Best Ways to Stop a Laptop from Overheating in 2026

When your gaming, remote work, studying, or creative pursuits like video editing are interrupted by loud fan noise, a laptop that feels hot to the touch, slow performance, or unexpected shutdowns or crashes, it indicates laptop overheating. Constantly high laptop temperatures can degrade or permanently damage your laptop’s hardware, leading to data loss and costly repairs. In extreme cases, it may make your laptop unusable. However, you can prevent this loss by learning how to stop your laptop from overheating. 

You can easily cool down an overheating laptop by following the simple methods in this article. To begin with, you must ensure that your laptop is placed on a hard and flat surface (such as a table or desk) for air to circulate and that there are no blankets or materials that block ventilation. Also, elevating the laptop helps bring down its temperature. 

If the laptop is still overheating and shutting down, this guide explains more effective ways to cool your laptop. First, let’s get started by understanding what causes the laptop to overheat, because understanding the problem is half the solution. 

Why Is Laptop Overheating

There can be several factors that contribute to high laptop temperatures. The following are often the top causes of overheating. 

• Blocked air vents: Components, such as the processor, produce heat when you use the laptop. To manage this heat, the laptops have a fan for the heat to escape through the air vents, generally located beneath the laptop keyboard. When these vents are blocked or the air vents have accumulated dirt and debris, the fans cannot displace the heat, resulting in overheating.
• CPU and GPU are overloaded: CPU and GPU produce heat when they function. The heat they produce depends on the work you are doing. Performing basic tasks, such as browsing, produces less heat. On the other hand, demanding tasks, such as graphics-intensive gaming, produce more heat, increasing the CPU and GPU temperatures. Hence, your laptop may overheat if you perform resource-demanding tasks for prolonged periods.
• Improper Windows power settings: Windows offers three power settings: Best Performance, Balanced, and Power Mode. The Best Performance power setting is the most suitable for resource-demanding tasks. However, if your laptop is continuously running in the Power Mode, it will produce more heat to deliver good performance without proper system cooling policy settings.
• Thermal paste problems: Thermal paste is the heat-conductive material that is applied between a heat sink and your laptop’s processor. This material can dry out or degrade over time, reducing its ability to transfer heat and making your device prone to overheating.
• Outdated drivers and BIOS: If your laptop does not have compatible and up-to-date drivers, and if the BIOS is outdated, you may experience functionality problems with hardware components, such as fans, leading to overheating.

Having learnt what may have made your laptop overheat, it is easier to fix the laptop overheating. 

How to Cool Down an Overheating Laptop

Here are 10+ effective ways to stop your laptop from overheating. 

Method 1: Check and clean air vents

Since blocked air vents can cause laptop overheating, ensure the air vents are not blocked. Accumulated dirt or debris can block the air vents. Hence, deep-clean your laptop at least once a month to prevent high laptop temperatures. You can use a compressed air can to remove any dust or unwanted particles to make the laptop fans function properly. 

While cleaning your laptop, power it off completely and unplug all cables connected to it. For safety, avoid using sharp objects or any liquids on or near the vents, and always keep the compressed air can upright when spraying to prevent moisture from being released. These precautions help protect your laptop from accidental damage while cleaning.

Method 2: Change power settings

The power plan you are using on your laptop affects how much it generates. Hence, below is how to stop a laptop from overheating by correcting the power settings. 

• First, press Windows + I to open Settings.
• In the Settings panel, click System.
• Choose Power & sleep from the System settings.
• Next, click Additional power settings in the Related Settings.

• Lastly, change the power plan to Balanced or Best Power Efficiency.

Also know: How to Check Your PC or Laptop Specs

Method 3: Update Windows

Windows updates, in addition to bringing new features, may fix common issues such as a frequently overheating laptop. Thus, you can follow these steps to update Windows. 

• First, click the Start button and type check for updates in the search bar that appears.

• Press Enter.
• Click Check for updates.

• Next, click Download & Install to download and install the updates available for your device.

• Lastly, restart your computer to complete the update process.

Method 4: Update BIOS and drivers

Outdated drivers and BIOS are among the most common reasons for laptop overheating. However, updating the BIOS can be risky if you are not familiar with the process. Incorrectly updating your BIOS may cause system errors or prevent your laptop from starting. Only proceed with a BIOS update if you are comfortable with advanced computer procedures, or seek assistance from a qualified technician. Below are the steps to update your BIOS and drivers.

