If your Ubuntu Linux laptop frequently freezes while compiling code or playing games, or if the internal fans sound like a jet engine, your processor might be overheating. When a CPU gets too hot, it engages in “Thermal Throttling”—intentionally slowing itself down to prevent the silicon from literally melting.
Ubuntu does not provide a native graphical dashboard for checking internal hardware temperatures. To diagnose if overheating is causing your system slowdowns, you must safely extract the raw temperature data directly from the thermal sensors embedded inside the CPU die.
How to Safely Extract Ubuntu CPU Temperature Logs
You must install and utilize the `lm-sensors` package in the terminal.
- Open your Terminal application (Ctrl + Alt + T).
- First, install the hardware sensor reading utility by typing this command and pressing Enter (provide your password when prompted):
sudo apt install lm-sensors - Before the utility can read the data, it must scan your motherboard to detect which specific thermal chips are installed. Type this command:
sudo sensors-detect - The terminal will ask you a long series of questions (e.g., “Do you want to scan for I2C adapters?”). It is completely safe to press Enter to accept the default YES answer for every single prompt.
- Once the scan is complete, you can extract the current temperature at any time by simply typing:
sensors - Press Enter.
The terminal will instantly output the exact temperature of various motherboard components. Look for the section labeled coretemp-isa-0000 (or similar, depending on if you have Intel or AMD). Underneath, it will list the exact Celsius temperature of every physical core inside your processor (e.g., Core 0: +45.0°C).
If your CPU is idling at 40°C-50°C, that is perfectly normal. However, if the terminal reports that your cores are hitting 90°C to 100°C while under heavy load, your system is dangerously close to thermal throttling, and you likely need to clean the dust out of your laptop’s fans or reapply thermal paste.