What Causes Laptop Overheating?

Overheating rarely appears overnight — it builds up gradually until your laptop starts shutting down or throttling performance under load.

Dust buildup

Dust collects in the fan and heatsink over time, restricting airflow and trapping heat inside the chassis.

Dried thermal paste

The thermal paste between the processor and heatsink dries out after a few years, becoming far less effective at transferring heat.

Blocked vents

Using a laptop on a bed, sofa or other soft surface blocks the intake and exhaust vents, trapping heat.

Heavy background load

Malware or too many background processes can keep the processor working harder than necessary, generating more heat than normal use would.

A thorough clean and repaste solves the majority of overheating cases — see our overheating repair service for details.