High CPU usage for vmmem

Steve Lo 135

Hi,

I have experienced high CPU usage for Vmmem frequently (~every 2days) and the only solution at the moment is simply restart my machine.

It is understood that is related to WSL and I do have a Docker image running on Ubuntu on Windows. However it is not really responding for Ubuntu and Docker (see below) and CPU usage is still that high even I manually close Docker Desktop and run cmd wsl --shutdown.

It's really disruptive for me and any opinion would be appreciated.

Cheers

Steve

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Steve Lo 135 Reputation points

2023-03-22T19:18:54.26+00:00

Thanks for your answer, it's probably fix the symptom by scarifying the performance. However, any idea what is the root cause or how to figure it out? Particularly high cpu with unresponding Ubuntu and no docker running?
Kesims 50 Reputation points

2023-05-10T15:20:48.76+00:00

Hello, I can confirm the issue! Also running WSL2 with Docker, exactly the same issue. Sometimes the WSL just bugs and uses 100% of my cpu, making the computer basically unusable. Only restart of the whole system helps, I have not figured out a way to restart just the vmmem thing... I have a limit on memory for WSL, but while putting a limit on processors could treat the symptoms, it is definitely not going to fix the root issue.

Also from my experience, when this bug occures, things using WSL (Docker) stop working. It is really annoying and if programs such as Adobe or Fusion 360 did not held me on Windows, I would already happily move to Linux full time - now I am running dual boot and crying every time I have to use Windows...
Jiri Hajek 30 Reputation points

2023-05-26T14:34:51.1166667+00:00

The very same issue here. I also use WSL2, but the issue happens sometimes even if I haven't used WSL since reboot! The closest to WSL I have used is VSCode with WSL Extension, but this one was only loaded by VSCode, not actively used.

CPU usage spikes to 100% for no apparent reason, the last time when browsing in Chrome.
M$_Sucks 35 Reputation points

2023-05-30T13:41:18.4466667+00:00

Same here. What really helps is to reinstall wsl, which can be a very painful solution. Especially, if you have carefully tuned up your setups on your wsl.
Ajoy Bhatia 5 Reputation points

2023-06-19T23:06:47.51+00:00

Exactly what I am facing. WSL2 with Ubuntu not responding and have never run Docker. Still vmmem is using 75%+ CPU. I have not yet read anyone from Microsoft that vmmem high CPU usage occurs even without Docker
Jasso Miroslav 15 Reputation points

2023-06-26T09:17:20.2166667+00:00

Same issue here. It stared after some of the last Windows updates. About 2 weeks ago. The only one solution is to restart my computer. It is really annoying, because it happens every 2-3 days.
Tim W 45 Reputation points

2023-06-28T09:56:58.1+00:00

I have this problem as well, having installed Docker and WSL2 a few days ago to test some docker containers, I now find my CPU usage for vmmem stuck on 49%, dragging down laptop performance, even though I have no containers running. Stopping all the services for linux processes seems to clear this, but is not an ideal solution.
Mike G 0 Reputation points

2023-06-28T21:42:25.8866667+00:00

In trying to resolve this issue the wsl --shutdown command never completed. I had to reboot to temporarily resolve it. I have experienced this a couple times before and atm expect to have to reboot to resolve. Please help.

Windows 11; WSL2; Docker for Windows with WSL integration for use with VS Code
Daniel 11 Reputation points

2023-07-12T19:17:08.38+00:00

I have also been having this problem for weeks now. I also use Docker and WSL2. Everything everyone says here is exactly what I'm experiencing, and it only started fairly recently (last month or two, not exactly sure when but it's recent).

I've also been rebooting to resolve this, but I just tried to "End Task" the Windows Subsystem for Linux process as someone WFarmer suggested int he answers section, and it dropped the CPU from 100% down to about 5%, so I can at least confirm that workaround works without having to completely reboot. It's still very disruptive though since I regularly use WSL2 for development and this has caused some issues there more than once, including loss of active work.

Please fix this, Microsoft!
Petr Bodnár 40 Reputation points

2023-07-23T09:39:37.4933333+00:00

Yes, this bug seems totally unrelated to Docker - I've got the same problem, no Docker on my PC. Luckily the workaround described by WFarmer works for me (until the WSL goes nuts again, of course).
Jiri Hajek 30 Reputation points

2023-09-21T06:59:58.25+00:00

Just fyi, while I had several instances of this issue in the past, it doesn't happen anymore, haven't had it in the past months. Not sure what changed, my PC usage seems to be pretty much the same, so possibly some of the updates.
1gor 0 Reputation points

2023-11-04T08:49:57.1333333+00:00

Hi there!

