Has your tablet been getting hot recently? I mean, really hot, like “can’t touch this” kind of hot. If it is, something is clearly wrong here. Never fear, this heating issue may not be the end of your device. The good news is that almost all these issues can be fixed very simply, and for little to no cost to you!
Why do tablets get hot? There is a multitude of reasons why tablets and other electronic gets hot, but you’ll most often find the issue to be:
- Overuse
- Intense use
- Screen brightness
- Overcharging
- Impatient charging
- Tablet case blocking the vent
- Faulty cooling system
Overheating for long periods of time can have devastating effects on your tablet; it could even lead to the need to buy a new one altogether. But oftentimes the issue is something minor, that even an amateur techy or someone without technical training can do simply! Here is a deeper look at common issues that plague our devices and what you can do about them. Just make sure to find and fix the issue quickly!
For visual learners looking to know more about why their tablet is getting hot and don't want to read this article, we've got you covered – here's a video we've put together based on the main things you need to know about:
Main Reasons Your Tablet Gets Hot – and How to Fix It
There are a few main topics each reason falls into:
- How you’re using your device
- A battery problem
- A cooling issue
We’ll talk about each category in more detail below.
How You Are Using Your Device
Misusage of your device is probably the biggest cause of overheating for just about any electronic, whether it be a phone, tablet, or handheld video game system.
Electronics are powerful tools, so powerful that we use them just about every day of our lives at some point.
But how much do you know about maintaining them? Most people don’t bother reading any more than the back of the box and assume that these devices are maintenance-free.
But tools require care if they are going to last long. Picking up your user manual could help extend the life of your tablet and reduce the need for repairs.
Regular updates, reboots, and shutdowns will help keep everything running smoothly for a lot longer.
But how does the way you use your device cause it to overheat? Isn’t the issue some kind of internal, mechanical failure? Let’s look deeper at the common ways your misusage can cause heating issues and hat you can do about them.
- Over usage
Over usage is one of the most common issues for people who use your device for business or schoolwork. Running multiple apps at once and for long periods of time will make your tablet work harder than it would if you were running one app or many apps in short bursts. The harder your tablet works, the more energy it uses, the more energy it uses, the hotter it gets.
Often, people don’t even realize that they are running multiple apps at once. Did you know that hitting the home button doesn’t close your apps? Most apps will continue running in the background, sometimes for days, until closed properly. This means that you could have all the apps you opened in the last week running 24 hours a day! No wonder your tablet is running hot; it’s been working and full power for days on end!
Make sure to close all apps properly when you’re done with them. If you didn’t get a pop-up message saying, ‘Are you sure you want to leave the app?’ then nine times out of 10, your app didn’t close but was instead pushed to the background.
Another good practice is to close recently used apps. A lot of phones have ways of clearing out these apps, which closes anything you might have left open. Again, it’s always a good idea to check out your devices manual to see if you have this feature.
If you don’t, or if you can’t figure out how to do this, there are apps you can download that will help you close apps right.
- Intensive Usage
Another common issue is intensive usage. If you are a gamer or someone who watches a lot of videos on your tablet, this is probably the issue.
Many videos and some games use HD graphics to bring consumers a realistic and/or immersive experience. But it takes a lot of work for your tablet to bring you these graphics, and if you run them for a long time, you are almost sure to overheat your device.
That’s not to say that you shouldn’t do these things. Watching videos and playing games are some of the most common usages people get out of there tablets, and your device should be able to handle them.
But keep an eye on how long you do these energy and graphic-intense activities without a break.
Binge-watching The Simpsons in one sitting is a lot on your poor old tablet (and probably your eyes and brain too, but if those are overheating you have a whole other problem on your hands and should most likely be dealing with that first, but I’m not here to judge you.)
- Screen brightness
Your screen is a big source of heat for your tablet and is more than capable of overheating your device on its own.
Half of your tablet is its screen, after all, so the health of your screen is important to maintaining your device and managing its temperature, If your tablet is getting hot, dimming the brightness on your screen lessens the energy expended by it, and can help keep it cooler for longer.
Additionally, looking at a screen at full brightness isn’t good for your eyes. Can’t you just hear your mom telling you to scoot back from the tv when you were a kid? The same logic applies to your smart tablet.
Now that everyone has an HD screen or two in their pockets, your eyes are in more danger than ever before! But, if you are determined to binge-watch on your tablet, turning down the brightness on the screen is something you might want to try to prevent overheating. Your tablet, your eyes, and possibly your mother might thank you for it.
Battery Issues
If it’s portable and electronic, your device has a battery in it. It’s one of, if not the most crucial parts of your tablet.
So, it’s important to keep up its maintenance and make sure it’s in good working condition. Battery issues are common and easily fixed, as they aren’t that expensive to outright replace, but you should always make sure to take care of your battery’s health, as it can lead to serious, even dangerous problems,
There have been rare cases, mainly in cell phones, where the battery has actually exploded and done harm to people. But what causes a tablet’s battery to overheat, and what do you do about it?
- Overcharging
Charging our electronics is one of the simplest things we do to maintain them, but most people harm their devices in the process.
Typically, we plug in our tablets after we’ve finished with them or at the end of the day and unplug them when were need them again or at the beginning of the next day. But the set-it-and-forget-it habit is actually bad for your tablet as it usually causes overcharging.
Overcharging the tablet will cause it to throw off more heat than normal, and often degrades your battery. Consistently overcharged batteries hold weaker charges and will die faster, which means you will be charging them more often.
