Why is my 2017 MacBook Pro overheating?

Anything that causes the laptop to run hot means the laptop is working harder for some reason. More work means the battery will drain more quickly. As batteries age & are used, the extra work can reveal bad cell hardware issues within the battery which are masked by lighter workloads. Batteries typically need to be replaced between 3 - 5 years. Unfortunately some of these battery hardware failures will not be recognized by macOS so you may still see the battery condition listed as "Normal" even when there is a hardware issue with the battery.

We understand not wanting to run unknown apps and we try to minimize the need to ask anyone to do so. The EtreCheck app can be run directly from the Downloads folder and does not install anything. When finished with the app you can just delete it. The developer of the app is an approved/recognized Apple developer so you do not have to bypass any security to allow it to run. You can review the information contained within the report before posting. This app just tells us what software is running at low levels within macOS, login items, summaries of system logs, and some performance metrics all of which are very useful for assisting people on this forum. Of course the choice is yours to make.

Unless you are operating the laptop in a very dusty environment or have pets which shed, you probably don't ha

ve to worry about having the fans cleaned. The battery will likely need to be replaced sometime soon assuming it has never been replaced or you never had to have the Top Case/Keyboard Assembly replaced since most batteries only last about 3-5 years. If the Battery Condition is "Service Recommended" and you are experiencing performance issues with the battery, then the battery definitely should be replaced.

Run the third party app EtreCheck and post the report here so we can examine it for clues.

Also, please don't post the same question multiple times as it can get very confusing especially if you get responses to both threads. It really wastes the time of volunteers who are trying to assist you.

In addition to what HWTech has suggested, you might want to plug your serial number into this link that has an active Apple Service Program for 2017 MacBook Pro batteries: 15-inch MacBook Pro Battery Recall Program - Apple Support

Wouldn't hurt to see if yours is affected by this.

... I wasn't using anything other than Chrome with about four tabs open.

Chrome is a notorious resource hog.