Sorting in Task manager is extremely slow.

I've got this issue as well. Had it in Windows 10, and still have it now in Windows 11. Interestingly, I had not noticed that it does indeed take (near as I can tell with a stopwatch) exactly 3 seconds to switch column sorting.

Additionally, I noticed that switching away from or back to the Processes tab also has a similar lag (with one exception, detailed below). I can switch among the Performance, App history, Startup, Users, Details, and Services tabs as much as I like, with only minimal lag on the Users tab from time to time. But if I switch away from the Processes tab, or to the Processes tab... lag.

The one exception is if the Processes tab is sorted by Name, then I can switch AWAY from it without any lag. Switching back TO it has the 3-second lag.

Finally, one other datapoint, regarding mouse lag: When I switch the Processes tab between sorting by Name and sorting by one of the hardware columns (CPU, Memory, etc) and continue moving my mouse around in circles, there is a... moderate amount of mouse lag, as if the cursor changed from rendering at 60fps to more like 10-15fps. If I switch from Processes->Name to one of the other tabs, there's basically no lag (perhaps a momentary spurt). However, if I switch from Processes->CPU (or any of the other hardware columns) TO another tab, there is a heavy amount of mouse lag, as if it's rendering at 2-4fps.

So in summary:

• Processes->Name <--> Processes->[CPU/Disk/etc]: 3s lag, moderate mouse lag
• Processes->Name --> [any other tab]: no lag, no mouse lag
• [any other tab] --> Processes->Name: 3s lag, no mouse lag
• Processes->[CPU/Disk/etc] --> [any other tab]: 3s lag, heavy mouse lag
• [any other tab] --> Processes->[CPU/Disk/etc]: 3s lag, no mouse lag

Finally got rid of the lag. This was so annoying. Guess Microsoft needs to rework the code of the Group by type setting.

Disable Task Mananger's "Group by type" Setting

https://mornechamberlain.dev/2022/04/windows-task-manager-slow-order-by/

Finally got rid of the lag. This was so annoying. Guess Microsoft needs to rework the code of the Group by type setting.

Disable Task Mananger's "Group by type" Setting

https://mornechamberlain.dev/2022/04/windows-task-manager-slow-order-by/

this helpful! thank you!

Worked for me too! I love that Microsoft official support was no help and couldn't find the problem. All they do is "sfc scannow, dism, reset PC", I swear they're just bots.

Lucky there are other users that are dedicated to finding and fixing the problem.

Finally got rid of the lag. This was so annoying. Guess Microsoft needs to rework the code of the Group by type setting.

Disable Task Mananger's "Group by type" Setting

https://mornechamberlain.dev/2022/04/windows-task-manager-slow-order-by/

this helpful! thank you!

same issue on a high end pc. just tried on a lower spec'd pc and the result is identical. gonna chalk this up to microsoft, not your personal windows install or hardware.