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How to Check CPU Temperature on Windows

Windows does not show processor temperature anywhere in its own interface. Task Manager reports load, clock speed and utilisation, but not heat — so the reading has to come either from the firmware before Windows starts, or from a program that talks to the sensor inside the chip. Here are the three approaches that actually work, in the order most people should try them.

1. Read it in the UEFI / BIOS screen

Restart the machine and open the firmware setup (usually Delete, F2 or F10 during the boot logo). Most boards display a CPU temperature somewhere on the main or hardware-monitor page. This needs no software at all, which makes it a useful sanity check — but it only ever shows an idle desktop that is doing nothing, so it tells you nothing about behaviour under load.

2. Use a monitoring program in Windows

For anything beyond a one-off glance you want a reading inside Windows. Core Temp reads the digital thermal sensor that Intel, AMD and VIA build into each core, so you get one figure per core rather than a single board level number:

1. Install it from the download page and approve the driver prompt on first run.
2. Leave the window open and note the values while the desktop is idle.
3. Optionally send the readings to the notification area so they stay visible while you work.

3. Watch it under load

The reading that matters is the one taken while the processor is actually busy. Start whatever workload is realistic for you — a game, a video export, a compile — and let it run for ten to fifteen minutes. Core Temp records the maximum per core, so you can check the peak when the run finishes instead of staring at the numbers the whole time.

Making sense of what you see

Two figures are enough to describe a system: idle and sustained load. A machine that sits quietly at idle but climbs steeply within seconds of load usually has a cooling problem rather than a chip problem — dust, a loose cooler or dried out thermal paste. What counts as high depends entirely on the processor model, which is why the CPU temperature guide explains the ranges instead of giving one universal number.

Laptops are a special case

Thin laptops run hotter by design and throttle sooner. Brief spikes when a fan spins up are expected. A laptop that is hot while genuinely idle, or one whose clocks collapse minutes into a task, is usually asking to have its vents cleared.

Common questions

Can I check CPU temperature without installing anything?

Yes — through the UEFI screen, or by running Core Temp from its portable archive, which needs no installation.

Does Task Manager show CPU temperature?

No. It shows a GPU temperature on some systems, but not the processor. Only dedicated monitoring software reads the CPU sensor.

How often should I check?

Once when the machine is new to you, and again whenever the fans get noticeably louder, performance drops, or you change the cooler or the thermal paste.

Next: how to use Core Temp once it is running, or the Windows 11 notes if you are on the current release.