Windows Shell Experience Host: How to Fix High CPU Usage on Windows 10/11 (2024)

If you experience the high Windows Shell Experience Host CPU usage occasionally, it’s usually not a big deal if it resolves quickly. However, if it starts affecting your system’s performance, triggers crashes, or makes Windows nearly unusable, you need to fix it right away.

Of course, regardless of the severity, you need to get to the bottom of it before it gets worse. If your memory usage is high because of the Windows Shell Experience Host, I have the right solution for you.

Let’s begin.

What Is the Windows Shell Experience Host?

The Windows Shell Experience Host, also known as ShellExperienceHost.exe, is the Windows component responsible for the window display feature of universal Windows applications.

It is the component of the Windows shell (basically, the graphical user interface on Windows) that specifically handles universal apps.

The Windows Shell Experience Host process handles universal app interface behavior concerning elements like the taskbar, Start menu transparency, calendar, clock, background behavior, etc.

How to Fix the Windows Shell Experience Host High CPU Usage

If you are having a “Windows Shell Experience Host suspended” issue, use the methods discussed below to resolve the problem:

Method 1: Update your operating system

Being on the latest version of Windows can help solve many bugs and glitches in earlier versions.

So, make sure that you have installed all available OS updates. Some minor updates contain bug fixes and patches for system errors.

Here’s how to check for updates for your OS:

Windows 10

• Right-click the Start menu icon and select Settings to launch the Settings app.
• On the main Settings screen, select Update & Security.

• Switch to the Windows Update tab on the Update & Security screen and click the Check for updates button.
• The OS will check the Windows Update servers and download any available updates.
• After downloading the updates, you can reboot your system to start installing them or schedule the reboot for later.

With the latest OS installed, ShellExperienceHost.exe and other system processes should no longer use more than the expected CPU percentage.

Windows 11

• Open the Settings window and select Windows Update.

• Click on Check for updates to install any available updates.

Related: Timeline of All Windows OS Versions: From Start to Now

Method 2: Turn off automated accent colors

The Shell Experience Host process makes visual changes to your desktop and its background. The more changes are made on the desktop, like creating custom themes, the more work the process has to do and the more CPU it uses.

This may be the cause of the Shell Experience Host’s high CPU usage on PCs whose desktop background is a slideshow.

Try turning off automatic accent colors to lessen the CPU consumption. Here’s how to do it:

• Press Windows + I to open the Settings window.
• On the main Settings screen, select Personalization.
• Then, switch to the Colors tab.

• Scroll down the Colors tab to the Choose your accent color section.
• Untick the Automatically pick an accent color from my background checkbox.

• Exit the Settings app and check the CPU usage of ShellExperienceHost.exe in Task Manager after a few minutes.
• Your issue has been fixed if the Shell Experience Host process now uses a moderate to low CPU percentage.

However, if the CPU usage by ShellExperienceHost.exe keeps jumping, try the next solution.

Method 3: Disable slideshow background

If turning off automatic accent colors doesn’t help, changing your background style altogether may yield a better result.

You can switch the slideshow style to a solid color or choose a static picture instead. Since either alternative is fixed, the Windows Shell Experience Host will have less work to do, and this can stop the 100% CPU usage.

Follow the steps below for Windows 11:

• Launch your Settings app by pressing Windows + I.
• On the main Settings screen, select Personalization, and click on Background.

• Click on Picture or downward arrow to expand the options and select Solid color or Picture.

Check the process in Task Manager after a few minutes. If the Shell Experience Host process now uses a moderate to low CPU percentage, the problem has been fixed.

Method 4: Disable transparency effects

Another reason you could be experiencing too much CPU usage on the Windows Input Experience is the transparency effects. Try turning it off to see if that fixes the problem:

Windows 10

• Open the Settings window and head to System.
• Select Ease of Access and select Display.
• There, you should see a Show transparency in Windows toggle.
• Turn it off if it’s on.

Windows 11

• Press Windows + I on your keyboard to open the Settings app.
• Scroll down and select Accessibility.
• Then, choose Visual effects.

• Toggle the On/Off button beside Transparency effects to disable it.

Method 5: Check if the Shell Experience Host is malware

When you see that the process is acting up, it could be the workings of malware. The first step is to check if the Shell Experience Host is legit.

Follow the short steps below to check:

• Right-click the process in Task Manager and select Open file location.
• If Windows Explorer opens to this location path, it’s not malware:

C:\Windows\SystemApps\ShellExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy

However, other types of malware are more sneaky. You can use your Windows Defender or antivirus to check your PC. Here’s how:

• Open your Windows Security. Just type the name in your search bar to open it.
• Click on Virus & threat protection.

