On Windows 10 and Windows 11, monitoring the CPU temperature is not as straightforward as checking RAM or disk usage. While the Task Manager displays the GPU temperature, it doesn’t show the CPU temperature. However, it’s one of those important maintenance steps that every user should know. For example, if your system feels sluggish, one of the first things you should check is the CPU temperature, as high temperatures can throttle the CPU’s performance and may even reduce its lifespan if it happens for too long.
While Windows doesn’t have a built-in method, you can use several free utilities to monitor your CPU temperature easily. In this guide, I will share three such tools and show you how to use them to check the CPU temperature in Windows 11 and Windows 10. Let’s get started.
Before You Start
- Administrator rights are required to use the tools to check CPU temperature.
- The methods shown below will work on both Windows 11 & Windows 10.
Check CPU Temperature Using HWMonitor
HWMonitor is one of the most popular and powerful tools to monitor not just the CPU temperature, but practically every other component in your system. Here is how to use it.
First, go to the tool’s official website and download the HWMonitor setup file. After downloading it, double-click the file to start the installation process. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation of HWMonitor.
Once HWMonitor is installed, open the Start menu, search for “HWMonitor“, and click “Open” to launch the tool.
If you see a User Account Control (UAC) prompt, click “Yes” to continue. In the main window, scroll down to find your processor’s name (e.g., Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen). Look for the “Temperatures” section under it. Your overall CPU temperature is displayed in the “Package” row.
For example, my CPU’s current temperature is 57.4 °C (under the “Value” column). The minimum and maximum temperatures recorded by the tool are 49.5 °C and 65.8 °C, respectively.
The tool also displays per-core temperatures under the “Cores (Max)” section.
Check CPU Temperature Using HWiNFO
HWiNFO is another popular application for monitoring the CPU temperature. Just like HWMonitor, HWiNFO provides a ton of information about all the hardware in your system. Here’s how to use it.
Go to the developer website and download the HWiNFO application. Next, double-click the downloaded setup file and install HWiNFO.
After that, open the Start menu, search for “HWiNFO” and click “Open” to launch the tool. On the welcome screen, select “Sensors only” from the dropdown menu and click the “Start” button.
The above action opens the “Sensor Status” window. Scroll down to find your CPU row. Here, look for the “CPU Package” row (for Intel) or “CPU (Tctl/Tdie)” row (for AMD). It shows the current, minimum, maximum, and average temperatures recorded during the session.
For example, in my case, the current, minimum, maximum, and average temperatures are 57.5 °C, 55.5 °C, 75.2 °C, and 60.6 °C, respectively.
Check CPU Temperature Using Speccy
Speccy is one of my long-time favorites to get hardware info in Windows. While it doesn’t give you as much information as HWMonitor or HWiNFO, it’s simpler to use, especially for finding your CPU’s current temperature. Here’s how to use it.
Download Speccy from its official website (free version). Next, double-click the downloaded installer file and follow the installation wizard to install Speccy. After installing, open the Start menu, search for “Speccy” and click “Open“.
As soon as the tool opens, you will see the CPU temperature under the “CPU” heading on the right panel. The good thing is that, unlike with HWMonitor and HWiNFO, you don’t have to wonder which temperature reading belongs to the CPU.
Optionally, click the “CPU” option in the sidebar to view additional information such as the number of cores, threads, specification, and cache size.
That is all. It is that simple to check your CPU temperature in Windows 11 & 10. If needed, you can also show CPU and GPU temperature on the taskbar using the HWiNFO app.
If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.
