Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 3 Feels Hot

If your laptop is hot and the fan is louder than usual, follow this guide for potential solutions. It is widely considered that laptops should not 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.

• 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 application that clears your RAM of unnecessary memory
• Close anything downloading or uploading if it's not time-sensitive. If it is, let those finish before opening something else.

• 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 the laptop cleaning kit on the fan to remove dust and debris. To access the fan, follow this guide. 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.
• 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.
• Follow this guide 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
• 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.

Resources:

Asurion

How to Geek