What is System Cooling Policy on Windows? How to set up?

To keep things cool, your computer needs to maintain a good balance between fan and processor speeds. And that's where the System Cooling Policy comes in.

Today's article will discuss what System Cooling Policy is and how to set it up to best suit your Windows PC.

What is System Cooling Policy Windows?

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System Cooling Policy is a set of profiles that help keep the internal temperature of your Windows computer cool by automatically adjusting the CPU clock speed and PC fan speed. When the computer is doing something processor intensive and you hear your PC's fan start to spin louder, that's the System Cooling Policy at work.

There are two options when installing System Cooling Policy: Active and Passive. Active Cooling Policy makes the fan run faster before slowing down the processor. Meanwhile, Passive does the opposite – making the processor slower before speeding up the fan.

The policy you set up will depend on what you want to prioritize: Performance or power. So, for example, if you want to save battery life on your laptop, you might want to implement a Passive Cooling Policy.

How to set up System Cooling Policy on Windows

To set up a system policy, start by opening the Control Panel. Press Win + S to open Windows Search, type control panel in the text box, and click Control Panel in the results.

Next, go to Hardware and Sound > Power Options , then click Change plan settings next to the power plan you're using.

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Click Change advanced power settings to open the Power Options menu.

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Expand Processor power management by clicking the plus sign on the right and you will see System Cooling Policy. Expand it too.

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You will then see how to set up the cooling policies – of course, what you see will depend on whether you are using a desktop or laptop computer. To change them, click the cooling policy link – so if On battery is set to Passive , click Passive. This will turn it into a drop-down list, so click that and choose another cooling policy.

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You can set up a cooling policy for all your power plans. And if you're changing your cooling policy to save battery, consider reading TipsMake's guide on how to create a custom power plan on Windows.

Remember, Active Cooling Policy prioritizes performance, while Passive Cooling Policy prioritizes battery consumption. You can change the policy as often as needed in the advanced power settings for your favorite power plans.

Marvin Fry

Update 28 February 2023