laptop maker's control app has its own thermal profile (Quiet, Balanced, Cool), pick the quieter one there too, because it can override Windows.

Many laptops have a thermal or performance mode in the maker's own app or in the BIOS. It can override Windows, so check it if Fix 3 made no difference.

• Dell: Dell Power Manager has been discontinued; its thermal and fan settings are now in Dell Optimizer and MyDell, and some Dell laptops also have a thermal setting in the BIOS (Dell's overheating guide).
• Lenovo: Lenovo Vantage includes Intelligent Cooling (or a thermal mode on some models) that balances fan speed, temperature and performance. Reinstalling Windows can reset it, so install the latest thermal driver from Lenovo support afterwards.
• HP and others: many laptops ship with a control app (HP Command Center on many HP models, OMEN Gaming Hub on HP gaming models, and similar apps from ASUS, Acer and MSI) with performance or cool modes.

Pick the Quiet, Cool or Balanced profile, and avoid Performance or overclocking modes while you are troubleshooting heat.

Every app that launches at startup and keeps running in the background adds a little heat. A dozen of them add up.

• Windows 11: go to Settings > Apps > Startup and turn off apps you do not need the moment you sign in.
• Windows 10: open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), select the Startup tab, right-click an app and choose Disable.
• Mac: go to System Settings > General > Login Items (called Login Items & Extensions on newer macOS versions) and remove apps from the Open at Login list.

In your browser, close tabs you are not using, especially ones with video, live feeds or heavy web apps. Browser extensions you no longer use are worth removing too. Our guide to speeding up Windows 11 has more ways to trim background load, and Mac owners can use our Mac running slow guide.

Dust mats against the heatsink fins right behind the exhaust vent and acts like a felt blanket. Clearing it from the outside is safe if you follow a few rules.

What you need

• A can of compressed air (or an electric air duster)
• A toothpick or plastic pick for stubborn clumps at the vent
• A soft brush

Steps

1. Shut the laptop down fully (not sleep) and unplug the charger. If the battery is removable, take it out.
2. Hold the fan still. If you can see the fan blades through a vent, gently hold them with a toothpick or plastic tool. If you cannot reach them, just keep bursts short. Letting compressed air spin the fan much faster than it was designed to can damage its bearing.
3. Hold the can upright and spray in short bursts into the exhaust vent and the intake vents. Tilting or shaking the can can spray liquid propellant.
4. Blow from the exhaust side first, then the intake. Dust tends to pile up against the heatsink right inside the exhaust, and blowing out through the way it came in often clears it.
5. Pick out visible clumps at the vent opening with a toothpick, and brush the grille.
6. Wait a few minutes before powering on so any propellant evaporates.

Do not use a household vacuum cleaner on the vents. It can build up static electricity and can pull hard enough to damage the fan.

Should you open it up?

If the bottom panel comes off with a few screws and your maker's service manual covers it, cleaning the fan and heatsink directly works far better. Check warranty terms first. If the panel is glued or tightly clipped, or it is a MacBook, leave it to a repair shop.

Measuring temperatures shows whether the laptop is really hitting its limit and whether your fixes are working.

Quickest way to check on Windows 11

1. Install HWMonitor (CPUID) or Core Temp from the developer's official website.
2. Open it and note the CPU package temperature at idle.
3. Run something heavy (a game, a video export) for 10 minutes, then read the Max column.

Task Manager's Performance tab shows a temperature for dedicated graphics cards only; it does not show CPU temperature. HWiNFO also shows fan speeds and whether the CPU is throttling.

What temperature is too hot?

There is no single number. Each processor has its own maximum, set by the chip maker and listed on its spec page.

How to read your numbers

Find your processor model under Settings > System > About (Windows 11). macOS does not show processor temperatures; watch for slowdowns and a constantly running fan, and use Apple Diagnostics (below).

Laptop makers regularly ship BIOS (UEFI) and firmware updates that change how the fans respond to heat, and graphics driver updates can fix bugs that keep the GPU busy. These updates are free.

• Windows 11: go to Settings > Windows Update, click Check for updates, then look under Advanced options > Optional updates for driver and firmware updates.
• Windows 10: go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, then View optional updates.
• Manufacturer apps: Dell SupportAssist, HP Support Assistant, Lenovo Vantage and similar tools find BIOS updates made for your exact model. You can also enter your model or serial number on the maker's support website.
• Mac: go to System Settings > General > Software Update. Mac firmware is updated along with macOS.

When updating a BIOS, keep the charger plugged in the whole time and do not turn the laptop off until the update finishes. A BIOS update interrupted by a power loss can stop the laptop from starting. Back up important files first; our Windows backup guide shows the quick way.

A cooling pad blows air at the bottom of the laptop. It helps most on laptops with bottom intake vents and during long gaming or rendering sessions.

