Laptop Fan Too Loud? Try These 5 Easy Solutions (#1 & #5 worked for me!)
If your laptop is getting too noisy, you’ve probably got a loud cooling fan. Now, there can be a few major reasons why this can happens. A loud fan can be a result of dust and dirt accumulation.
Maybe you caught a virus or other malware while “doing your homework”, and it’s making the laptop work extra hard. It could also be that you’re straining the laptop by using too many processes at once.
So let’s break down each of these common problems and the most effective solutions you can implement right now.
1. Blow out the dust
The most common reason for a loud laptop fan (and fans in general) is dust accumulation. If there is a lot of dust inside your laptop, it will obstruct the fan blades and make them spin louder. This can in turn lead to overheating of the whole laptop.
If you let this go on for too long, other parts of the laptop, namely the processor can stop working. If that happens, your laptop is basically dead and you’ll have to buy a new one or leave civilization altogether. A laptop fan should be cleaned at least every 1-2 years to keep it working properly.
There are two ways to get the dust out; open up the laptop and clean it by yourself, or let a professional do it for you. If you want to do it by yourself, it’s really not complicated and it will save you money. Just make sure that you open the laptop gently.
REQUIRED TOOLS: a small screwdriver and a can of compressed air (or an air compressor)
- Power down the laptop
- Flip it over
- Remove the battery
- Find the air vent (usually located on the outer edge)
- Unscrew the panel and remove it
- The fan will be underneath the panel.
- Blow out the dust in short bursts. You may want to do this outside. Also, don’t move the nozzle too close to the fan.
- You’re done!
Also check out this visual tutorial for extra wisdom and knowledge:
A FAIR WARNING: If your laptop is still under warranty, opening it will void the warranty. So, if you still have the warranty on, you can take the laptop to the store and have them fix the problem instead of getting your hands dirty.
After following this simple procedure, your laptop will be super quiet. If the dust was causing the problem in the first place! If not, here are some other things to look into:
2. Get rid of Malware
Some viruses and other malware will make the computer work harder than usual. They eat up CPU and memory, and can slow down all the other processes as a result.
If you don’t have an anti-virus program installed already, I suggest you get one and let it scan your computer for any viruses, spybots and other malware.
Here is a list of the best free anti-virus programs. These can be downloaded for free, just check them up on Google. Most of these anti-virus programs have a premium option as well, that has more security options. But if you want to get a premium anti-virus program straight away, here are the best rated premium options.
Before doing this, also check out the working processes in your Task Manager. If you see any processes that seem strange, like many numbers or letters in chaotic order, it could be a virus.
Try Googling the name of the process to see if it’s a legitimate process. If nothing shows up, you’re probably dealing with malware. In that case, definitely download one of these anti-malware programs and let them eradicate this digital pest from the system!
3. Many processes opened at once
Having many processes working at the same time will make the fan spin louder to keep the laptop from overheating. That’s especially true if you have a weaker processor.
Sometimes it’s not your fault. You will open the Task Manager in Windows, or Activity Monitor in Mac, and find 10 or more Google Chrome processes stacked up, working at the same time! This is incredibly annoying because it slows down the laptop and makes it noisy. If you end the processes, Chrome crashes! If you have this obnoxious problem with Chrome, apply the fix from this article. It helped me!
Other times, it’s might be your own fault. For example, if you play a next-gen game, and listen to music on Youtube at the same time with multiple tabs opened as well. All of this activity will generate extra heat and make the fan work overtime! So examine if the way you use the laptop is connected to louder fan noise.
4. Use a laptop cooler
A laptop cooler will cool your laptop more effectively. It’s usually placed under the laptop and it provides a few extra cooling fans. This way you can increase the performance of the laptop and make sure that it never overheats.
It’s also great if you use the laptop in bed, because it’s basically like having a stand and it cools your legs and the laptop at the same time!
This is the most popular laptop cooler by far, with over 3500 customer reviews on Amazon:
5. Elevate the laptop
Cooling fans in laptops are located on the bottom side. Which means that they blow air on the surface on which the laptop is placed. If you can elevate the laptop so that there is more open space underneath it, the fan has a better chance of blowing the air and dust out.
I’ve placed hotels from Monopoly on each corner of my laptop to keep it elevated. Here are the pictures (but you’re not allowed to laugh!):
All joking aside, this is a neat option for improving laptop performance, especially if you keep your laptop in one place. But if you carry it around, it can get annoying adjusting the little pieces all the time.
Final Thoughts
Loud laptop fans and the accompanying problems are something that computer repair shops deal with on a daily basis. If someone invented the perfect laptop fan, I’m willing to bet that most of those shops would run out of business. So examine your laptop closely once more and diagnose the main issue. Then fix it by using the information in this article. Hope this helps!
