Sometimes Windows 10 suffers from an application that consumes all the CPU power of the computer. In some cases it is accompanied by a fan that runs wild and other applications or Windows functions that barely respond or no longer respond.
In this article I will explain step by step how to identify processes that are taxing your computer's CPU and what you can do to stop this slowing down process.
Which program uses all the CPU power?
task management is the most obvious program in Windows to identify applications that are slowing down your Windows computer.
To open the Task Manager, right-click on the taskbar. From the menu that appears, select Task Manager.
(You can also press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and select Task Manager from the list).
When task manager is open click on more details.
In the detailed view of Task Manager, click the tab "Processor"".
You will see a list of all running processes and the CPU power in percentages they use in Windows. Processes are any applications or programs running on your computer, including vital system functions that run in the background.
To sort the processes that use the most CPU, click on the heading of the “Processor” column. The process that uses the highest percentage of CPU appears at the top of the list.
If the process is not responding, you can either wait for a task to complete (if you know the process is actively working and not just hung up), or you can force the program to close.
To do that, select the application or process name from the Name list and click “End”.
Then the process will be closed. If your Windows computer suddenly responds again, you know that the closed process was the problem.
To see in which location the file is located and thus better identify which process it exactly is. Right-click on the slowing CPU process. Select Open File Location from the menu. You now see exactly in which folder the file is located.
If the process that is blocking the CPU is a system process or one that you do not recognize, you can also try restarting your PC. Immediately afterwards it may be wise to run a virus scan with Windows Defender of Malwarebytes, in case malware is causing the problem.
Thank you for reading. Need help? You can use the comment field at the bottom of this instruction for questions.