Many engineering systems produce heat while performing their tasks. Unless the excess heat is effectively released into the ambient environment, the internal temperature of the system may escalate, leading to thermal overload of critical components. This problem results in overheating within the system, which can lead to system failure. Therefore, the heat generated within the system must be expelled to the surroundings to maintain the system temperature within the recommended limits for efficient operation. Natural convection is one of the most common methods for cooling systems, and air cooling is the most traditional method. Given the inherently low thermal conductivity of air, the incorporation of extended surface elements such as fins has become essential in the effective design of air-based heat dissipation systems like heat sinks. This paper primarily aims to provide a comprehensive review of existing literature that has investigated the mechanisms and enhancements related to heat dissipation in heat sink systems. Some of them studied the effect of fin height, length, thickness, and space between fins, on the performance of the heat sink. Others tride to improve the heat dissipation by using perforated fins with different shapes of holes and distributed in different arrangements. Also, various studies were conducted to investigate the effect of tilt angle and orientation of fins on the heat sink performance. By reviewing research in this field, it was found that the length, height, and number of fins have a significant effect on heat transfer rate and it is necessary to balance the number of fins, there thickness, and the distance between them to achieve the best design that improves the performance of the heat sinks.