Laptop fan sped up randomly while not doing anything - Likely thermal paste issue?

[ShangWang]

It wasn't to the max fan speed but it did speed up where it was audible for a few seconds, went back to normal after that. I have no background applications or anything whatsoever, just chrome. This happens maybe once a month.

I did do a thermal repaste a few months ago for the first time and likely put too much, my fan speeding up is probably from improper heat dissipation?

 

[USAFRet]

You may not have been doing something, but maybe the system was.

Checking for updates, etc.

 

[ShangWang]

You may not have been doing something, but maybe the system was.

Checking for updates, etc.

I see, even during updates my laptop never usually speeds up the fans but still maybe, but likely just heat dissipation inefficiency.

 

[USAFRet]

I see, even during updates my laptop never usually speeds up the fans but still maybe, but likely just heat dissipation inefficiency.

There's all sorts of things the system does behind the scenes. Especially when you, the user, aren't really doing anything.