How To Check If Your Laptop Fan Is Working Or Not

If your laptop is overheating, then you might be wondering how to check laptop fan is working or not.

Having a laptop fan stop working can be detrimental to the health of the laptop since its internal components will be prone to thermal throttling. When a laptop overheats, its performance will be impacted and the components can be damaged as well.

In this guide, we will walk you through the step-by-step process of checking if your laptop’s fan is working or not.

How to check laptop fan is working or not?

In order to check whether your laptop’s fan is working or not, you can perform the following steps:

• Run a demanding program or game
• Listen to the fans closely
• Check if there is a broken fan
• Feel the warm air coming from the vents
• Use a piece of paper to check the vents
• Monitor the CPU and GPU temperatures
• Use Windows Diagnostics
• Use third-party monitoring software

Steps to check if a laptop fan is working or not

If you suspect a problem with your laptop fans, then it is best to check the fans yourself using the following methods. We will now explain the methods one by one.

Listen to the fan

The first thing you should do in this case is to listen to the fans yourself. For the best results, you should first run a demanding application or game in order to put a load on the CPU and/or GPU.

Once the CPU and GPU are stressed, the standard fan curve of the laptop will command the fans to ramp up. Bring your ear closer to the fans and listen closely. The fans are mostly located near the top left and top right corners of the keyboard.

Listen closely for a humming or whirring sound coming from those parts. You can also listen closely near the air vents usually located on the sides or the back of most laptops. Also, try to listen for unusual sounds like clicks which can indicate a problem with the fan.

If you can physically hear the fans when the laptop is put under load, then the fans are functioning properly. Speaking of fan noise, we also have a guide on why is my laptop fan so loud!

Check The Air Vents

After listening to the fans, you should feel the air coming out of the vents. This can not only tell you if laptop fan works, but also if they are working to their full potential.

For this step, you should also use a demanding application to put a load on the CPU and GPU. After the application has started, put your hand in front of the air vents of the laptop. These are usually found on the sides and back of the laptop.

If you do not feel any air coming out of the laptop, then the fans are not in working condition. You can also try a small piece of paper to test it with more sensitivity.

Cut a thin and long strip of paper and hold it in front of the air vents while grabbing onto one end of the strip. If the paper moves, then there is hot air coming out of the vents indicating that the fans are working.

Using these two methods, you should be able to sense whether or not the fans inside the laptop are working.

Check the temperatures

Another key way of checking whether or not the fan is working is by monitoring the temperatures of the laptop. Since the laptop fan is a critical component of the laptop’s cooling unit, we can directly check it by analyzing the temperatures.

A malfunctioning or damaged laptop fan will directly cause the temperatures of the CPU and GPU to rise out of control when the system is put under load. In order to test this, you should put the laptop under stress using a demanding application, game, or benchmark program.

Monitor the CPU and GPU temperatures using a program like MSI Afterburner. If you see the CPU/GPU temperatures climbing past 85-90 C within a few seconds of the benchmark test, then there is definitely something wrong with the cooling unit.

While the benchmark test is running, you can also try to listen closely to the fan noise. If there is no fan noise and the CPU/GPU temperatures keep climbing past 90 C, then you can safely assume that the laptop fan is not working.

Using Windows Diagnostics

You can also check for a malfunctioning fan automatically using Windows Diagnostics. In most cases of hardware failure, the Windows Diagnostics program will successfully diagnose that the laptop fan is not working.

In order to access the Diagnostics, follow the following steps:

1. Turn off your laptop completely.
2. Disconnect any attached devices.
3. Wait for 10-15 seconds.
4. Power on your laptop.
5. Repeatedly press F12 at the start.
6. The Windows Diagnostics will appear.

Here, you can check the fan speeds of your laptop and their status.

Use third-party software

Finally, you can also check the status of your laptop fan using third-party software. In fact, these software programs are often the gold standard for diagnosing problems with laptop fans.

Multiple software programs are available for free on the internet that can help you diagnose the status of your laptop fan. However, some of the more advanced programs may be paid for as well.

For Windows laptops, you can use HWMonitor, RealTemp, or SpeedFan. If you are on the macOS platform, we recommend the iStart Menus program.

Just open these applications and you will get a load of information about your laptop’s hardware including the speed and status of your fans.

How to fix laptop overheating issues

Say you have diagnosed that your laptop fan is not working. In this situation, you should take a couple of precautions in order to protect your laptop from damage.

Clean the laptop

First of all, it is important to thoroughly clean the laptop, inside and out. We have a comprehensive guide on how to clean a touch screen laptop which can be very helpful in this scenario.

The main thing that you should do is to remove dust from the inside of the chassis. In many cases, dust buildup can jam or block the fan blades and lead to overheating. This can be done easily using a can of compressed air.

Cleaning your laptop will also lower its temperatures, allowing you to use the laptop a bit more safely.

Put the laptop in power-saving mode

The next step involves putting your laptop in power-saving mode. This mode usually limits the amount of power that is going to the CPU and GPU, therefore preventing them from overheating.

You will definitely lose performance in this mode, but it will protect the components from damage while your laptop fan is not working.

Just search for “Power Options” in the start menu and alter the plan from “Balanced” to “Power Saving”. On a related note, you may also be interested in how many watts does a laptop consume?

Do not use demanding applications

It is important that while the laptop fan is not working, you do not use any demanding applications or play any games. Any program that puts the CPU and GPU under load can cause the laptop to overheat very quickly.

You can still use the laptop for basic word processing, browsing, and casual work. An overheating laptop will lose performance, as we noted in our guide on why is my Dell laptop so slow.

Replace the cooling fan

Finally, the laptop fan needs to be replaced as quickly as possible. While you can scrape by with a damaged fan, it is definitely not ideal and you are putting the machine at risk.

If your laptop is covered by warranty, definitely get in touch with your laptop’s manufacturer and file an RMA complaint for the fan.

In the case of an expired warranty, you will either have to replace the fan yourself or trust a local laptop repair shop.

Fortunately, a fan replacement is not a complicated repair job and you can do it yourself using specific instructions from the internet.

FAQs:

How long do laptop cooling fans last?

Laptop cooling fans can last from around 60,000 to 70,000 hours based on their ratings, but that is not the case for every laptop fan. The conditions of the fan’s operation play a vital role in its life span. If you regularly clean your laptop, use it carefully, and the fans always have access to fresh air, then you can extend their lifespan.

Can I use my laptop without the fan?

You can use your laptop without the fan but it is not advised at all. The fan is an integral part of the laptop’s cooling system. If it stops working, then the internal components will overheat really quickly once the laptop is put under load. Overheating is bad for short-term performance and long-term stability.

Can I replace the laptop fans myself?

You can replace the laptop fans yourself using specific instructions. These instructions are different for each laptop model but they can be easily found online. You can order the particular laptop fans with the required parts, and try to assemble them yourself thanks to the internet.

How do I check the fan status on my laptop?

You can check the fan status on your laptop using the Windows Diagnostics tool from startup. Moreover, many laptops show the fan status in the BIOS as well. If both of these methods do not work, you can monitor the fan speed and status using a third-party application like SpeedFan.