Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 3 Feels Hot

This guide is for users who are experiencing a hot device, sometimes accompanied by louder operation. A simple troubleshooting guide will help users determine the culprit for their device’s problem with overheating. It is widely considered that laptops are to exceed 95°F (35°C). Temperatures above this limit could result in poor performance, reduced life expectancy, and burns to the user, as well as posing a fire threat.

Accessories stop working and/or have a significant delay or lag
Error messages involving heat-related issues and/or sudden shutdowns
Device feels abnormally hot, or smells like something is burning
Laptop doesn't last as long on battery power as it had in the past

If you don't know your laptop with a Windows operating system is running hot, try this:

Press the "windows" key while pressing "I" to bring up the settings menu
Select "system" from the left sidebar, then "recovery" from the right and "advanced startup" underneath with "restart now", this will restart the computer in BIOS mode
Then select "CPU Core Temp" after the unit restarts, this will tell you the current temperature of you computer.
Remember temps over 95*F (35*C) are concerning and intervention is required.

If the air vents are obstructed, or if airflow in or out is negatively affected. This can be from sitting on a surface such as a bed or a blanket, instead of a hard surface such as a desk or a table. This makes removing heat from the inside of your laptop difficult and ineffective.
Try placing your laptop on a hard cool surface and see if the symptoms persist. Also out of direct sunlight if you're in a warmer environment will also help. If that doesn't help, you'll have to continue checking other possible culprits.

If airflow through your machine isn’t the issue, it could be dirty. A cooling fan and heatsink, and vents covered with dust reduce the cooling efficiency of the device. These vents and ports don't filter incoming air, only keep larger debris from getting stuck inside the machine.
If you see that there is a lot of dust, lint, hair, etc., try using an aerosol computer duster on an open port to see if you can blow the debris out of the blocked port. If not you're going to have to take it apart, but don't worry I have a page showing how to do this right here: Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 3 If your machine is clean, it's time to check the fan operation.

If "Poor Airflow" isn't the problem, it’s time to look at the hardware and software of the machine. Hardware is physical components of the computer, whereas software is the programs inside the components telling then when and how to operate.
Hardware: Cooling fan, thermal paste, and battery
Check to see if the cooling fan is functioning. This can be done by listening for the “whir or hum”, feeling vibrations, and feeling airflow out of the exhaust vents.
Click Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 3 to go to my link for how to replace the cooling fan on your machine. Also page 73 of the Hardware Maintenance Manual found on the device page here: T14 Gen 3 and P14s Gen 3 Hardware Maintenance Manual
Software: Cooling fan driver and operating system
Check to see if all your drivers are up to date, and all updates have been installed. A corrupt or outdated driver could cause the computer to overheat.

Sometimes simply demanding too much from your laptop can cause it to run a higher than normal operating temperature to execute all the commands executing simultaneously.
Close any unnecessary programs or tabs that you're not currently using
Try using a third party applications that clears your RAM of unnecessary memory
Close anything downloading or uploading if not time sensitive. If it is time sensitive, let those finish before opening something else.

Resources:

https://www.asurion.com/connect/tech-tip...

https://www.howtogeek.com/884911/how-to-...