Some devices have proception against overcharging built-in and will go into a battery guard mode when left on a charger for too long. But whether you have this feature or not, always try to unplug your tablet after it reaches full power, then turn it off. That will conserve battery power as well as the battery’s quality.
- Impatient Charging
Another common mistake people make is using your device while it’s charging.
Nobody likes to wait for the device to charge, and somehow you always need it more when the battery is low than when it’s full. But by using your device while it’s charging, you are causing the battery to work double time.
You might think that using a tablet while it’s charging is exactly the same as using a corded device, that you are just using energy from the outlet. But this is not so.
Your device is built to get energy from one source and one source only, its battery. When you use your tablet while it’s charging, your battery is taking in, and attempting to store energy, while simultaneously sending out energy.
This is one of the quickest ways to destroy your battery, overheat your device, and may or may not result in an explosion. So, try to avoid using your tablet, or any electronic really, while its plugged in.
- Bad Battery
If you started implementing these practices and your battery is still overheating, it may already be too late for it.
You can’t fix a bad battery, but for most devices, you can replace the battery, and a new one will only put you back $10-$30. Of course, a new tablet can cost anywhere from $50-$200, so really, it is a judgment call on whether to replace a part or just get an upgrade.
But replacing your battery can go a long way into extending the life of your device if you are looking to keep what you have for a while. And if you do have a bad battery, make sure to replace it as soon as possible. A battery is replaceable, but it can do harm to the rest of your tablet if left unchecked for too long.
Cooling Problems
Electricity runs hot, so a little heat is inevitable. Your tablets manufacturer has taken this into consideration and has factored in ways to cool your tablet off in its design.
For large electronics, like desktop computers, this means fans or liquid coolant systems. A tablet is too small for that, so how does a tablet keep cool in the first place? Well, the first thing is that they are designed for efficiency; they only use as much energy as necessary, and they are limited in how much energy they can use.
And second is that the cases are designed to help keep it cool, this is the reason a lot of the casings on a tablet are so thin, to let heat escape easier. Most cases also have small air vents that help push out hot air and pull in cooler air.
- Venting issues
If your tablet starts heating up, just by you turning it on, you may have a venting issue. But what’s causing it? You might be surprised to know that it could very well be your tablet case!
Most people buy fun cases for their devices to protect them, but sometimes they can cause major problems. Your case could be preventing heat from escaping, or it could be blocking a vent somewhere. Try removing your tablet from its case and see if the tablet cools down quicker.
Carefully check around your tablet’s edges to see if there are any venting holes that might have been covered up by your case. If your tablet cools quicker, or if you do notice holes that are covered by the casing, then it’s your case that’s the issue, not your tablet.
Some cases are compatible with multiple brands, series, and tablet types in size, but if it’s an off-brand or not made for your device specifically, then you run the risk of the venting being blocked. You will need to get a new case, when your shopping, make sure that you get a case from a decent brand, and that its compatible with (and preferably made for) your device.
- Bad cooling
The heating issue could be a manufacturer defect, something wrong with the design of the device itself.
In 2017 Samsung had an issue with exploding phones. The issue turned out to be bad batteries, but the fact remains that sometimes even trusted companies can have a production issue that impacts the customer experience.
If you believe that you have a device with a faulty cooling system, you should have it checked out quickly. If it truly is a manufacturer default, you could get it fixed or replaced for free!
Checklist: What to Do When Your Tablet Is Getting Hot
So, if your tablet starts getting hot, don’t panic, and don’t write it off as a lost cause! Here is a simple checklist of things to do to cool your tablet down.
- Clear out some processing power!
Close all unnecessary apps and programs and make sure there is nothing running in the background. This is one of the simplest and surprisingly effective ways to cool your device down.
- Give your tablet a break!
Being on your device 24/7 isn’t good for its health any more than it is for yours! Take breaks in between intense usage, like watching videos or playing games.
- Tone it down, just a bit!
Turn down the brightness on your screen; it will reduce the energy-burning and lessen the strain on your battery, and your eyes too!
- Go somewhere cooler.
If you’re in a hot area, your device is going to run hotter, try and chill it out somewhere cool if possible, and/or avoid using it for long periods in hot conditions,
- Take it out of its case.
Something as simple as an ill-fitting case could be what’s causing your tablet to heat up. When you slip off the case, if you see any venting holes had been covered you, you found your issue.
- Never use your tablet while it’s charging!
Being impatient and using your device while its charging can be one of the worst things you can do for it. Unless it’s an emergency, step away from the tablet while it’s charging.
- Keep an eye on how long you are charging your tablet.
Pay attention to your charging routine, and unless you have a device with power protection, try not to charge it overnight. Overcharging can do a lot more harm to your battery than you think, so be mindful!
- Consider replacing the battery.
If you have run through the list thus far and nothing is working, it might be time to replace the battery. Don’t worry though, replacement batteries generally aren’t very expensive, and it certainly beats replacing your whole tablet.
- Consult your local geeks or geek website.
Geeks are your friends! They have loads of useful info and are there to lend a hand! If there’s a recall or well knows the issue with your type of device, your geeks might have a solution to your problem with just a glance at your device.
Don’t Panic; A Little Heat Doesn’t Mean the End of Your Tablet
An overheating tablet doesn’t signal the death of your device. Most heating issues can be fixed by pressing a few buttons or just by giving your tablet a break. But you should always make sure to address an issue like overheating right away, as it can lead to bigger, sometimes dangerous consequences.
Taking small measures to take care of your tablet can increase the usage you pull out of it by a lot!!