5 Ways to Keep Your MacBook Pro Cool and Prevent Overheating

There’s nothing worse than trying to use your MacBook in the middle of a busy workday only for it to keep overheating. Aside from being difficult and uncomfortable to use, an overheated MacBook can be dangerous to use.

If you’re frustrated and don’t know what to do about your MacBook Pro getting hot, don’t worry. In this article, we’ll walk you through a list of five ways to keep your MacBook cool and prevent it from overheating. We will also briefly examine why an overheated MacBook Pro is bad!

Let’s dive right in.

How to Keep Your MacBook Pro Cool and Prevent Overheating

An overheated MacBook can result in performance issues or damaged hardware. It can even cause your system to crash, so knowing the different ways to prevent overheating is crucial. Here are 5 ways to keep it cool and prevent it from overheating.

1. Don’t place your MacBook Pro on a soft surface when using it.

This first tip is pretty easy: don’t use your MacBook on any kind of soft surface, like a blanket, cushion, or carpet. Even though it can be tempting to work from your bed, the soft surface prevents the ventilation slots under your MacBook from providing it with proper airflow. As a result, it begins to overheat.

Therefore, when using your MacBook, it would be best to use it at a table. At the very least, make sure that you place it on a hard surface so that there is proper airflow; it will remain cool and will not overheat.

1. Close all the unnecessary and demanding applications

Another great way to prevent overheating and ensure cooling is to close all unnecessary and demanding applications you rarely use. Since those apps run simultaneously with the other apps you use daily, your MacBook Pro will begin to overheat and underperform. This is because its memory usage and CPU performance increases.

Therefore, the quickest solution is to examine your Activity Monitor and close the apps that drain your MacBook Pro.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Go to Finder.
• Click on Applications.
• Go to Utilities and open the Activity Monitor.
• Examine the list of programs and close the applications that are causing your CPU to overperform.
• You can also uninstall the programs that you don’t use often or at all.

1.  Make sure your operating system and applications is updated.

If your MacBook Pro is overheating, it could also be because the operating system is outdated. This could cause your laptop to have problems with compatibility, memory usage, and even CPU performance.

Here’s what you need to do to update your operating system:

• Go to the Apple menu located at the top left corner of your screen.
• Go to System Settings.
• Go to General, then click on Software Update.
• If there is an available update, install it immediately.

Additionally, if your applications are outdated, here’s what you need to do to update them:

• Go to the Apple menu.
• Go to the App Store.
• Go to the Updates tab to see which applications need to be updated.
• Click on the Update button next to each app, and update them accordingly.
• Alternatively, you can check each app’s built-in update settings if you’d prefer not to follow these steps.

1. Clean your MacBook Pro regularly.

Laptop hygiene slips our minds often, but it’s definitely important if you want to keep your laptop cool. The ventilation slots must be unclogged at all times, which means that if you see any dirt or debris, get rid of it immediately!

The ventilation slots will either be under the laptop, above its keyboard, or under the display hinge, depending on the MacBook Pro model that you have.

Before cleaning your Macbook Pro, ensure you have all the necessary cleaning supplies. These include:

• A soft brush
• A microfiber cloth
• A can of compressed air.

Here’s how to keep your MacBook clean:

• Switch it off before you start to clean it and unplug the charger.
• Examine the vents and use the soft brush to sweep any dust or debris away gently.
• Do not put too much pressure on the vents.
• You might not be able to get all the dirt with the brush, so use the compressed air to get rid of any remaining dust.
• Hold the can of compressed air at least six inches away from the vents, and spray it into the vents in quick, short bursts.
• Make sure you hold the can straight as you spray to prevent moisture from entering the vents.
• Use the microfiber cloth and wipe down the MacBook’s exterior.

We highly recommend cleaning your Mac every few weeks.

1. Close your extra tabs.

Having multiple tabs open at all times on a computer is something that’s become a running joke over time. While it can be comforting to see all your tabs open on your MacBook, having too many open tabs can make your MacBook overheat regularly.

The simplest thing to do is to go through each tab and determine whether or not it needs to be open! If it doesn’t, close it, and you’ll find that your laptop will cool down quickly.

Why is it bad if my MacBook Pro overheats?

As I mentioned in the section above, an overheated MacBook results in both short and long-term problems.

Let’s take a closer look at why it’s bad if it overheats.

1. It can result in health problems.

An overheated MacBook can burn your skin if you keep it on your lap or stomach for extended periods of time. Additionally, the ionising radiation is bad for your body, causing fertility, muscular, and sleep problems.

1. It can damage the hardware.

When your MacBook overheats, it damages its hardware and internal components. These include the hard drive and battery, which are expensive to replace or repair. Therefore, preventing overheating is crucial so that you don’t have to spend a ton of money fixing your MacBook.

1. It slows down the MacBook’s performance capabilities.

When your MacBook gets too hot, its CPU overexerts itself to help reduce the heat. However, this reduces battery life and makes your MacBook move more slowly. Additionally, it could cause your MacBook to shut down randomly, resulting in you losing data.

Conclusion

An overheated MacBook Pro sounds like my idea of a nightmare, especially as someone who relies on my computer to get me through my work week. In this article, I took you through a list of the causes and solutions to prevent your MacBook Pro from getting too hot and to help it remain cool. All of the solutions are easy to implement and follow, and best of all, they’re free!