Why is my HP Laptop Getting Hot?
Your HP laptop can get hot and start overheating due to the accumulation of dust in the air vents preventing the outflow of air inside the laptop.
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There may also be other reasons for the HP laptop getting heated.
- The cooling fan could be malfunctioning.
- An old and dying battery can cause overheating of the laptop.
- A software glitch or too many programs running simultaneously can result in the laptop heating up.
- Internal damage as a result of a fall can trigger overheating in an HP laptop.
- Blockage of the laptop’s ventilation while keeping it on the bed etc. can lead to overheating.
- If the HP laptop is used in a warm environment, it can heat up faster.
- Faulty design or poor components can be another reason for an HP laptop getting hot.
- An older laptop can get heated faster than a new one.
Dust may cause overheating
HP Laptops have a cooling arrangement where there are grills provided at the bottom panel of the laptop to vent out the hot air from inside. The key components like the CPU and the graphics unit can get heated under normal usage. If the temperature inside reaches 95° F or above, it can be harmful to the laptop’s components.
But the same vents in the bottom panel can result in dust particles going in and accumulating inside. Over time, the dust settled on the cooling fans can impair its performance. This will lead to the cooling mechanism growing weak and you will notice that the laptop gets heated faster.
Fine dust particles entering the laptop can also settle on the motherboard and other such components. Once these are cleaned thoroughly, the problem may disappear.
An Old battery could be the issue
If the battery of your HP laptop is old and you have been carrying on with the old battery inside and powering the machine using the AC adaptor, it can lead to the laptop heating up. The best way to check this is to remove the battery and use the laptop on AC power to check if it still gets heated. If there is no heating, then you can replace the battery and continue using the laptop.
Check if your HP laptop is running too many programs
Some applications in laptops can consume more power and that can lead to the laptop getting hot. The best way to check this is to head to the Windows Task Manager to see the active programs and see the percentage of CPU use of these programs. Those programs not being used but which are using more power can be stopped and that should bring the heating issue of your HP laptop under control.
Older laptops tend to heat up faster
Based on experiences by users as posted on forums, the HP laptop would work normally for a few years but develop heating problems later. In such cases, you may have no other option but to replace the laptop. You can check the various parameters to see if the reason for heating is any of the ones listed above. If not, the only explanation is that the machine has grown old and the components have gone weak.
What are the Symptoms of a Laptop Overheating?
There are different ways in which the problem of a heated laptop will show up. Some of them are listed here:
- Loud noises coming from the fan though it may keep running/whirring.
- The laptop screen may start showing lines disturbing the display.
- You may find routine tasks difficult to perform on the laptop e.g. opening a new Window.
- The laptop may freeze or show a blue screen.
- Laptop starts shutting down on its own.
- Excessive heat coming from the bottom of the laptop.
- Error messages may flash across the display screen.
You must first shutdown the laptop and allow it to cool. If you are not sure how to go about fixing it, take it to the nearest service center.
How to Stop a HP Laptop from Overheating?
There are several ways to take care of this problem. You should try them one by one.
- Cleaning the fan and the insides of the laptop: The ideal way to clear off the dust accumulated on the cooling fan and other components is to use a compressed air can. The force of the air should not be too high since that could disturb the alignment of the components and lead to other problems.
- Check the fan speed: If the fan is not functioning at its rated speed, then it is not cooling the laptop and overheating can be the result. There are Apps available to check and regulate laptop fan speeds. You can download one of them and try it.
- Provide a Better Resting Place: You must ensure that there is proper and free air circulation at the bottom of the HP laptop. One way is to provide some kind of support below, as a cooling pad. Some cooling pads have fans that drive away the hot air ensuring that the laptop’s inside stays cool. Alternatively, you can keep the laptop on a desk and thereby avoid the heat.
- Stop processes that are drawing excessive CPU power: Some graphic applications can draw more power from the CPU and can be the direct reason for the HP laptop heating up. Check and stop those programs.