Guys, all of you have Intel CPU or Ryzen?
Please link your CPU in comments to understand is this CPU problem.
I have hybrid CPU intel 12500H.
Thomas Arand 0 Reputation points

2023-11-08T07:48:51.26+00:00

I have the same issue.
Sometimes docker is running, sometimes not (So docker alone does not seem to be the only app causing this behaviour).
However, restarting the PC is not a solution.
Unfortunately, sometimes "wsl -shutdown" doesn't work (the command simply doesn't return, and the high mem/CPU usage of VMMEM is still there).
Any other ideas to workaround?
Anonymous

2024-01-10T19:09:42.3+00:00

I am having this problem. I am not using Docker. WSL has become unusable for me. How about a fix?
Robert Lee 0 Reputation points

2024-01-10T19:13:14.1533333+00:00

Yes, this has gotten worse recently. More specifically this week which I'm not sure what's changed. Before I was safe if I hadn't had images copied to my clipboard or had Filezilla running but it seems there's now something else triggering it.
Steve 25 Reputation points

2024-01-19T09:22:09.1166667+00:00

I believe this is related to stealth updates by MS. I have auto-updates turn off (I don't trust them, I prefer stable versions that have been out for 1 year), and this issue only started occurring 6 months ago, before an update. I too have noticed this occurring every day now over the last 1 week, whereas before it only used to occur once every week or so. Examining github, MS does not seem to care about this issue. At this stage is seems WSL2 is abandoned on W10. Make of that what you will.
PLEUN SAARLOOS 0 Reputation points

2024-02-16T10:05:56.57+00:00

I had the exact same problem on my laptop.
I solved it by removing the charger and now I can run wsl and docker as normal. I hope someone smarter finds a better solution.
Alex Herlan 0 Reputation points

2024-03-27T03:08:43.76+00:00

I am having the same issue. AMD Ryzen 5900 series CPU, 32gbs DDR4, Windows 11 64bit. Running Docker. Only started occuring after this most recent Windows Update. :-. Anything to do with WSL, virtualization, etc. Has been a huge pain to deal with on Windows 11. I am not a happy customer at all.
Stéphane Tremblay 0 Reputation points

2024-04-04T18:43:04.1866667+00:00

I am getting this issue as well where VMmemwsl starts progressively using more and more CPU until it reaches 100% all while doing nothing in my WSL Ubuntu.

However, I noticed this only happens when I am connected to our corporate Citrix Secure Access VPN, in which case I cannot access the internet. As soon as I disconnect from the VPN, CPU usage drops back down to normal.

All of you who had the CPU spike issue, can you all please check if networking or internet access from WSL has anything to do with the spike?

I hope this helps.
Anonymous

2024-05-03T15:48:12.9466667+00:00

I can't use WSL anymore because of this bug. If Windows 11 is the solution (is it?), it won't work for me on my corp laptop (which I can barely install WSL on; long story). I just use Cygwin now. Less than ideal, but the only game in town (my IT won't let us install VirtualBox, etc).
Samia, Michel 0 Reputation points

2024-05-06T09:15:18.1866667+00:00

I disconected from VPN and it didn't help. If I run 'top' in the ubuntu, I see that 100% CPU is taken by the init process. Which is weird as I switched to systemd via a config change. wsl --shutdown helped.
zip 5 Reputation points

2024-07-02T01:35:33.2466667+00:00
you have to wait. Because it uses 100% of the CPU your pc needs time to shut it down.
for me usually its about 2 minutes but i got a workaround.
create a file in C:/Users/<yourUserName>/.wslconf
with

[wsl2] memory=3GB processor=4

to limit the available resources for wsl
depending on your pc / laptop i use 1/4 of my devices resources
Anonymous

2024-07-03T16:09:48.26+00:00

Note: It's .wslconfig
Carlos-SysAdmin 5 Reputation points

2024-09-26T09:15:11.2633333+00:00

Same problem in 2024. As I dont really need for work, Uninstalling WSL solved my random 100% CPU problem.
Leszek Pietrzak 6 Reputation points

2024-09-26T13:52:09.7333333+00:00

2024/09 and still I can confirm the issue! Also running WSL2 with Docker, exactly the same issue.

12 answers

TravisR 0 Reputation points

2023-11-27T05:02:53.7266667+00:00

Apologies for commenting on an old post. I've been having this issue for years, but it's been significantly more frequent throughout 2023.

For me the issue was related to my screenshot tool. It automatically copies the captured area as a PNG image to my clipboard, which appears to make WSL very unhappy with me. Clearing the clipboard by copying some other random bit of text helps calm it down after several seconds.

