How to Fix High CPU Usage

Is one process eating up nearly all your CPU’s resources? Here’s how to fix high CPU usage. 1 2

Is one process eating up nearly all your CPU’s resources? Here’s how to fix high CPU usage. 1 2

Highlights:

The central processing unit (CPU) is a PC’s brain. All of the system’s major components, like the graphics card and RAM, rely on the CPU’s instructions. This makes a properly functioning processor a critical part of every gaming PC.

When a game stutters or crashes, open applications stop reacting to new inputs, or programs open at a snail’s pace, abnormally high CPU usage can be the cause. Let’s go over the steps on how to fix high CPU usage in Windows* 10.

1. Reboot

First step: save your work and restart your PC. “Turn it off and on again” is classic troubleshooting advice for a reason. This may resolve the issue, especially if it’s been a long time since you last restarted — a reboot can clear out temporary files and potentially resolve slowdown in long-running processes.

2. End or Restart Processes

Open the Task Manager (CTRL+SHIFT+ESCAPE). If a program has started climbing in CPU use again even after a restart, Task Manager provides one of the easiest methods for tracking it.

Note that full-screen programs like games will sometimes take focus away from the Task Manager (hiding it behind their own window). To prevent this, click “Options” in the top menu bar, then select “Always On Top”. If you have a second monitor, you can also just drag the Task Manager window over there.

Once you’re in the Task Manager, click the Processes tab at the top. Click “More details” at the bottom of this tab to reveal background Windows processes. Look for the “CPU” column near the top of the Processes tab and click it to order by CPU usage:

You can expect high CPU utilization when playing some games, running a video-editing or streaming application, performing an antivirus scan, or juggling many browser tabs. If you’re dealing with this kind of everyday high-CPU usage situation, you should close all background programs and tabs you aren’t using, then return to Task Manager and see if the situation has changed.

It’s important to remember that high CPU usage while multitasking can be normal. Modern CPUs handle multitasking situations by splitting processes between multiple processor cores, which work through different sets of instructions simultaneously. Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) takes it a step further, creating multiple “threads” of execution in each core, each of which handles different processes. If the CPU usage of a heavy-duty program like Adobe Premiere is high, it may just be efficiently using the CPU cores available to it.

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology can also help processing of heavy workloads by dynamically increasing the frequency of your CPU. Intel® Core™ X-series processor family have another tool to help avoid slowdowns, as their Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 automatically assigns the biggest tasks to your fastest processor cores, as well as boosting the frequency of those cores.

These processor technologies can greatly increase the speed of multitasking and using demanding programs, but abnormal CPU usage situations can still arise. If you see a background process with a name like Runtime Broker, Windows Session Manager, or Cortana at the top of the CPU column when you hit 100% CPU usage, then you have an issue.

These Windows processes are designed to use very little of your processing power or memory under ordinary circumstances — you’ll often see them using 0% or 1% in Task Manager. When your PC is idle, all of these processes together will usually use less than 10% of your CPU capacity. However, buggy or unexpected behavior — for example, one Windows process trying and retrying to perform a search action that has been disabled elsewhere — can sometimes cause a process to eat up nearly all of your system’s resources.

After you’ve opened Task Manager and found the process unexpectedly using up a chunk of your CPU, search online to identify it. You don’t want to stop a process like explorer.exe (which manages many graphical elements like the desktop and Start menu) or winlogon.exe (startup tasks and the CTRL+ALT+DEL screen), unless you have a good reason.

Once you’ve identified the process as non-critical (and, again, checked that you’ve saved whatever you were working on), click on the process to select it, then click End Process at the bottom right of Task Manager. End Process will cause the program to terminate without saving.

Cpu usage high until i open task manager

My Acer laptop’s fan has been running very loudly these past few weeks. When it gets too unbearable, I open Task Manager, only to find that my cpu usage lowers dramatically from 100% going as low to 13%.

Replies (9) 

Thank you for posting the query on Microsoft Community.

Restart the computer a few times and check for Windows Updates.

In the Search box on the taskbar, enter Windows Update, select Windows Update. On the Windows Update page, select Check for updates.

If the issue persists, then try Clean Boot and check.

