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Cross Device Service high memory usage

Anonymous
2025-05-31T00:32:05+00:00

Hello,

Sometime in the last two weeks or so, my pretty high end computer will just start being completely choked out after being online for a few hours (I shut it down daily, so rarely online more than a few hours at a time) and every time I check, the Microsoft Cross Device Service is hogging all of my RAM. It's been as high as 56 gigs. Has something been changed in the last few weeks with this service or is this a known issue and is there a workaround? I understand it's related to the phone link service, and while I'm not incredibly attached to that, I'd prefer to use it if it's available than to not, so a solution other than "Just don't use it" would be appreciated.

Thank you

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Connect Phone and PC

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-05-31T04:26:59+00:00

    Hi EricBurnett3! My name is Jason. You're not alone in experiencing high resource usage from the Microsoft Cross Device Service. This issue has been acknowledged by Microsoft, particularly affecting Windows 11 Insider builds, where the service consumes excessive system resources

    What Is the Cross-Device Service?

    The Cross Device Service facilitates synchronization between your PC and other devices, enabling features like clipboard sharing, app continuity, and notifications synchronization. It's integral to the Phone Link app, which connects your PC to your smartphone .

    Temporary Workarounds

    • If you'd prefer to continue using Phone Link, consider these steps to mitigate the issue:

    >Disable 'Share Across Devices':

    Go to Settings > Apps > Advanced App Settings > Share Across Devices.

    Set this option to off.

    >Disable 'Mobile Devices' Startup App:

    Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc).

    Navigate to the Startup tab.

    Right-click on Mobile Devices and select Disable.

    >Terminate the Cross Device Service Process:

    In Task Manager, locate Cross Device Service under the Processes tab.

    Right-click and choose End Task.

    Note: This is a temporary fix; the process may restart upon reboot.

    >Uninstall Cross Device Experience Host (Advanced):

    Open PowerShell as an administrator.

    Run the command: Get-AppxPackage *CrossDevice* -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers

    powershell just Copy and Edit

    This will remove the Cross Device Experience Host, which may alleviate the issue

    Let me know if I can help you further!

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