Skip to main content

This background process may consume up to 20% CPU usage

The Phone Link app being used on a phone and laptop screen.
Microsoft

A bug that was first spotted almost two weeks ago in a recent Windows 11 build is still there, and while Microsoft has acknowledged it, there have been no updates as to when a fix might be released. The issue stems from a feature that should otherwise run in the background and suddenly results in up to 20% CPU usage when idle. We’re talking about the Windows Cross Device Service.

The service in question helps your Windows PC connect and share files across other devices. For most of us, that means features such as Phone Link, which is Microsoft’s attempt at replicating Apple’s seamless ecosystem. It can be used to send texts, download photos, and use apps from your computer without having to pick up the phone. However, with the new bug, you might be better off disabling the Cross Device Service entirely.

Recommended Videos

Reports of issues with CPU usage first appeared on June 4 on the Windows 11 forum, and then again the next day on the Microsoft forum. One user said that they noticed that their CPU fan was running at full speed, but the PC was still producing high idle temperatures. Checking the Task Manager revealed that the processor was running at a constant 7% to 10%, all because of the Microsoft Cross Device Service. At the time of writing, 49 other users reacted to say that they had the same issue, and a couple of them claimed to experience even worse CPU usage, reaching as high as 20%.

This bug even made it to the Windows Feedback Hub, where a Microsoft engineer addressed it: “Appreciate your patience, we’ve identified the cause and are working on a fix.” However, a week later, there’s still no fix in sight.

Man using Windows Copilot PC to work
Microsoft

The bug appears in the most recent Windows Insider build, and users who are not Insiders are most probably safe for now — I’m not experiencing any issues on my Windows 11 computer. Phone Link can often be clunky, but it remains a background process without affecting the rest of my PC.

If you’re running the latest Windows Insider build and experiencing high CPU usage, disabling Cross Device Service can help, although the process often comes back after a reboot. Users on the Microsoft Forum came up with a few suggestions as to how to disable the service while we wait for an official fix.

Monica J. White
Monica is a computing writer at Digital Trends, focusing on PC hardware. Since joining the team in 2021, Monica has written…
Launching Windows 11 apps could get up to 50% faster thanks to this new tech
Microsoft Store Ads on a Dell XPS Laptop.

Windows Latest has spotted a recent support document post from Microsoft confirming native Ahead of Time (AOT) support has been added to the Windows App SDK. According to Microsoft, this could bring major improvements to the launch times of Windows 11 apps. In its own testing, Microsoft has measured a 50% reduction in start times and around an 8x reduction in package size.

The Windows App SDK exists to help developers use classic desktop app frameworks to make apps with access to modern APIs that can be used across all kinds of Windows devices.

Read more
Windows 11 may bring Live Tiles back from the dead — sort of
windows 8 1 everything you need to know live tiles

The latest Windows 11 Canary build 26212 has quietly introduced support for what is being called "Start Menu Companions." These are small widget-like apps designed to appear alongside your pinned apps or the "All apps" list in the Start Menu.

By the looks of it, these companions would offer at-a-glance information such as weather updates, stock prices, and more. And yes, they share a lot in common with the now-defunct Live Tiles feature from previous versions of Windows. They lack the bright colors and blocky shapes, but they would function in a very similar way.

Read more
How Intel and Microsoft are teaming up to take on Apple
An Intel Meteor Lake system-on-a-chip.

It seems like Apple might need to watch out, because Intel and Microsoft are coming for it after the latter two companies reportedly forged a close partnership during the development of Intel Lunar Lake chips. Lunar Lake refers to Intel's upcoming generation of mobile processors that are aimed specifically at the thin and light segment. While the specs are said to be fairly modest, some signs hint that Lunar Lake may have enough of an advantage to pose a threat to some of the best processors.

Today's round of Intel Lunar Lake leaks comes from Igor's Lab. The system-on-a-chip (SoC), pictured above, is Intel's low-power solution made for thin laptops that's said to be coming out later this year. Curiously, the chips weren't manufactured on Intel's own process, but on TSMC's N3B node. This is an interesting development because Intel typically sticks to its own fabs, and it even plans to sell its manufacturing services to rivals like AMD. This time, however, Intel opted for the N3B node for its compute tile.

Read more