Cross Device service High CPU ,RAM usage

Question

Cross Device service High CPU ,RAM usage

keegang 30

Like… what is happening with this app?
Are you trying to mine some Bitcoin or something?
I don’t know why it keeps auto-starting.
Stopping it from services.msc doesn’t work, and disabling it from Task Manager> Startup Apps also doesn’t work.

I have to end the process tree, and then it comes back again.

Also, when I share my screen, the device gets so hot that it stops sharing by itself.

I had to use a command to permanently remove it from my PC.

Get-AppxPackage *CrossDevice* -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers

I also notice that you put this problem under the rug for so long now please fix your app.

User's image

Joan1002 0 Reputation points

2026-04-04T12:53:18.9433333+00:00

Thanks to the person who aswered this, because I also had this issue, and it was taking usually like 5 gigabytes, but once it was usig 30 gigabytes, which I already use like 25 out of my 64, so it was using 95% of my memory, please fix this in a future update

Answer accepted by question author

Hendrix-V 19,300 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi keegang,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

The Microsoft Cross Device Service supports optional features such as linking your phone to your PC, sharing content between devices, and enabling certain device‑to‑device experiences. In some situations, this service may continue running in the background even when those features aren’t actively used.

When this occurs, it can lead to unexpected CPU and memory usage, and the process may automatically restart after being stopped. Resource‑intensive activities like screen sharing or video capture can further increase system load, which may explain the heat buildup and interrupted sharing you noticed.

If you don’t rely on phone‑to‑PC or cross‑device features, the following options can help reduce impact:

Option 1: Turn off cross‑device features

Open Settings
Go to Apps > Advanced app settings
Set Share across devices to Off
Restart the PC

Option 2: Disable related startup entry

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager
Go to Startup apps
Disable Mobile Devices
Restart the PC

If the service continues to consume resources and you don’t need it, you can run Get-AppxPackage *CrossDevice* -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers in Open PowerShell (run as Administrator).

Please note that this command disables cross‑device features such as Phone Link. Future Windows updates may reinstall the component.

Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Hendrix-V 19,300 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-01T00:57:01.6+00:00

Hi,

I just wanted to follow up and check if the information I provided was helpful. If you have any further questions or updates regarding this issue, please feel free to let me know in the Comments section. I'd be happy to assist you.
keegang 30 Reputation points

2026-03-03T09:29:50.63+00:00
well

Get-AppxPackage *CrossDevice* -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers

still leave YourPhone service that eating ram so i have to run this too

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers *YourPhone* | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers

that's fix all my problem
Hendrix-V 19,300 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-03T10:07:53.1966667+00:00

Hi keegang,

I'm relieved to know that you made a great decision and everything is good to go on your side. I hope the insights shared in the forum help address your concerns effectively. And thank you for accepting my answer since accepting it helps others with similar concerns can find useful information.

If you have any updates or further questions, please feel free to share them with us.
Janic Bieli 5 Reputation points

2026-03-17T11:44:42.31+00:00

Is there another option than disabling it? I want to use phone link, but I don't think it needs 20% usage of my high end CPU, when it doesn't do anything other than being idle.
Hendrix-V 19,300 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-18T02:23:20.52+00:00
Hi Janic Bieli,

Here are some possible options that you can try to keep Phone Link while reducing CPU usage:

Option 1: Limit background activity - This allows Phone Link to work when opened, while reducing idle resource use.

Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Phone Link

Select Advanced options

Set Background app permissions to Never

Select Terminate

Restart the PC

Option 2: Turn off unused cross‑device syncing - This reduces background synchronization without disabling Phone Link itself.

Open Settings > Apps > Advanced app settings

Set Share across devices to Off

Restart the PC

Option 3: Reduce scheduled background refresh - This limits periodic background checks that can occur while idle.

Press Win + R, type taskschd.msc

Navigate to: Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > ConnectedDevicesPlatform

Disable non‑essential tasks

Restart the PC

The steps above are commonly used to keep Phone Link available while maintaining stable system performance.
Janic Bieli 5 Reputation points

2026-04-04T13:18:11.3666667+00:00

I actually got it fixed only by reinstalling via powershell.
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Ahmed Elsayed 0 Reputation points

2026-05-30T18:05:56.0333333+00:00

can you please share the steps on hot to do that?

