Since its release, Windows 10 has faced several complaints from users regarding some high CPU usage. Windows Shell Experience Host is one of the main reasons causing this problem.
Being new to the working of Windows 10 OS, you need to know how to fix this issue and prevent the Windows Shell Experience Host from using too much memory.
What is a Windows Shell Experience Host?
Before you try to lower the high CPU usage, you need to know what Windows’ Shell Experience Host does.
Windows Shell Experience Host is the name given to a process. The ShellExperienceHost.exe file is a genuine process in Windows 10 that allows the OS to display apps in a windowed interface.
The Windows Shell Experience Host handles the graphical elements when apps are displayed in the form of windows on your desktop.
This process should not take up more memory or boost the CPU usage. When it does, running the actual apps becomes burdening for your Windows 10 system. Your computer starts crashing or freezing in several instances.
To fix this issue, you have five effective and simple solutions explained below.
1. Limit CPU Usage
The best way to reduce Windows Shell Experience Host’s CPU usage is set the limits manually.
The downside of this solution – manually limiting the CPU usage for Windows Shell Experience Host impacts the graphics quality. You may face graphic-based technical issues later.
But, this method certainly fixes the high CPU usage accounted by Windows Shell Experience Host.
- Go to the Start menu on Windows 10
- Click on the search box and type “task manager”
- Launch the Task Manager
- In the Task Manager window, click on the Details tab
- Scroll down to locate - Windows Shell Experience Host
- Right-click on it
- Choose “ Set Affinity ” from the drop-down menu
- Set the CPU limit threshold
As this solution comes with its own risks, you can fix the issue by trying out other ways given below.
2. Switch to Static Background for Desktop
Hardware processes use up more CPU power when your desktop background is set to a slide-show mode.
You can set the desktop background to a static picture.
- Go to the Settings menu on Windows 10
- Click on Personalization
- Go to the ‘ Background ’ options
- From the Background drop-down menu, select ‘ Picture ’
- Select a picture and save your settings
In most cases, setting your desktop background to static fixes the issue.
3. Check for System File Corruption (SFC)
When your system has corrupted files linked to Windows Shell Experience Host, high CPU usage becomes a recurring problem.
You need to repair the Registry files and check for system file corruption.
To run an SFC scan,
- Go to the Start menu on Windows 10
- Click on the search box and type “ cmd ”
- Press the Enter key and look for the Command Prompt program from the list
- Right-click on the program and select the “ Run as Admin ” option
- In the Command Prompt window, type “ sfc/scannow ” command and hit Enter
Wait for a few minutes. The process takes more time for replacing all corrupted files. Restart your computer when the process is finished.
This way, you use Microsoft’s System File Checker to solve the issue.
4. Turn Automatic Color Changing Off
Just like the static desktop background, setting up single color for b
- Go to the Settings menu on Windows 10
- Click on Personalization
- Go to the ‘ Colors ’ options
- From the Background drop-down menu, select the option - Automatically pick an accent color from my background
- Turn the option off
- Save your changes
It will surely lower the overall CPU usage and won’t let Windows’ shellexperiencehost.exe use too much memory.
5. Run Windows 10 Updates
Your system needs to be completely updated to reduce CPU usage caused by Windows Shell Experience Host.
Check for Windows 10 updates and install them. Restart your computer to see how the CPU usage caused by Windows Shell Experience Host has lowered.