• Select Scan options, click on Full scan, and hit the Scan now button.

Wait for the process to complete and check if the issues have been resolved.

Method 6: Run an SFC scan

If the methods above haven’t helped, you can run a System File Checker scan in Command Prompt or PowerShell to resolve the problem.

Hence, you can use the SFC tool to find and fix system file errors. Follow the steps below to do so.

• Right-click the Start menu and select Command Prompt (Admin) or PowerShell (Admin). Any one will do.
• In the command-line window, type “sfc /scannow” and hit Enter to begin the scan.

When the scan is done, reboot the computer. The SFC tool is good at finding and fixing corrupted system files.

However, if this solution doesn’t fix the ShellExperienceHost.exe’s high CPU usage, you can still try a few possible fixes.

Method 7: Set a CPU usage limit for ShellExperienceHost.exe

Task Manager is much more than a simple process overview table. You can use it to perform specialized tweaks, such as setting a limit on how a process should use the CPU resource.

When you limit the process’s CPU usage, it cannot use more than the percentage of processor power you have stipulated. This will free up processor power for other programs that need it.

Here’s how you can limit the Windows Input Experience for Windows 11, but the same steps apply to Windows 10.

• Right-click the Start menu and select Task Manager.
• Click the Details tab.
• Scroll down the list to the ShellExperienceHost.exe process. If you’re using Windows 11, you can use the search bar. Just enter the name, and it’ll pop up.
• Right-click the process and select Set affinity.

• Under Which processors are allowed to run “ShellExperienceHost.exe”? set your processor affinity to one or two processor cores.

Method 8: Delete recently installed applications

Windows is a collection of programs and processes that run in the background. It is no big surprise that some of these programs occasionally conflict.

Unfortunately, some processes are critical to Windows’s operation. If a third-party program conflicts with a system component like the Windows Shell Experience Host, the PC can experience various issues.

If you started experiencing the issue after recently installing an application, delete it to see if that fixes the problem.

Method 9: Boot Windows in a clean environment

To manually determine whether any programs conflict with the Shell Experience Host process, perform a clean boot and check whether the CPU usage of the Shell Experience Host is now stable.

This helps you to safely troubleshoot your issues without the risk that a third-party app will interfere.

To clean boot Windows, follow these steps:

• Press the Win key + R to open the Run box.
• Type “msconfig” and click OK.

• Select the General tab and choose Selective startup under Startup selection.
• Make sure the boxes next to Load system services and Use original boot configuration are ticked.
• Untick the Load startup items checkbox.

• Switch to the Services tab and tick the Hide all Microsoft services checkbox.

• Click the Disable all button near the bottom right to disable all third-party services.
• Click the Apply button, then the OK button to save the changes.

Restart the computer to boot into a clean environment. Now, check how the Windows Shell Experience Host behaves during a clean boot.

If the CPU usage is minimal, one of the disabled services, drivers, or startup items might conflict with the Shell Experience Host process.

You can narrow down the conflicting third-party items by returning to System Configuration, enabling half of the disabled services, and rebooting the machine.

Keep doing this until you’ve found the driver, startup item, or service causing the spike in the CPU usage by ShellExperienceHost.exe.

Also read: How to Reduce High CPU Usage by RAVBg64.exe

Causes of the High Windows Shell Experience Host CPU Usage

Here are the reasons why you could be experiencing high memory utilization in your Shell Experience Host:

• Potential malicious activity.

It is possible to mistake a rogue executable for the real ShellExperienceHost.exe. For example, cybercriminals have been known to use the Trojan miners ShellExperienceHost.exe and MicrosoftShellHost.exe to mine for the Monero cryptocurrency using victims’ CPUs.

• Problems with the graphics driver.

Issues with the Windows Shell Experience Host high CPU usage may also come from corrupted or outdated drivers.

• Updates for the operating system.

Although generally helpful, there are occasions when an update could bring about a bug that causes the Windows Shell Experience Host to use a lot of CPU power.

• Software in conflict.

Software conflicts are usually caused by third-party tools that might not be compatible with your system or some programs on your computer.

The Windows Shell Experience Host High CPU Usage: Fixed

The Windows Shell Experience Host process is an essential system component. So, it’s not advisable to delete or disable it. However, you can disable it to prevent memory usage spikes.

That said, the solutions discussed in this guide should help you fix any Windows Input Experience issue you may be experiencing.

Would you be kind enough to let us know which solution worked for you? And share with your friends who might be having similar issues.

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