Windows 10: 6 Tips to Solve The Windows Shell Experience Host Causing High CPU Usage
Jul. 27, 2022 / Updated by Amy to Windows 10
When your Windows 10 starts to slow down, you can find out what's causing the problem by opening Task Manager. If you do, you will find a process called Windows Shell Experience Host is using 100% of your CPU. Then you probably would be wondering how you can get it back to normal.
This article will summarize 6 tips to help you get your computer to behave properly again.
Contents:
1. Rule Out a Rogue Windows Shell Experience Host Process
2. Close Transparency Effects for the Start Menu and Taskbar
3. Set Accent Color Picking to Manual
4. Try Limiting the Windows Shell Experience Host’s CPU Usage
5. Update Your Windows 10 Installation
6. Use a Picture or Solid Color Background
1. Rule Out a Rogue Windows Shell Experience Host Process
If a process that usually acts so well starts to slow down, maybe it is not the fact. So if Windows Shell Experience Host is causing 100% CPU usage all of a sudden, you need to make sure whether the process you're facing is authentic or malware.
If it's malware, you can do an offline scan through Microsoft Defender, or a system-wide scan using any third-party antivirus software you have installed.
2. Close Transparency Effects for the Start Menu and Taskbar
One of the main strengths of the Windows Shell Experience Host is dealing with the transparency effects for the Start menu and taskbar. Sometimes, however, this process can consume a lot of CPU, so disabling these effects may help.
You can follow these steps:
01. Press Win + I to open the Settings;
02. Head to System > Ease of Access > Display to find the Show transparency in Windows toggle;
03. Turn it off and disable transparency effects.
After it is done, check to see if Windows Shell Experience Host is still hogging system resources.
3. Set Accent Color Picking to Manual
An accent color in Windows 10 is the color that creates a contrast to or compliments the color of the theme you've applied to Windows.
Typically, accent color picking in Windows 10 defaults to automatic mode, which can lead to 100% CPU usage on Windows Shell Experience Host. Luckily, setting the accent color picking to manual would easily fix the problem.
To do that, press Win + I to open the Settings app and navigate to Personalization > Colors. Then, uncheck Automatically pick an accent color from my background.
Then to check if the problem persists.
4. Try Limiting the Windows Shell Experience Host’s CPU Usage
Since you cannot completely get rid of the Windows Shell Experience Host, another recommended way is to limit its CPU usage to avoid it slowing down your system.
To do that, right-click Start and select Task Manager. In the Details tab, locate ShellExperienceHost.exe, right-click it, and select Set affinity.
Uncheck at least half of the available CPU cores to limit their usage by the process and then click OK.
5. Update Your Windows 10 Installation
Sometimes the outdated Windows 10 system incurs a lot of unnecessary CPU power consumption. Updating your operating system will prevent you from missing out on a new bug fix from Microsoft that addresses this issue.
You can right-click Start and select Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. Then, click Check for updates.
Or you can find an update helper to handle such things for you automatically. Such as Driver Talent, as an powerful driver update tool, it can detect the driver issues on the PC within seconds, then to repair or reinstall the most compatible version automatically for the PC. Furthermore, it can also update your drivers automatically and regularly.
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01. Scan the PC
Start Driver Talent, click Scan to have a whole check on all drivers.
02. Update your target driver
After the scanning process is complete, click “Update” to update your drivers to the latest version.
03. Reboot the PC
The last step is to restart your computer so you can take all effects.
You can also update the outdated drivers all at once though buying our Pro version. In Pro version, you can enjoy the full features and a 30-day money back guarantee, no risk for your trial experience. What’s more, Pro version comes with full technique support, they can solve your problems online whenever you are in need. Driver Talent can do more than above, other issues involved Motherboard, Network card, Display card, Audio card, USB WLAN card and so on, can also be taken care of.
6. Use a Picture or Solid Color Background
Another feature of the Windows Shell Experience Host is to change the background of your Windows 10 desktop. Sometimes this process can go wrong if you use a slide background. There's a simple solution: Change your desktop background to a picture or solid color.
Here are the steps:
01. Press Win + I to open the Settings app and then navigate to Personalization > Background.
02. Check the dropdown under the Background heading, it will say Slideshow.
03. Then, click the dropdown and set it to either Picture or Solid color.
Finally, check Windows Shell Experience Host in Task Manager and see if this can do the trick.
Windows 10 is an highly user-friendly operating system that allows you to solve a lot of software problems without the need for professional help. Knowledge matters a lot, and we hope that the potential fixes mentioned above for Windows Shell experience hosts that result in 100% CPU usage will be useful to you.
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