Camera taking up huge CPU and memory utilization on Teams call

Question

Camera taking up huge CPU and memory utilization on Teams call.

When Teams call or video is ended, CPU utilization drops significantly.

When CPU utilization is high during a call, laptop is slow and unresponsive until Teams call is ended or video is turned off.

In this case, Windows hello is turned off for these users.

Windows is in 24H2 Version and latest update is installed.

We have tried uninstalling Camera driver and reinstalled it again from Lenovo website, however, problem persists.

Answer 1

High CPU and memory utilization during Teams calls can be caused by several factors. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot and potentially resolve the issue:

1. Check for Background Applications: Ensure that there are no other applications running in the background that may be consuming CPU resources.
2. Update Drivers: Since you have already reinstalled the camera driver, ensure that all other drivers, especially audio and video drivers, are also updated to the latest versions.
3. Power Settings: Check your power settings to ensure that they are set to maximum performance. If the power plan is set to a lower performance level, it can affect CPU utilization during calls.
4. Disable Hardware Acceleration: In Teams, try disabling hardware acceleration. Go to Settings > General and uncheck "Disable hardware acceleration when available."
5. Check for GPO or MDM Policies: If your organization uses Group Policy Objects (GPO) or Mobile Device Management (MDM) policies, ensure that they are not limiting CPU performance. You can check the power settings through these management tools.
6. Monitor CPU Usage: Use Task Manager to monitor which processes are consuming the most CPU during a Teams call. This can help identify if Teams itself or another application is the culprit.
7. Contact Support: If the issue persists after trying these steps, consider reaching out to Microsoft Support for further assistance, as they may have additional insights or solutions specific to your situation.

These steps should help in diagnosing and potentially alleviating the high CPU and memory usage during Teams calls.

Answer 2

Hello Ash Shiwakoti, per your description, the high CPU and memory utilization during Teams calls is most likely related to how the camera driver interacts with Teams’ video processing. I would recommend a few additional steps to try:

1. Update Teams client – Ensure you’re running the latest Teams desktop app, as performance fixes are released regularly.
2. Switch to the Microsoft-provided camera driver – In Device Manager, try rolling back or switching from the OEM driver to the default Windows camera driver to see if resource usage improves.
3. Disable GPU hardware acceleration in Teams – Go to Teams settings > General > uncheck Disable GPU hardware acceleration (or toggle it depending on current state). This often reduces CPU spikes.
4. Test with another camera – If possible, connect an external USB camera to confirm whether the issue is hardware-specific.
5. Check background processes – Lenovo utilities or other video-related apps can sometimes conflict with Teams.

If none of these steps resolve the issue, I recommend opening a support case with Lenovo as well, since this may be a driver optimization problem specific to the Precision hardware line.

I hope this helps narrow down the cause and gives you a path forward. If you found this answer helpful, please click “Accept Answer” so others can benefit too 🙂.

Harry.