Fix PowerShell Causing High CPU Usage in Windows 11/10

PowerShell is one of the most prominent command-line interpreters used by Windows users. It is optimized to work perfectly on Windows computers, however, many users have reported that it is causing High CPU usage. The most common cause of this unusual behavior is an outdated OS, but, we are going to give every possible solution to fix PowerShell causing High CPU usage in Windows 10/11.

You may encounter high CPU usage by the PowerShell if the Windows of your system is outdated (as it may cause the incompatibility between the OS modules). In this case, updating the Windows of your system to the latest release may solve the high CPU usage issue.

Sometimes, you might have noticed that Windows PowerShell causes high CPU usage in the system. One can see that the system becomes really slow and when the Task Manager is opened, you see that multiple PowerShell processes show up and disappear. Also, at times, a single PowerShell process shoots the CPU usage really high.

A. Troubleshooting in Clean Boot

The problem could be caused by another application triggering the PowerShell process. So, to know more about it, we need to troubleshoot in Clean Boot State and check which apps are giving a hard time to your CPU.

1. Go to the Start menu search bar, type in msconfig and select System Configuration from the results.

2. Switch to the Services tab, and select Hide all Microsoft Services and click on Disable all.

3. Go to the Start tab and select Open Task Manager.

4. Now, one by one, disable each app under the Startup tab.

5. Go back to Startup tab in System Configuration and select OK.

On your next restart, the Windows will be launched in a clean boot environment.

However, if your computer is working fine after the clean boot, then we’re on to something. From here, you’ll have to enable all the apps one by one; this will help you find out the app that’s the culprit behind your Windows bug. Here’s how:

1. Open the System Configuration.

2. Go to the Services tab, select the apps in the top half of the list, and click on Enable. If the problems appear again, this will eliminate the bottom half of the apps.

3. Click on OK and select Restart.

Repeat the procedure until you are left with the app that's causing the trouble on your PC.

B. Run SFC and DISM

The problem can be because of a corrupted file system and to fix it we need to run two commands. Since PowerShell is giving you a hard time, we are going to use Command Prompt. So, launch Command Prompt as an administrator and run the following commands to run SFC and DISM.

To repair damaged system files

sfc/ scannow

To restore the System Health

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

Now, check if the issue is fixed.

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C. Check for Virus and Malware

Like any other high CPU usage problem, the one caused by PowerShell can be because of viruses and Malware. You can use any third-party application to scan your computer but we are going to use Windows Defender. So, if you want to use Windows Defender to scan your computer for viruses and malware, try the following procedure.

1. Launch Settings by Windows Key + I.

2. Click Update & Security > Windows Security > Open Windows Security.

3. Click Virus & threat protection > Scan Options > Microsoft Defender Offline Scan > Scan now.