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Why Windows 11 is "cooking" my CPU

Bui Minh Nghia 40 Reputation points
2026-05-16T13:16:00.7066667+00:00

Hi guys,

This morning I just turn on my Dell Optiplex 3060 SFF then the graph in the taskbar is full so I check it and the CPU's utilization is over 90%.

My computer have an Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-8100 CPU at 3.60GHz and I'm running Windows 11 Pro

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Windows for home | Windows 11 | Performance and system failures
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Answer accepted by question author

Ivan B 113K Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-05-16T13:56:09.1366667+00:00

Hii,

If possible, open the task manager > the Summary tab > select CPU to see which processes are consuming > take a screenshot and post it here.

Then follow the procedure below:

Open the command prompt (admin) and run the commands: sfc /scannow and dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth, wait for the process to finish and restart the computer.

Then perform a clean boot and if you want to uninstall applications that you do not use.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-execute-a-simple-boot-start-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd

Thanks

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AI answer

2026-05-16T13:16:15.6766667+00:00

Windows 11 itself is not necessarily damaging the CPU; the system is under sustained high load from running processes. Use Task Manager and a few built‑in optimizations to identify and reduce the load.

  1. Identify what is using the CPU
    1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
    2. On the Processes tab, click the CPU column header to sort by highest usage.
    3. Note which apps or background processes are consistently at the top and using the most CPU.
    4. Right‑click any app you do not need and select End task to stop it (avoid ending items you do not recognize as they may be system processes).
  2. Check for many background apps and startup items
    1. In Task Manager, go to the Startup apps tab.
    2. Disable apps with High impact that are not required at startup.
    3. Restart the PC and see if CPU usage is lower after sign‑in.
  3. Monitor resource usage over time
    1. With Task Manager open, use the Performance tab to watch CPU, memory, and disk.
    2. If CPU spikes when opening a specific app or browser with many tabs, close unused apps/tabs. If performance does not improve, restart the PC.
  4. Improve performance settings
    1. Select Start, type Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows, and open it.
    2. On the Visual Effects tab, select Adjust for best performance.
    3. Select Start > Settings > System > Power & battery (or Power & sleep on some builds).
    4. Set Power mode to Best performance (or choose the High performance power plan under Additional power settings). This lets the CPU run at higher performance when needed, at the cost of more power and heat.
  5. Optimize drives
    1. Select Start, type Defragment and Optimize Drives, and open it.
    2. Select the system drive and choose Optimize. This can help if disk activity is contributing to slowdowns.
  6. If CPU is still near 100% with no obvious heavy process
    • Check again in Task Manager for many small processes together using CPU.
    • Close apps not in use and consider a restart.
    • If the issue persists, investigate recently installed software or drivers that may be misbehaving and uninstall them.

These steps help identify what is “cooking” the CPU and reduce unnecessary load so the system runs cooler and more responsively.

References:

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