This helps eliminate software conflicts that occur when you install a program or an update or when you run a program in Windows. It starts Windows by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs.
How to perform a Clean Boot in Windows: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Note: After troubleshooting, refer to this section «How to reset the computer to start normally after clean boot troubleshooting» in the above link.

Try to run the following commands and check if it helps.

1. Open command prompt. ( Type cmd in Search or Press Windows Logo Key+X. Click on Command Prompt admin).

1. Type the following 4 commands at the CMD prompt:

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

1. Close the CMD window.

2. Check to see if the issue is resolved. If not, restart the PC.

Hope this helps in resolving the issue. If the issue persists, do get back to us. We will be happy to assist you.

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Thank you for the reply and letting us know about the status of the issue.

You both are welcome.

Glad to know that the issue is fixed.

You both have a wonderful and a great 2016.

In future, if you have any issues related to Windows, do get back to us. We will be happy to assist you.

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I searched for this question due to the same issue with my HP laptop. I also had this issue with my Sony laptop. I have only had this issue with Windows 10, and it is downright suspicious behavior.

If I had asked anyone prior to Windows 10 about this issue, the immediate response would have been «Spyware,» as whatever is causing the issue immediately conceals itself upon revelation.

I am an instructor in IT and hold multiple certifications. I want to know WHY this is happening, not how to fix it.

Your solution does solve the problem, but why is this a problem? Why do I have Microsoft Certified applications burning up my CPU, fan, and HDD, when my system has been fully updated? Is there a ‘smart’ program utilized to scan for system performance and resilience during optimum downtime?

Some further information: my computer only does this when it is idle for a while after a long period of use.

I would imagine that most users would not notice this if they use their computer for a while and walk away, but my job and hobbies involve me coming back after what seems just the right amount of time.

I want to know this for educational purposes more so than anything else. I will be likely be adding CompTIA A+ classes to my roster soon.

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It is simply an abuse of hardware for the sake of crypto-currency mining. When you are not aware your CPU is used to mine electronic coins such as Monero and such.

Whom does it serve? Only God knows 🙂

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my problem still persist after doing what you said.

I’ve run every update available and run the commands you wrote in the post but still the CPU usage is very high until I open the task manager, then it reduces the CPU usage to normal values around 2-5% iddle.

Thanks in advance.

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What exactly worked for you? Thanks in advance.

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There are something wrong when I run the last command » Get-AppXPackage . «, the message is as follows:

Add-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073D02, The package could not be installed because resources it m
odifies are currently in use.
error 0x80073D02: Unable to install because the following apps need to be closed Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_1.10.7.17134
_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy.
NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] ddcd07b6-0c4a-0000-6d39-cddd4a0cd401 in the Event Log or use th
e command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID ddcd07b6-0c4a-0000-6d39-cddd4a0cd401
At line:1 char:94
+ . | Foreach +

+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (C:\Windows\Syst. ppXManifest.xml:String) [Add-AppxPackage], Exception
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.AddAppxPackageCommand.

