How to Fix 100% CPU Usage in Windows 10
It is horrifying to turn on a PC only to face severe slowdown and loud-running fans. On facing this, mostly everyone turns to press Ctrl + Shift + Escape, and comes across with another scary information that your CPU usage is at 100%! Well, worry no more. As one, this is a common problem that is not difficult to solve. And two, this article is all you need to fix 100% CPU usage Windows 10.
Check Your Power Supply
A faulty power supply can lead to undervolting. Wherein, your CPU starts preserving power and functions only at a fraction of its full power. This results in manifesting 100% CPU usage on Windows 10.
This problem is quite easy to solve on a laptop. All you have to do is, unplug your laptop from the power cable, then navigate to the battery icon at the bottom right corner of your Windows 10 desktop. Clicking on the battery icon will direct you to the Battery Settings. In the list of options that appear, select Power & Sleep Settings, then Additional power settings followed by High Performance. This should bring your CPU usage back to normal. You can also check the CPU usage in the task manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc altogether. In case your desktop is facing the same problem, it might be more complicated to fix because this time, you will need to physically remove the PSU from your PC and test a different one.
Disable Superfetch (or Windows Search)
Superfetch is a constant background process that observes which apps you use the most and pre-fetches them for you so they load quicker. Generally, Superfetch doesn’t cause any problems with Windows, but sometimes it acts rude with older devices.
You can check if it’s Superfetch that is hogging your CPU by navigating to the Task Manager and clicking “More details” followed by “CPU.” In the screen that appears, check if Superfetch or any other service is using a lot of CPU. If you do find something like that, right-click on it followed by “End Process.”
Reset Your Power Plan
Experimental tweaks in Windows’ power options can severely affect your PC performance with an overloaded CPU usage. To check if all the power options are set to where they should be, navigate to the Start search bar. Then type “power plan” and click on the option named “Choose a power plan.” On the page that appears, check if you are on “High performance” or “Power Saver.” If yes, then switch to “Balanced.”
Disable Third-Party Antivirus Software
Although it doesn’t hurt to add an extra layer of security with antivirus software. But Windows 10s on-board security software, Windows Defender is more than enough to keep your PC safe from virus attacks. Third-party antivirus software on Windows 10 will do nothing but put unnecessary strain on your CPU.
So, even if you are not sure about Windows Defender, consider disabling your third-party antivirus software just to check if it helps your CPU usage or not. If it does, then you know that it is this added antivirus software that is causing troubles. Then you might as well want to uninstall it, considering Windows Defender has got you covered.
Hope this article proved to be helpful.