1 additional answer

Your answer

Joan1002 0 Reputation points

2026-04-04T12:53:18.9433333+00:00

Thanks to the person who aswered this, because I also had this issue, and it was taking usually like 5 gigabytes, but once it was usig 30 gigabytes, which I already use like 25 out of my 64, so it was using 95% of my memory, please fix this in a future update
Hendrix-V 19,300 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-01T00:57:01.6+00:00

Hi,

I just wanted to follow up and check if the information I provided was helpful. If you have any further questions or updates regarding this issue, please feel free to let me know in the Comments section. I'd be happy to assist you.
keegang 30 Reputation points

2026-03-03T09:29:50.63+00:00

well

Get-AppxPackage *CrossDevice* -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers

still leave YourPhone service that eating ram so i have to run this too

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers *YourPhone* | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers

that's fix all my problem
Hendrix-V 19,300 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-03T10:07:53.1966667+00:00

Hi keegang,

I'm relieved to know that you made a great decision and everything is good to go on your side. I hope the insights shared in the forum help address your concerns effectively. And thank you for accepting my answer since accepting it helps others with similar concerns can find useful information.

If you have any updates or further questions, please feel free to share them with us.
Janic Bieli 5 Reputation points

2026-03-17T11:44:42.31+00:00

Is there another option than disabling it? I want to use phone link, but I don't think it needs 20% usage of my high end CPU, when it doesn't do anything other than being idle.
Hendrix-V 19,300 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-18T02:23:20.52+00:00

Hi Janic Bieli,

Here are some possible options that you can try to keep Phone Link while reducing CPU usage:

Option 1: Limit background activity - This allows Phone Link to work when opened, while reducing idle resource use.

Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Phone Link

Select Advanced options

Set Background app permissions to Never

Select Terminate

Restart the PC

Option 2: Turn off unused cross‑device syncing - This reduces background synchronization without disabling Phone Link itself.

Open Settings > Apps > Advanced app settings

Set Share across devices to Off

Restart the PC

Option 3: Reduce scheduled background refresh - This limits periodic background checks that can occur while idle.

Press Win + R, type taskschd.msc

Navigate to: Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > ConnectedDevicesPlatform

Disable non‑essential tasks

Restart the PC

The steps above are commonly used to keep Phone Link available while maintaining stable system performance.
Janic Bieli 5 Reputation points

2026-04-04T13:18:11.3666667+00:00

I actually got it fixed only by reinstalling via powershell.
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Ahmed Elsayed 0 Reputation points

2026-05-30T18:05:56.0333333+00:00

can you please share the steps on hot to do that?

Answer 1

Ruslan Livanskiy 10

I investigated high CPU usage by the Cross Device service and found that it was caused by continuous background synchronization or indexing of files on a connected mobile device (to make the mobile device’s file system available in File Explorer). In my case, this activity did not stop and the process continued running indefinitely.

To reduce CPU usage in this scenario, you can try the following steps:

Open Settings on your Windows 11 PC.
Go to Bluetooth & devices > Mobile Devices.
Select your device.
Turn off the option Show mobile device in File Explorer.

After disabling this option, the Cross Device service stopped enumerating files on my mobile device and CPU usage returned to normal. I observed this behavior in ProcMon, where crossdeviceservice.exe was repeatedly enumerating files on the mobile device with the FASTIO_NETWORK_QUERY_OPEN operation.

UPD: I also suspect that this continuous synchronization significantly increased the power consumption on my smartphone and caused its battery to drain much faster than usual.

Tunrip 80 Reputation points

2026-05-12T20:22:02.9733333+00:00

Hey, great work identifying this! It seems rare these days that you follow steps like this and it works first time, but after disabling the File Explorer option, CPU usage dropped immediately.

Long live ProcMon!
Shishir Tanwar 81 Reputation points

2026-06-17T18:02:14.6733333+00:00

Is there a way to stop the indexing without turning off the file explorer access?

(And you're right my phone used to become really warm and I never knew why, I'll watch out for any changes in the battery life of my phone as well!)
Ruslan Livanskiy 10 Reputation points

2026-06-17T18:35:46.7066667+00:00

I don't know, unfortunately. Seems to be a bug...