Time ID Message
—- — ——-
25/6/2018 14:09:55 603 Started deployment Register operation on a package with main parameter: AppXMani
fest.xml and Options: 0 and 0. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=235160
for help diagnosing app deployment issues.
25/6/2018 14:09:55 10002 Creating Resiliency File C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\AppRepository\15d677c1
-4333-4606-a993-900c2d60525b_S-1-5-21-1770724309-3955324544-3268292770-1001_22.r
slc for Register Operation on Package Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_1.10.7.17134_neu
tral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy.
25/6/2018 14:09:55 607 Deployment Register operation on package Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_1.10.7.17134_
neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy has been de-queued and is running for user SID S-1
-5-21-1770724309-3955324544-3268292770-1001.
25/6/2018 14:09:55 613 Adding uri to the list of Uris: C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_
cw5n1h2txyewy\AppXManifest.xml.
25/6/2018 14:09:55 492 In-place package update policy result for Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_1.10.7.17134
_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy — staging: false, applying false
25/6/2018 14:09:55 339 Registration will process the User extensions in the following order: windows.vi
sualElements windows.mailProvider windows.autoPlayContent windows.autoPlayDevice
windows.autoPlayHandler windows.activatableClass.inProcessServer windows.activa
tableClass.outOfProcessServer windows.activatableClass.proxyStub windows.activat
ableClass.downloadUpload windows.search windows.fileOpenPicker windows.fileSaveP
icker windows.cachedFileUpdater windows.appUriHandler windows.appPrinter windows
.startupTask windows.shareTarget windows.lockScreenCall windows.personalAssistan
tLaunch windows.fileTypeAssociation windows.protocol windows.primaryInteropAssem
blies windows.appointmentsProvider windows.activatableClass.backgroundPlaybackCl
ass windows.backgroundTasks windows.DefaultBackgroundTasks windows.webAccountPro
vider windows.userDataAccountsProvider windows.preInstalledConfigTask windows.up
dateTask windows.appService windows.appointmentDataProvider windows.contactDataP
rovider windows.emailDataProvider windows.userDataTaskDataProvider windows.barco
deScannerProvider windows.barcodeScannerPreviewProvider windows.internal.filePic
kerExperience windows.dialProtocol windows.lockScreenComponent windows.printWork
flowBackgroundTask windows.printWorkflowForegroundTask windows.restrictedLaunch
windows.accountPictureProvider windows.cameraSettings windows.printTaskSettings
windows.print3DWorkflow windows.comServer windows.comInterface windows.firewallR
ules windows.classicAppCompatKeys windows.appExecutionAlias windows.activatableC
lass.collector windows.localExperiencePack .
25/6/2018 14:09:55 573 Setting Sync Enabled status, package family name Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1
h2txyewy, enabled true.
25/6/2018 14:09:55 566 Acquiring roaming data for already registered package Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_
1.10.7.17134_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy.
25/6/2018 14:09:55 638 Packages were not updated because affected apps are still running. Running apps
: , Directly serviced package
s: , Indir
ectly serviced packages: , Number of previous attempts: 0, Is user session
locked: false
25/6/2018 14:09:55 419 error 0x80073D02: Unable to install because the following apps need to be closed
Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_1.10.7.17134_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy.
25/6/2018 14:09:55 605 The last successful state reached was PackagesInUseClosed. Failure occurred befo
re reaching the next state ResolvedDeferredRegistrations. hr: 0x80073D02
25/6/2018 14:09:55 339 Registration will process the User extensions in the following order: windows.vi
sualElements windows.mailProvider windows.autoPlayContent windows.autoPlayDevice
windows.autoPlayHandler windows.activatableClass.inProcessServer windows.activa
tableClass.outOfProcessServer windows.activatableClass.proxyStub windows.activat
ableClass.downloadUpload windows.search windows.fileOpenPicker windows.fileSaveP
icker windows.cachedFileUpdater windows.appUriHandler windows.appPrinter windows
.startupTask windows.shareTarget windows.lockScreenCall windows.personalAssistan
tLaunch windows.fileTypeAssociation windows.protocol windows.primaryInteropAssem
blies windows.appointmentsProvider windows.activatableClass.backgroundPlaybackCl
ass windows.backgroundTasks windows.DefaultBackgroundTasks windows.webAccountPro
vider windows.userDataAccountsProvider windows.preInstalledConfigTask windows.up
dateTask windows.appService windows.appointmentDataProvider windows.contactDataP
rovider windows.emailDataProvider windows.userDataTaskDataProvider windows.barco
deScannerProvider windows.barcodeScannerPreviewProvider windows.internal.filePic
kerExperience windows.dialProtocol windows.lockScreenComponent windows.printWork
flowBackgroundTask windows.printWorkflowForegroundTask windows.restrictedLaunch
windows.accountPictureProvider windows.cameraSettings windows.printTaskSettings
windows.print3DWorkflow windows.comServer windows.comInterface windows.firewallR
ules windows.classicAppCompatKeys windows.appExecutionAlias windows.activatableC
lass.collector windows.localExperiencePack .
25/6/2018 14:09:55 401 Deployment Register operation with target volume C: on Package Microsoft.Windows
.Cortana_1.10.7.17134_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy from: (AppXManifest.xml) f
ailed with error 0x80073D02. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=235160 f
or help diagnosing app deployment issues.
25/6/2018 14:09:55 404 AppX Deployment operation failed for package Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_1.10.7.17
134_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy with error 0x80073D02. The specific error text
for this failure is: error 0x80073D02: Unable to install because the following
apps need to be closed Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_1.10.7.17134_neutral_neutral_cw
5n1h2txyewy.

I have closed the Cortana already and restart the computer several times. This problem still happens.