One common problem Mac users experience is overheating. Not when a Mac is new, but when they get older and are full of files, images, videos, and apps that slow down processing speeds, causing them to overheat.

So if you’ve been working away and your Mac is hot to the touch. Like hot enough to fry an egg? Don’t worry; this can be fixed. Or what about when the fans are running so loud it sounds like a lawnmower? Again, both are signs that your Mac is overheating.

The Menu bar. The Menu bar sits at the very top of your Mac's screen. It houses the Apple menu, which will get you to all of your system settings, the app menu, which is specific to the app you are currently using, computer status shortcuts and third-party quick look tools, Spotlight, and Siri. The player is having trouble. We’ll have it back up and running as soon as possible. This opens in a new window. Find and fix learning gaps with differentiated learning in all K-8 subjects. Pinpoint missing skills and map student progress with quick formative assessments. Engage the entire class with Fluency Games, Whiteboard Activities,.

An overheating Mac isn’t something you want to try and ignore for too long. Apart from the fact the fans are noisy and distracting, and the hot temperature is irritating, your Mac could - probably will - crash and shut down. If you are working on something and haven't saved recently, you could lose important files. Worse than that, you could risk the Mac suffering irreparable file damage, potentially erasing files, systems, and images you need and don't have backed-up.

Anti-overheating tools, free

Try a set of solutions that help you prevent a Mac from overheating. No more worrying about your computer's health.

Why is my Mac overheating?

Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this. It depends on how often your Mac overheats.

Assuming this is a recent development, then it could be a sign of an overworked Mac. Too many files, taking up too much space on the hard drive, or too many systems, apps or browser tabs open at once. Especially if they’re heavy programs, consuming a lot of processing space and memory while you are running other apps, such as Spotify and have multiple browser tabs open.

All of that activity can slow a Mac down and cause it to overheat. So most people won’t need to see an expert; this is something that can be fixed at home or wherever your Mac is overheating. Remember, even MacBook Pro’s are relatively compact devices. Excess heat doesn't have many places to go, so when a Mac is overworked, it will start to get hot. What you want to avoid is when it gets too hot, the fans get too loud and processes slow down.

We’ve put together this guide to help stop a Mac overheating and avoid it in the future.

How to stop a Mac from overheating

Firstly, you need to know what is causing the Mac to overheat.

You can get iStat Menus for the job, a handy app to monitor your Mac system stats, control the speed of fans in your Mac, and quickly identify what’s absorbing so much CPU processing power.

iStat Menus can’t lower fans below the speed the SMC would normally use, but it can raise the fan speeds.

If you’re notice issues with fans, resetting your SMC should resolve the problem.

Close all of the apps running in the background and anything else that is using more computing power than looks wise. Unlike Activity Monitor, iStat Menus provides users with more data and insights, making it easier to manage to overheat. You can get this from Setapp, along with hundreds of other apps for Mac customers, all for one convenient monthly price.

Once you know what was causing it to overheat, you should be able to carry on working as normal. If it happens again, you may need to look at over solutions. We have a couple in mind.

The first thing to do is to declutter your Mac. Older Macs are going to be full of documents, apps, images, videos you don't need. Just like a house, when all of that clutter gets in the way, you can’t find what you do need. Your Mac struggles the same way, causing it to overheat.

If while you’re tracking your Mac’s performance with iStat Menus you start noticing signs that gravitating towards overheating, try another app from Setapp collection, CleanMyMac X, a cleaning software.

CleanMyMac comes highly recommended, as the easiest, most efficient way to identify problems, applications, and settings that cause Macs to overheat, then clean them. Both apps are available on Setapp subscription and you can use them for free for a week.

When you’re running a drive cleanup, you might find that the files that take up the most space on your Mac are actually quite important to you. Large video files and huge image folders, 3D projects or movie renders, all kinds of important and increasingly megabyte-hungry items.

