5 Ways to Fix Windows Explorer High CPU Usage on Windows 11

Quick Tips

• Run the System Maintenance troubleshooter and clear temporary files on your PC to see if that helps.
• Unlinking your OneDrive account can also help reduce File Explorer’s CPU usage on Windows.
• Consider resetting the power plan settings or rebuilding the search index if nothing else works.

Try Basic Fixes

• Restart the Windows Explorer process: There’s a chance that Windows Explorer’s high CPU usage is a one-time glitch. If that’s the case, restarting the Windows Explorer process should help.
• Scan for malware: If your computer is infected with malware, CPU usage may spike from time to time. To overrule this possibility, you can try scanning your PC with Windows Defender or a third-party antivirus program.
• Install pending Windows updates: System updates usually bring all kinds of performance improvements and bug fixes to Windows. Hence, it’s a good idea to install them and see if that helps.

Fix 1: Run System Maintenance Troubleshooter

The System Maintenance troubleshooter can detect and fix any irregularities with desktop shortcuts, disk volumes, file paths, and more. Although Windows runs this tool regularly, you can also run it manually to fix Windows Explorer’s high CPU usage issue. Here’s how.

Step 1: Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog. Type control in the box and press Enter.

Step 2: In the Control Panel window, change the view type to Large icons, and go to Troubleshooting.

Step 3: Under System and Security, click the Run maintenance tasks option.

From there, follow the on-screen prompts to run the troubleshooter and restart your PC.

Fix 2: Delete Temporary Files

Sometimes, old temporary files on your system can also cause high CPU usage issues. Thankfully, getting rid of temporary files on Windows is easy.

Step 1: Click the search icon on the taskbar, type in disk cleanup, and press Enter.

Step 2: Use the drop-down menu to select your primary drive and click OK.

Step 3: Under Files to delete, use the checkboxes to select temporary files. Then, click OK.

Step 4: Choose Delete Files when prompted.

Fix 3: Unlink Your OneDrive Account

Windows Explorer CPU usage may also increase when File Explorer is syncing files with your OneDrive account. One way to avoid this issue is to disconnect your OneDrive account from Windows.

Step 1: Click the OneDrive icon on the taskbar.

Step 2: Click the gear icon and select Settings from the list.

Step 3: Navigate to the Account tab and click on Unlink this PC.

Fix 4: Restore Power Plan to Default Settings

Choosing a stricter power usage profile on Windows can also cause performance issues. If that’s the case, resetting the power plan to its default settings should help.

Step 1: Press the Windows key + S to open the search menu, type edit power plan in the box, and select the first result that appears.

Step 2: Click on Restore default settings for this plan at the bottom. Click Yes on the prompt that follows.

Fix 5: Rebuild Windows Search Index

If the increased CPU usage problem only occurs when you search for files and folders in File Explorer, there might be a problem with the search index library on your PC. Here’s what you can do to fix it.

Step 1: Click the search icon on the taskbar, type in indexing options and press Enter.

Step 2: Click Advanced.

Step 3: Click the Rebuild button under Troubleshooting.