- Check and replace the battery: See if your HP laptop’s battery is old and needs to be replaced. An old battery could be the reason for the laptop getting overheated.
HP Laptop Overheating and Won’t Turn ON
If you are certain that your HP laptop switched OFF due to overheating and is not turning ON, you have a few ways of fixing it. The power reset is one.
Here’s how you can do a power reset:
- Switch your laptop off.
- Remove all connected devices from the laptop, from all ports.
- Remove the AC adapter.
- Press and hold the power button on your HP laptop for 15 seconds.
- Now, reconnect the power adapter.
- Switch the laptop ON again.
- If you are seeing a startup menu, select the option ‘Start Windows Normally’.
- Press Enter.
- Windows will reopen.
These steps should result in the resetting of your laptop and the overheating problem should be fixed. To get a better performance out of your laptop, you should update the drivers and software using the Windows Update option. HP Support Assist will provide the updated version of the drivers from its end. You can reconnect the external devices after doing this and resume using the laptop.
HP Laptop Overheating and Shutting Down
You first need to be certain that it was overheating that caused your HP laptop to shut down. If you’re sure, try the steps that are already mentioned in the above sections. Cleaning your laptop, specifically the fan and the interior is an important step.
Another reason for the HP laptop overheating and shutting down could be software compatibility. If you have loaded Windows 10 recently, there is a possibility that your laptop will overheat. There have been reported cases of this issue.
The immediate fix is to go to HP’s website and download the relevant driver updates for the Windows 10 OS and install it. Your problem may be solved after installing this update.
If your battery is old and is causing the overheating, replace the battery immediately.
HP Laptop Screen goes black after overheating
The most frequently reported reason for the appearance of black screen after overheating is overloading on the CPU. You may be playing a high-graphics game on your laptop and this results in the CPU drawing maximum power and heating up of the system as a whole. The laptop can shut down and the screen can go black.
There are a few fixes for this problem.
- Check and clean the fans if there is accumulated dust.
- Stop any extra applications that may be running, to reduce the load on the CPU.
- Move your laptop to a cooler, better-ventilated space.
- HP Cool Sense is an application that can help set and manage the temperature of the internal parts of your HP laptop. This may not be available on all HP laptops though.
- You can adjust the System Power Scheme in the HP laptop’s settings to ‘Balance’ instead of ‘Performance’.
- BIOS update can also fix the issue.
If none of these work and if the problem persists, you must contact HP Support for the remedy.
HP Laptop Overheating when Charging
Some laptops can get overheated while charging and if there are some heavy programs already running on it. You can try closing down all running programs for a while and try charging again.
HP had a serious battery issue in 2018/2019 when they had recalled thousands of laptops to replace the battery. If your HP laptop is from that lot and you missed getting your laptop battery replaced, it could be the issue. The company had stated that one of its battery suppliers was to be blamed for this issue.
You should check your charger/adapter also. See if the overheating problem during charging goes away when you use an alternate charger or by changing the wall socket that you are drawing the power from.
HP Laptop Overheating while Gaming
It is not unusual to have laptops or PCs overheat when you play games. Particularly, if the game contains intense graphics then the CPU draws maximum power to run them and heating becomes inevitable. This is the reason you have extra cooling arrangements in gaming laptops.
If you notice the temperature going higher than the recommended limit of around 90°F, you must take action. Continuous high temperatures can damage the CPU.
There are ways to lower the temperature, but the best is by undervolting the CPU.
The two choices you have for undervolting the CPU are Throttlestop and the other is Intel’s XTU (Extreme Tuning Utility). These are programs you have to download and install. Their respective dashboards will guide you to adjust the CPU temperature. This will prevent the heating of your HP laptop while gaming.
HP Spectre x360 Overheating
There have been a few reports of the HP Spectre x360 overheating. According to reports in computer forums, this has happened even in new laptops. There are multiple ways to tackle this issue.
- Adjust the Power Settings on your laptop.
- Remove any bloatware your laptop may be carrying.
- Update the device drivers, specifically for the HP 360 range of laptops.