Consider moving large files into the cloud. It’s a win-win because if they’re important, this way you won’t lose them and at the same time they won’t take up space on your Mac. Whichever cloud hosting provider you choose, there’s a really handy app to manage and share all your files from the cloud, it’s called Dropshare. It feels like a native part of your macOS and works as a single platform for all cloud storage accounts that you have.

Another way to reduce heavy CPU usage is to fix system issues or lighten up heavy apps. CleanMyMac X has a couple of tools for that. For instance, you can open its Maintenance tab and see Reindex Spotlight, Repair Disk Permissions, and Run Maintenance scripts. Simply select these tasks and hit Run.

After that, run a scan on System Junk and when it’s ready, find the apps with the largest cache (usually browsers and messengers) and clean up their cache.
Important: depending on the app, you might lose histories and preferences, but if it’s the reason your Mac overheats, it’s worth it.

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Assuming shutting down browser tabs and apps, decluttering and cloud storing didn’t work; you need to look at any physical reasons for an overheating Mac. Check the following:

• Are you working on a flat surface? Macs more effectively displace heat when on a flat surface, not bed covers or other uneven surfaces.
• Are you outside in the sun? As tempting as it can be when it’s hot, working outside is one of the quickest and surest ways to experience an overheating Mac. In some cases, they will simply crash.
• Are your vents/fans covered? Are you using any third-party devices to manipulate the fans? In either scenario, you risk overheating and need to unplug anything that could influence the fans.
• Are you in a dusty environment? Macs don't do well in dust. Once it gets in the fans, it could cause serious overheating problems.

Assuming you’ve done/checked all of those options and your Mac is still struggling, it’s time to look at an alternative solution. Your Mac could be too full of things that are slowing it down.

How to keep a Mac from overheating

To begin with, you need to define overheating and catch early it when it happens. To monitor the temperature of your Mac, use iStat Menus that we mentioned earlier. It looks into your system and gives you timely updates on CPU temperature, which is a key indicator you need to prevent overheating.

iStat Menus can’t lower fans below the speed the System Management Controller (SMC) would normally use, but it can raise the fan speeds.

Then, you can get timely notifications from iStat Menus when your Mac is near dangerous temperature. This will help you mitigate potential damage or data loss and tone down CPU usage before anything crashes.

That’s about it on the subject of Mac getting hotter than it should. We hope this guide has been of help and if you want to make sure your favorite computer stays cool, get iStat Menus with monitors and CleanMyMac with maintenance tools in Setapp, that should cover your needs.

Prevent Mac overheating

As your Mac is getting older, don't let it get hotter. Here's a toolkit for keeping a computer in a good shape.

In case after both fixes and manual troubleshooting, your Mac is still overheating, you might need to book in with a Mac specialist. More extensive problems may require a trip to a certified Mac Consultants Network retailer, or Mac support from your nearest Apple Genius Bar. Apple Support can also offer help online or over the phone - you just need to book an appointment first. Take care of your Mac and have a good day. Cheers!

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Play

Use the playback controls to play, pause, rewind, fast-forward, adjust volume, and take other actions. The controls appear when you move your pointer over the QuickTime Player window, and they hide when you move your pointer away.

To move quickly forward or backward through the timeline, swipe with two fingers on your trackpad, scroll with your mouse, or drag the handle in the timeline. You can also repeatedly click fast-forward or rewind to increase playback speed in increments.

To view a video in full screen, click the full-screen button or choose View > Enter Full Screen. You can also use split-screen view and stream videos to your Apple TV from QuickTime Player.

Record

QuickTime Player can record a movie from your camera, or record the screen of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. It can also record audio from a microphone or record the screen of your Mac.

Record a movie

Movie recording works with your built-in camera and many external cameras. If you're using OS X Yosemite or later, you can also record the screen of any iOS device (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch) with a Lightning port and iOS 8 or later.