Set your expectations: a cooling pad lowers temperatures somewhat, but it does not fix a clogged heatsink or a dying fan. If a cooling pad is the only thing keeping your laptop from shutting down, the real problem is still inside.

For everyday use, a plain stand does much of the same job. A pad is worth it if you game or work for hours at a time.

A laptop that heats up and shuts down is doing what it was designed to do: cutting power before the processor cooks itself. If this happens during light use, or right after startup, suspect the cooling hardware rather than your software.

Signs the fan is failing

• You never hear the fan, even when the laptop is hot.
• The fan grinds, rattles, clicks or whines, or its noise rises and falls in a strange rhythm.
• No air comes out of the exhaust vent when the laptop is under load.
• A fan error message appears at startup.
• The laptop shuts down within minutes of turning on, even after cleaning.

Run the built-in hardware test

• HP: turn the laptop on and immediately press Esc repeatedly, then press F2 to open HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI.
• Dell: press F12 at the Dell logo and choose Diagnostics to run the pre-boot SupportAssist tests.
• Lenovo and others: check your maker's support site for its diagnostics tool; Lenovo offers Lenovo Diagnostics.
• Mac with Apple silicon: shut down, press and hold the power button until startup options appear, then press Command + D to run Apple Diagnostics.
• Intel Mac: turn it on and immediately press and hold D until the diagnostics screen appears.

Write down any error or reference code the test gives you. A failed fan test means the fan needs replacing. On many laptops that is a moderate repair, and the part is specific to your model.

Also rule out the charger. A failing charger or battery can cause shutdowns that look like overheating. If shutdowns only happen on battery, or the battery percentage jumps around, read our laptop not charging guide.

If the screen goes blue before it shuts off, note the stop code and see our blue screen guide. If Windows hangs on the Shutting down screen instead, that is a different problem: Windows not shutting down.

A laptop runs warmer while charging because the battery and charging circuit add heat on top of normal use. That is normal for warmth, not for shutdowns.

1. Use the charger that came with the laptop, or one the maker approves for your model.
2. Keep the charging laptop on a hard surface, not a bed or your lap.
3. Close heavy apps while it charges from low battery.
4. If your maker's app offers a battery charge limit or conservation mode, turn it on if the laptop stays plugged in most of the time.

If it shuts down only while charging, or only on battery, suspect the charger or battery rather than the fan; see our laptop not charging guide. Stop using it at once if the case bulges or you smell burning.

Between the processor and the heatsink sits a thin layer of thermal paste, and some laptops also use soft thermal pads on other chips. Over years of heating and cooling, paste can dry out and pads can harden, and heat stops moving into the heatsink as well as it should.

Replacing the paste is called repasting. On older laptops that still run hot after a cleaning, it can make a real difference. It is also the riskiest fix in this guide, because it means:

• Taking the laptop apart down to the motherboard, past fragile ribbon cables.
• Replacing pads with the exact correct thickness so the heatsink touches every chip.
• Possibly voiding a warranty.

Unless you have repaired laptops before, have a repair shop do it, ideally at the same time as a full internal fan and heatsink cleaning. If the laptop is under warranty, contact the manufacturer first, because overheating caused by a faulty cooling system is often covered.

A laptop in a hot room starts with less headroom. Dell lists a recommended operating room temperature of 0 °C to 35 °C (32 °F to 95 °F), and Apple lists 10 °C to 35 °C (50 °F to 95 °F) for its Mac laptops.

• Keep it out of direct sun and never leave it in a parked car.
• Work in the coolest room, with a fan moving air across the desk.
• Raise the back edge with a stand and switch to Balanced or Best power efficiency.
• Save heavy tasks such as games and video exports for the cooler part of the day.
• Do not put the laptop in a fridge or freezer; condensation can damage it.

You do not need to spend much to keep a laptop cool. In order of cost:

1. Free: hard surface, clear vents, fewer apps and startup items, Balanced power mode, maximum processor state at 99%, and current updates.
2. Almost free: prop the back up with a book or a cheap stand.
3. Low cost: compressed air every few months.
4. Moderate: a cooling pad for long gaming or work sessions.
5. Repair: internal cleaning and repasting for an older laptop that still runs hot.

Room temperature matters too. A laptop in a hot room, in direct sun or in a parked car starts out warmer and has less headroom. Apple, for example, lists an operating range for its Mac laptops of 50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C).

Stop using the laptop and unplug it if you notice any of these:

• The bottom case bulges, the trackpad lifts or clicks oddly, or the keyboard deck pushes up. These are signs of a swollen battery, which can be dangerous.
• A burning or chemical smell, smoke, or scorch marks near the vents or charging port.
• Parts of the case too hot to touch even at idle.

Otherwise, work through the fixes in order. If the laptop still overheats, shuts down or shows a fan error, it needs hands-on repair. If you are unsure, a $1 chat with a tech expert can help you read your temperatures or diagnostic codes before you pay for one.