It appears to be the most impactful after I've used WSL in some way, but can happen with or without Docker running as well (no idea why). Clearing the clipboard in these cases also helps.
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Robert Lee 0 Reputation points

2023-11-28T19:20:52.8333333+00:00

Are you perhaps using the Windows screenshot tool? That copies the image to the clipboard as well but I would have never thought that that would have any affect on WSL. How did you even think to go down that path and explore that possibility?!

Andi 0 Reputation points

2023-12-02T13:46:06.4266667+00:00

I have same issue with high CPU Load for VmmemWSL running kali linux in WSL2

Executing "top" inside kali shows:

21563 kali 20 0 998612 168452 121900 R 52.2 2.1 14:31.25 xfwm4 353 kali 20 0 667164 253356 134584 S 26.6 3.1 91:02.62 Xtigervnc

How can I solve this issue?
Thanks.
Qwerty Vítězslav Ackermann Ferko 0 Reputation points

2023-09-13T15:06:04.68+00:00

It is not possible to kill the process, but you can change it's affinity.

Running wsl --shutdown in administrator cmd seems to have worked for me in the end as well.

Anyway, I want to point out that in my case, the issue was caused after I stopped Docker. After that I could not even restart it as it got stuck on the launch screen.
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Will MacGuinnes 5 Reputation points

2023-09-21T05:54:15.46+00:00

The issue isn't related to the Docker. WSL hogs CPU even without anything running on it. In my case it's related to OS sleep state and occurs only after resuming from sleep. Quite often wsl --shutdown does not work (does not stop it even in 15 minutes) so only option is to restart.

Justin Frodsham 0 Reputation points

2024-09-11T19:14:45.6033333+00:00

Correct, wsl --shutdown just hangs.
Antonio Torres Vargas 0 Reputation points

2023-09-13T14:57:56.0433333+00:00
This worked for me.

Create the following text file at:

C:\Users<your-username>.wslconfig
```
[wsl2]                                                                           
guiApplications=false
```
then restart the PC
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Petr Bodnár 40 Reputation points

2023-07-23T10:22:01.23+00:00

Note that this bug seems to have been discussed at https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/6982 for over 2 years already. From there, it looks like pressing Win+Ctrl+Shift+B could also help, as it resets the graphic (video) driver which apparently causes the issue.

As stated by WFarmer, stopping the Window Subsystem for Linux (wslhost.exe) should work as well. In the linked thread, restarting the Windows service called WslService could help as well.

Of course, none of this helps with avoiding the issue altogether, unfortunately.
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9 people found this answer helpful.
David Andrea 0 Reputation points

2025-01-21T19:23:40.2933333+00:00

Win+Ctrl+Shift+B worked perfectly to fix this issue for me. Thanks!
Walker, James (SI BP AM R&D SYS) 85 Reputation points

2023-07-17T13:47:30.0733333+00:00
Open cmd prompt, run as admin,
```
wsl --shutdown
```
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10+ people found this answer helpful.
Wirawan Purwanto 5 Reputation points

2023-07-27T11:40:42.14+00:00

This solution does not work for me. I had docker running when this incident happened too. It is on a laptop that was kept on for a while (but put to sleep / hibernation whenever not in use or in transit). Suddenly the CPU utilization went to the sky and there was nothing I could do to the machine except to restart it. "wsl --shutdown" does not work since this is a work laptop and I don't have a real admin privilege. They installed "MakeMeAdmin" tool here, but it does not properly shut off WSL2.

Anonymous

2023-08-22T16:00:07.7933333+00:00

Usually running wsl --shutdown works for me, but not this time and neither did attempting to stop service WslService or resetting the video driver (Win+Ctrl+Shift+B). The shutdown command just hung and attempting to stop the service left status at "Stopping". I was forced to reboot this time.

Severiano Cuéllar Vázquez 0 Reputation points

2024-08-16T17:34:48.6266667+00:00

Thank you!
This solution works for me.

MossCro 6 Reputation points

2024-10-02T21:32:43.7466667+00:00

Thanks. Same issue. I wasn't even using WSL so I don't know why it started using 100% of the CPU (all cores). Shutdown worked.

Microsoft needs to investigate this bug.

ETON Bi 0 Reputation points

2025-01-01T04:06:10.45+00:00

when run wsl --shutdown, cli stuck on it.

David Cheeseman 0 Reputation points

2026-08-01T15:33:16.41+00:00

This doesn't work for me at all. wsl --shutdown, force restart of the service, and reboot all fail. About to switch to full linux to get away from this issue.