After using your laptop for some time it is not unusual to find that the machine tends to get very hot depending on what conditions you are using it in. It is important to continuously monitor your laptop to reduce the risk of not only damaging your laptop from being overheated but also yourself, as an overheated laptop is not always the most comfortable device to work with.

Firstly you should always make certain that when using your laptop it is placed on a hard surface such as a desk or solid table. This means that the built-in fans have room to circulate air around the machinery inside. If you were to use your laptop on a carpet or bed for example it would restrict the air flow and could block the fans resulting in an over-heated laptop.  

Surprisingly the brightness of your laptops display can sometimes generate quite a bit of heat so by turning this down to as little as needed will not only save your battery life but will also prevent your laptop from overheating for longer too.

The more strain you put your laptop under could also increase the chances of it overheating. For example having multiple applications open at once with lots of USB devices connected could over work your laptop. Depending on your laptop’s capabilities, you may be better only having the programs open you need rather than many open at one time.  

The power saver mode on your laptop will help enormously with keeping your laptop cool. Most laptops will come with this option and by using its method of turning down the display brightness and spinning down the hard drives if your laptop is idle, it will have a big effect on the amount of heat that is being generated.

Of course the most obvious and quickest way to cool your laptop down is to use it in a cool environment. Sitting in the sun or next to a radiator is not going to have any benefits for your laptops condition, so why not move into somewhere air conditioned, or better yet some where outside in the shade.