- You can try laptop cooling pads to beef up the cooling arrangement.
- Restore the BIOS settings to default to see if it resolves the issue.
The Power Settings adjustment has the following steps:
- Press the Windows and X keys at the same time.
- Choose Power Options from the menu.
- Click on Additional power settings under Related settings.
- Under Choose or Customize power plan, select Change Plan Settings.
- Click on Change advanced power settings.
- Next, click on Process Power Management and under it, System Cooling Policy.
- Out of the choices Active and Passive, select Passive.
- Remember to click on Apply and OK and come out of this menu.
These steps can reduce the heating of the CPU in your HP Spectre x360.
HP Pavilion G6 Overheating
Overheating of your HP Pavillion G6 could be due to one of the generic problems like the fan and heatsink gathering dust. You will require certain skills to open up the laptop to do the cleaning. There are manuals and videos to guide you through this.
HP Support can be of help in guiding you through the process of solving the overheating problem.
HP Pavilion G7 Overheating
HP recommends a set of actions on its website (https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01657439) where the issue of overheating of its laptops is dealt with in detail, with illustrations and photographs.
The general solutions offered are to clean the vents and the fan. A BIOS reset is also one of the ways to control the problem of overheating in laptops.
HP Pavilion G8 Overheating
If you face an overheating problem with your HP Pavilion G8 the HP’s support pages on its website can guide you to fix this issue. Each of the possible issues is explained and how they can be resolved.
If the suggestions given by HP Support do not fix the issue of overheating your HP Pavilion G8 laptop then, you will have to take it to the authorized service center near you.
HP ZBook 15 G5 Overheating
The issue of overheating of the HP ZBook 15 G5 has been reported by some users on forums. The solutions suggested by HP and experts on the forums are not very different from those suggested for the other models.
These include undervolting, BIOS reset, etc. which have been dealt with in the earlier sections. One new solution found by a user is to disable or deactivate Intel Turbo Boost. This may sound ironic since this tool is there to lift the performance of the CPU and you may miss out on that!
HP ZBook 17 G5 Overheating
One of the reasons users have reported for the HP ZBook 17 G5 overheating is the installation of Windows 10 OS. The solution for this lies in updating the relevant chipset drives from HP’s website. This has been found to work in fixing the overheating issue.
The stock solution that is always available is to approach the service center if the issue is not resolved. These are expensive machines and you should not be taking any chances with them.
HP Envy x360 Overheating
If the regular fixes recommended for the overheating problem do not yield any results, there is a specific solution being offered for the overheating of your HP Envy x360 laptop.
You should go to the Task Manager window. If you see the entry ’Windows Audio Device graphic Isolation’, select it and click ‘End Task’. You may notice that this program was consuming a high amount of CPU power. This action is expected to stop the problem of overheating of your Envy x360 laptop.
HP Envy 13 Overheating
It is possible that the issue of overheating of your HP Envy 13 laptop is due to a hardware malfunction. The cases reported to HP have been mostly brand-new laptops and the overheating problem noticed within days of purchasing the machines.
The users were directed to the nearest HP service centers or the HP engineer was asked to take a look online. The company may have ended up, replacing the laptops.
HP Omen 17 Overheating
Some feel that the overheating issue in the HP Omen 17 is due to insufficient cooling capability. This is a design aspect. The processors are becoming more powerful and the laptops thinner in size. This poses a challenge to the laptop manufacturers to design better cooling fans.
If you have invested in one of these high-end laptops, you can plan to add a cooling pad at the bottom of the laptop to augment the cooling capacity. The other solutions to keep the temperature of the CPU down can also be tried.
HP ProBook 450 G5 Overheating
Some laptops may have inherent design/manufacturing defects that even their best service engineers cannot solve/rectify. The overheating problem in the HP ProBook 450 G5 is one such.
There have been several postings in forums from users of this ProBook model who have not been able to find a solution for their problems. HP’s technical support executives recommend the usual drills which may not work in most instances.
In such cases, the only option is to either live with the issue or have the machine replaced.
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