This is weird, but all of a suddenly my MacBook Pro is running really hot and the fan keeps turning on. Not a big deal, but I’m used to it being quiet and smooth without ever even being aware of its temperature. Is there a power supply problem, as my Dad suggests, or is it something else going on? I’m just afraid that my Mac is about to die and that’d be a disaster!
First things first: you need to ensure that you always have a reliable backup strategy in place and that it works. Are you doing that? If you aren’t, then I will share that I’m a big fan of my Apple Time Capsule. Hook it up and you can literally forget about it: every time you’re in the same place as the device, it’ll automatically start backing up, thanks to the magic of Time Machine. As I write this a 1TB unit that has lots of other features runs under $300, which is nothing compared to the cost of losing your data!
Now, let’s look at your heat issue. While there are a number of reasons that your Mac can be heating up, including some scary hardware problems – like a failing power supply – that would mean you need to take it in for repair ASAP – it’s more likely that you have a wedged process that is causing the CPU to run full-tilt and heat up. Yup, it’s like your brain: if you use it a lot, your computer gets a bit of a headache. 🙂
It’s not easy to find, but Apple actually includes a utility with Mac OS X that lets you find out if you have a runaway process of this nature. I think that’s a good place to start!
The app is called “Activity Monitor” and you can find it in Applications –> Utilities. Launch it and you’ll see something like this:
You can see what processes you have running, what’s touching your disk (another possible cause of overheating, btw: a process that’s thrashing the disk (really, that’s the tech term for it) and causing the drive to heat up), and lots of other interesting information about how your computer is doing.
If you’re having problems with insufficient memory, you can also see what apps are eating up your RAM too. Notice in this screen shot that Chromium (Google’s developer version of Chrome) is using 192MB of RAM, along with its helper apps that are eating up another 100MB or more. Fortunately I have 4GB of RAM so there’s plenty of space (you can check how much RAM you have by choosing “About This Mac” from the Apple menu, btw).
We’re interested in CPU usage, however, so notice on the column headings there’s one that says “% CPU”. Click on it and if you now see those apps that have 0.0 on top, click on it again to change the sorting order.
Now you should see something like this:
Watch it for a few minutes. If you have an app that consistently is at 90% or more (as I have here with GrowlHelperApp) then you need to quit this application and see if it helps your computer cool off and slow down. To do that, click on the name of the app, then click on the red “Quit Process” stop sign icon on the top.
You’ll be asked:
Your two choices are “Quit” or “Force Quit”. Do the former. If it doesn’t work, then do a force quit. The difference is that a regular “quit” lets the application shut down gracefully, saving state files, deleting any temporary or scratch data, etc. A force quit is the operating system ripping the virtual heart out of the app without mercy. Yeah, it’s brutal and you should only use it as a last resort (unless you’re a fan of that sort of thing).
I’m betting that your computer will cool off and you’ll be relieved not to have a hardware problem.
Now, the question is: why is the app running out of control? Sometimes it’s just a random occurrence and it won’t happen again for months, if ever. In other cases, something’s changed and the app has become unstable for some reason, as is the case with Growl on my Mac. In that case, make sure you have the very latest version of the software, and if it’s still a problem, drop an email to the developer letting them know what you’re seeing and check to see if they have any suggestions.
Good luck, I hope that helps your MacBook heat problem as it did mine.
Wow! This actually worked instantly. My Spotify app and the ” Spotify Helper” Were running at 97% and 72%. I forced quit the Helper that was at 97% but it just came back up I’am assuming thats because the Spotify app itself was still running. So I quit both and my fan slowed down right away and then finally turned off. After my computer has been running like this for 2 weeks. Thanks so much for the help!!
My mac book pro is running hot as well. I tried to quit and force quit a process that is eating up power but it won’t quit. What do I do?
What process are you trying to force quit, Debbie? Some are related to the OS and can’t be killed…
Thanks Dave! my computer is back to normal! no fan ON, not overheating! cheers!
Dave Taylor,,,, you are a ROCKSTAR !!!!! My laptop is 572 degrees cooler thanks to you. My thighs thank you as well.
I too noticed my macbook pro was getting hot, and I am so glad I found your solution. It turns out that the remote connection for my work (Data Anywhere) was running at something over 300%! I needed to restart the laptop before I could actually get the remote program to quit, but now that I have it is running perfectly again. Thank you!
I’m so glad I found you! Your information solved my problem. Thanks!
WOW! thanks so much that helped! My Mac had the fan on for the past 3 days whenever I would use it. It would even stay on for up to 5 min after I closed my laptop. About a minute after I quit the program running 94% the fan shut off!! Thanks for saving my laptop!
I wanted to ad this someplace as far as the internet knowledge base… I had a hot macbook pro, and ha no idea why. Moved to romania an then Spain, and things rapidly got worse. I blamed the internet dongle an a bunch of things. Finally the machine appeared to die. It would run around 170 degrees F and then bolt up and just pass away, and I could turn it on the next day for about 20 minutes.
I was desperate and brought it to a tech. I described everything and he said either the motherboard or the fans. I’d already opened it, so I knew it wasnt the fans. We made plans for him to help me get the data off the hard drive.
Next day he calls me and says “its working fine…” Apparently one loose connection and the bad distancing of contacts in the metal power cord were combining to make the mac work harder… and when this guy (for 20 euro!!!) made the changes, the computer was operating at 110-130 F instead of 150-180.
I never thought to check the connections on my pull-away cord… but knowing a little about electricity, and seeing the actual measured results… I have to admit I was amazed and cant believe people assume such a narrow view of the potential issues… which can really be rather simple.
Thank you for this very simple fix! It was also my iTunes using up 90% and causing my Mac to run hot. It’s been about 2 minutes since I closed it and the fan is off and it is nice and cool. Perfect.
Thank you.. I was able to figure out that my iTunes was heating it up. Quit the app and it cooled right off. Appreciate the help!
Dave: Thanks for the great article that quickly explained and fixed my problem. Going crazy for a week trying to figure it out before my Mac died and this was my fix. Thanks again.
Thank you so much. This fixed my computer problem.
Excellent article, Dave – I love the Activity Monitor. I’m only used to the minimalistic top tool. My Wacom Pen Tablet Driver was out of control at 40%, only happens every other week or so (even though I’m not using a tablet at the moment). Today it was enough to drain my battery, but because I was working in a loud environment I didn’t notice it was running hot. Let’s see if the latest driver version will calm things down a bit.
Thanks again!
Awesome…thanks! I went to activity monitor and had to force quit I tunes. Within seconds the fan stopped and my macbook pro cooled down.
Thanks Dave – brill fix – easy to check and correct – google chrome helper was secretly stealing cpu – and burning my macbook bottom 🙂 all cool now.
Thank you so much. I found an HP app that was consuming 99% CPU and once I quit that my Mac has returned to normal! Brilliant instructions for an old lady like me to follow too. What a wonderful service.
This was SPOT ON! My MacBook Pro was burning up and the fan was constantly running because of some Adobe PDF Viewer internet Plugin. Didn’t even know it was taking up 100% of my CPU. I hope it didn’t cause any permanent damage. Thank so much!