PhoneExperienceHost.exe high CPU usage when pc idle

Anonymous
2022-11-12T15:18:33+00:00

Hi,

When I come back to my laptop and it's gone into idle mode (screen off) I can hear the fans running fast, but as soon as I move the mouse the fans die off. I tried to figure out for a while what was happening and eventually set up perfmon to record what processes were running. I discovered that runs at 50% CPU continuously while the machine is in idle which is ridiculous for something that shouldn't be doing anything much (I'd upload a screenshot but there doesn't seem to be an option anywhere). Looking at details in Task Manager the PhoneExperienceHost.exe process has used twice as much CPU in total than any other app, even though I haven't used it in the foreground.

I do use Phone link to connect to my phone, but it's in the background (system tray icon only) and shouldn't be doing anything most of the time.

There's nothing related in Event viewer and I can't see anything in Scheduler which might trigger it.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Phone Link software.

The machine says it is up to date for patching.

I've searched for anything related to this issue and found nothing helpful so either it's only my machine, or other people don't realise it's happening as it only happens when they can't look at it!

Any ideas on how to fix this so it stops using my power (obviously uninstalling is not an option)? (TBH though, I expect it's something built into the software and can only be fixed by MS)

Thanks,

Jon W

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Connect Phone and PC

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-10-26T21:40:11+00:00

    What I meant to say is that I really don't notice it in memory consumption but I do notice it in my CPU temperature gauge in my water cooling system going from 90 degrees Fahrenheit on average to 130 degrees. As soon as I end task on the phonelink app, the temperature goes back to normal. I’m a graphic designer and I run multiple apps and no matter how many apps I’m running it’s that one app (phonelink) that heats up my CPU. I really like the app but it’s very suspicious to me how this works in the background ☹

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-10-26T17:10:14+00:00

    Hi Dwayne,

    That doesn't surprise me, although it's not the problem that this thread is about - This is about PhoneLink using excessive CPU when the PC goes into idle/screensave mode.

    You clearly have a beast of a PC so, if the app is taking up so much of the CPU that would be very worrying, and I would recommend uninstalling it!

    Regards,

    Jon

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-10-25T12:25:39+00:00

    I'm also seeing it

    My system is watercooled and when I open phone link the water temperature jumps from 32 celcius to 54 celcius.

    Processor 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-12900KS 3.40 GHz

    Installed RAM 128 GB (128 GB usable)

    To resolve the issue I go to the task manager and end task on phone link

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-09-02T07:28:33+00:00

    Excellent detective work! Clearly MS needs to hire you, as you're obviously more competent than their current team who works on this app.

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-08-29T12:53:15+00:00

    Using ProcMon, it looks like the issue is that PhoneExperienceHost.exe goes into a loop querying the registry for video devices.

    It makes sense that the issue is solved in Windows 11, as Win11 keeps a virtual display active (using a KVM with multiple displays, Win10 will push all windows onto one when you switch back, while Win11 remembers the layout)

    Even just a 200ms delay before rechecking would drop the load by 99%.

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    5 people found this answer helpful.
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