1. Choose File > New Movie Recording.
2. To change the recording settings, click the arrow next to the Record button. Then choose your camera or iOS device, microphone, and recording quality.
   
3. To monitor audio while it's being recorded, use the volume slider.
4. Click the Record button to start recording. Click it again to stop recording.

Record audio only

Audio recording works with your built-in microphone, external microphone, or other Core Audio-compliant audio device.

1. Choose File > New Audio Recording.
2. To change the recording settings, click the arrow next to the Record button. Then choose your microphone and recording quality.
3. To monitor audio while it's being recorded, use the volume slider.
4. Click the Record button to start recording. Click it again to stop recording.

Record your screen

Screen recording creates a movie of all or part of your Mac screen. For details, see How to record the screen on your Mac.

Open image sequence

QuickTime Player can create a movie from a sequence of still images. For example, you can use it to make a time-lapse or stop-motion movie from images you've already captured. Or try it with a batch of photos captured using burst mode on your iOS device.

1. Make sure that your image files are named in alphanumeric order, which is the order that they will appear in your movie.
2. Choose File > Open Image Sequence from the menu bar in QuickTime Player.
3. Select the images to use for your movie. Use Command-A to select all images, or press and hold the Shift key or Command key when clicking to select specific images. Then click Choose Media.
4. Choose a resolution, frame rate, and encoding, then click OK to create the movie.
   Example: If you have 60 images and choose a frame rate of 60 frames per second, your movie will be 1 second long.

Edit

QuickTime Player offers several options for editing your movie, including trim, split, cut/copy/paste/delete, remove audio/video, and flip/rotate.

Trim

Use the trim function to remove unwanted parts of your movie.

1. Choose Edit > Trim. The yellow trimming bar appears, with handles on each end.
   
2. Drag the handles to select the part to keep. You can also take these actions:
   
   • Click the Play button to play back the part selected.
   • Move quickly through the part selected by swiping with two fingers on your trackpad, scrolling with your mouse, or dragging within the trimming bar.
   • Choose View > Show Audio Track to identify quiet sections of the movie.
3. Click Trim. All video and audio outside the trimming bar is removed. To undo the trim, choose Edit > Undo Trim.

Split

Use the split function to split your movie into multiple sections that can be manipulated further.

1. Go to the point in the timeline where you want to make the split, then choose Edit > Split Clip.
   
2. From here you can take several actions:
   • Drag a clip before or after another clip.
   • Move through a clip by swiping with two fingers on your trackpad or scrolling with your mouse. At any point in the timeline, you can choose Edit > Split Clip to split the selected clip.
   • Choose View > Trim to trim the selected clip.
   • Choose View > Show Audio Track to identify quiet sections of the clip.
   • Select a clip and choose other editing commands from the Edit menu, such as Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete.
   • Click the Play button to play back all clips.
3. Click Done. To see your clips again, choose View > Show Clips. To undo your splits, choose Edit > Undo Split Clip.

Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete

Use the Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete commands from the Edit menu when you're editing split clips. If you're pasting a clip into another movie, you don't have to be editing clips in that movie: just go to any point in the timeline of the other movie, then paste the clip.

To quickly join movies together end to end, open the first movie, choose Edit > Add Clip to End, then select the other movie from the file dialog.

Remove audio or video

• To remove the audio track from your movie, choose Edit > Remove Audio.
• To remove the video track from your movie, choose Edit > Remove Video.

Flip, rotate

Use the flip and rotate commands from the Edit menu when you're viewing a movie or editing split clips. These commands flip or rotate the entire movie or clip.

Share

After saving your movie, you can share it by Mail, Messages, AirDrop, YouTube, and other methods:

• Open the file in QuickTime Player, then choose File > Share.
• Or open file in QuickTime Player, then click the Share button in the playback controls.
• Or Control-click the file in the Finder, then choose Share from the shortcut menu.

Learn more

• For more information, open QuickTime Player and choose Help > QuickTime Player Help.