Steps to update BIOS

• First, press Windows + R to access the Run utility.
• Type msinfo32 in the Run box and press Enter.
• In the System Information window, note the latest BIOS version.
• Next, go to the Help or Downloads section on your laptop manufacturer’s website and find the latest available BIOS version for your device.
• Download the latest BIOS file and extract it to your laptop.
• Follow the instructions that appear on your screen to flash the latest BIOS version.
• Lastly, reboot your computer.

Steps to update drivers

• Right-click the Start button and choose Device Manager from the menu that appears.

• In the Device Manager window, expand each category one by one to find devices with a yellow exclamation point.
• Right-click the device with a yellow exclamation point and choose Update Driver.

• Click Search automatically for drivers.
• Follow the steps that appear on your screen to download and install the suggested drivers.
• Lastly, restart your computer to complete the driver update and installation process.

Method 5: Fix apps and services with high CPU usage

Some active applications and services on your laptop may put pressure on your system resources, causing high CPU usage and device overheating. Hence, below is how to stop a laptop from overheating by identifying and closing such apps/services. 

• Begin by right-clicking the Start button and selecting Task Manager from the menu that appears.
• Next, look for applications and services that consume high CPU.
• Select the apps and services consuming high CPU from the upper-right corner and click End Task. Alternatively, you can right-click each app or service and then choose End Task one by one.

Method 6: Disable unnecessary startup applications

If several applications and services launch at the system startup, it may cause the laptop to overheat. Hence, you can disable irrelevant startup apps and services to prevent laptop overheating. Here is how. 

• First, press Windows + I to access Settings.
• Next, choose Apps from the Settings menu and then select Startup from the on-screen options.

• Lastly, toggle off the unrequired apps and services to prevent them from launching at startup.

Also know: Best Methods to Fix the Laptop Battery Is Not Charging Problem in Windows Laptop

Method 7: Close unnecessary background processes

Background processes, such as downloading a large file, can pressurize system resources, causing high laptop temperatures. Hence, you can pause or close such processes to prevent overheating. 

Method 8: Try the power troubleshooter

Windows offers a built-in troubleshooter to fix common problems such as overheating. You can follow the steps below to cool down your laptop using the power troubleshooter. 

• Begin by pressing Windows + I to open the Settings application.
• Next, choose System from the Settings menu.
• Select Troubleshoot from the right pane of the System window.

• Click Other Troubleshooters.
• Next, click the Power troubleshooter and then click the Run button.
• Lastly, follow the instructions that appear to fix the detected issues.

Method 9: Delete problematic applications

Is your laptop overheating after installing some new applications? If yes, such applications may be responsible for the issue you are experiencing. Hence, you can follow the steps below to remove these applications. If you need them, you can reinstall them later or find their alternatives. 

• First, press Windows + I to open Settings.
• Next, choose Apps from the Settings menu.
• Select Installed Apps from the right pane of the Apps window.
• Click the three horizontal dots beside the problematic app and then click Uninstall.
• Lastly, repeat the above steps for all the troubling applications to cool down the laptop.

Method 10: Free up device storage

Your laptop may overheat if it lacks enough storage space. Hence, you can follow this guide to fix low disk space on your laptop. 

Method 11: Replace the thermal paste

The thermal paste transfers heat from the processors to the cooling system of your laptop. However, generally, three to four years after application, this thermal paste dries out and does not remain effective, causing laptop overheating. 

Hence, you can replace the thermal paste with a good-quality thermal paste. However, since replacing the thermal paste involves opening the laptop, we recommend that you get this done by an expert technician to prevent any harm to your laptop, as any damage caused by opening the laptop may not be covered in your laptop warranty. 

That’s all for the guide on how to stop your laptop from overheating. We hope it helps bring down your laptop temperature for a cooler and smoother experience. However, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to let us know through the comments section. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Can overheating damage a laptop?

Continuous laptop overheating can permanently damage your laptop, causing severe physical component failure. It can damage the processor, motherboard, and graphics card, and cause degradation of battery health. 

Q2. How do I know if my laptop is overheating?

An overheating laptop is often burning hot to the touch, produces very loud fan noise, or has constantly running fans. Moreover, you may experience unexpected shutdowns, degraded performance, screen distortion, freezing, or visual artifacts may appear on your laptop screen. 

Q3. What is the best way to cool a laptop?

The best methods to cool down a laptop involve ensuring the laptop gets proper ventilation by keeping it on a hard, flat surface, elevating the laptop’s rear, and cleaning air vents regularly with compressed air. 

Q4. How to prevent a gaming laptop from overheating?

To stop a gaming laptop from overheating, lower the in-game graphics settings, reduce your laptop screen brightness, use a cooling pad, and close the unused applications running in the background.