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
    2023-03-01T07:38:02+00:00

    MyPhoneExplorer, albeit free, isn't as good as MightyText. The interface is pretty dated and it looks like you can receive MMS but now send MMS on SMS. So I'm back to MightText Pro with no CPU issues like Phone Link. I posted the issue in another form and true to Microsoft Support Form, you get a reply with a bunch of boiler plate troubleshooting instructions almost as if they didn't really read and digest your description of the problem, let alone followed the link I provided to this thread. He basically said, there's not enough users complaining about it to garner the resources to look into the problem.

    So at this point it's mostly a feature for marketing of Windows and your average user probably doesn't even notice the fan running if they are using a desktop/tower that isn't close to their ears. It doesn't run the CPU to a point that you notice a slow down but I can't have my laptop unecessarily running the fan constantly when I'm not using it

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-02-08T16:03:52+00:00

    Many thanks to this thread for providing the answer as to why my laptop fans run high when it goes idle!! I figured it was unique to the make/model of my laptop, so I was on the wrong track for too long, looking at BIOS settings and cursing the laptop manufacturer.

    Disabling / removing my phone from Phone Link has solved my issues!! What a poorly implemented good idea. I'm back to using Pushbullet.

    PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-12-15T14:58:27+00:00

    Bjcnvbj

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-11-27T03:43:42+00:00

    Try safe mode and see if the same thing happens...

    (It's not about a virus, maybe it's MS software that's triggering it).

    Download Phone App on safe mode (I think you do have to run a few commands on cmd to pull it off) and let it sit idle.

    Edit: Wanted to add that it doesn't do that for me, I have a Windows 10 Home, Intel Core i5 with 8GB ram. I don't regularly use Phone App but I have it connected to my Samsung phone and I use it when necessary, and never deleted it.

    Safe mode probably won't fix the problem but it'll give you some background knowledge (if you didn't do it already).

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