How To Reduce Windows Explorer High CPU Usage

Unfortunately, you can often see Windows Explorer using your system resources. Because the file browser system greatly increases processing power, games won’t run as smoothly, video editing will take longer, and other basic tasks can cause problems.

In some cases, you may see that Windows Explorer is using high CPU resources. Sometimes this can be up to 30% or more of your processing power, even if you have a modern processor.

Fortunately, this problem can be fixed, but you will need to try each step yourself. We will list each step based on the likelihood of resolving high CPU usage in Windows Explorer based on user reports online.

Uninstall Intel Optane Memory

It has been reported on the internet that many people had Intel Optane memory pinned on their computer by mistake after Windows 10 1903 update. The problem is that most people don’t have the right hardware to pin Intel Optane memory, so it ends up causing Windows High CPU issues in Explorer.

To see if you have Intel Optane Memory Pinning, open the Start menu and look for Add or Remove Programs. Then follow these steps.

Click Add or Remove Programs in the search results.
Search for Intel Optane Memory Pinning.
If you see it in the search results, click on it.
In the expanded options, after clicking, click Remove.
Follow the instructions on the screen.
After uninstalling, reboot the system.

When your computer turns back on, press Ctrl + shift + esc to open the Task Manager. Click the Processes tab and click Name to sort the processes alphabetically. If fixed, Windows Explorer should now use very little CPU.

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If Windows Explorer is still using excessively high CPU usage, go to the next step below.

Delete desktop icons without a picture

Many users have reported a strange CPU error that occurs when you have an icon or shortcut on your desktop that has no image.

Find any icons on the desktop that are not displaying as expected, and if so, left-click them and press the delete key on your keyboard. If it’s an important file, you can click and drag it to another folder on your computer, such as My Documents.

Turn off OneDrive Cloud Storage

Sometimes cloud storage can cause high CPU usage issues with Windows Explorer. By default, Windows 10 encourages you to use OneDrive cloud storage, and it can be turned on even if you don’t notice.

This can not only mean that your files will be backed up from time to time, limiting your download bandwidth, but it can also cause CPU issues.

To turn off OneDrive cloud storage, click the taskbar in the lower left corner of the screen. screen, then right-click the cloud icon.
When it opens, click More and then Settings.
Click the Account tab and click Disable This Computer.
Click Unlink Account.

Turn off the “Show all folders” option in Windows Explorer

This solution will only be for those who detect high CPU usage by Windows Explorer when opening Windows Explorer. In this case, open Windows Explorer and right-click on the left sidebar.

Then click Show All Folders if there is a check mark next to the option. If there is no check mark next to this option, the display of all folders feature is already disabled.

If that doesn’t fix the high CPU usage in Windows Explorer, try the following:

Wipe System Files and Temporary Folder

Sometimes clearing your temp folder can help reduce the CPU usage of Windows Explorer.

To get started, open the Start menu and type Disk Cleanup.
Click Disk Cleanup in the search results.

Select the drive you want to clean up. This should be the drive where Windows is installed. Then check the following options in the list.

Downloaded Program Files
Temporary Internet Files
Temporary Files

Then click OK at the bottom of the window. A confirmation window will appear – click Delete files.

If you are still facing high CPU usage, we have two more suggestions below.

Create a new Windows user account

Sometimes Windows 10 user accounts get corrupted in a way that is difficult to understand or fix. The solution is to create a new account and that might fix the problems with Windows Explorer.

To create a new account, open the Start menu and type “Account”.
Click Add, edit or remove other users.
On the next page, click “Add someone else to this computer.”
Click I don’t have this person’s login information.
Click to add a user without a Microsoft account. This will bypass any cloud sync features that might have a larger impact on your CPU usage.
Enter a new username, add a password and click Next.
After creating an account, left click it once and select Change Account Type.
Click the drop-down box that appears and select Administrator.

Then right-click the Windows button in the lower left corner.
Then click Shut Down or Exit and then click Exit.

You will be logged out and given the option to log into your new account. Hope this account has no CPU issues. You will still be able to access your files from a different account.

Run virus scan

The last step is to run a virus scan. It is possible that a virus or malware on your computer is increasing the CPU usage. You can learn how to completely clean your system of malware with free tools by following our guide here.

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