If you are currently not running any additional programs, your CPU usage should be anywhere between 1% and 10% just through Windows processes alone. High-end CPUs are able to handle all manner of multitasking, but budget processors may not be able to run multiple resource-heavy programs at once. Remember that depending on your processor, it could be that your computer is just utilizing the resources available to it in an efficient manner under heavy workloads. Is the CPU usage really too high?īefore you jump right in and start trying to fix the problem, it’s important to learn whether the CPU usage you’re currently experiencing is abnormal in the first place. You can also check the Open Resource Monitor option at the bottom to see more detailed information about your processor.

This will produce a curve diagram that displays real-time updates about the performance of your CPU. With Task Manager open, navigate to the Performance tab and select CPU from the left-hand side menu. Right-click on the taskbar or the Windows icon at the bottom-left side of your screen.Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+Delete to bring up the lock screen and select Task Manager from there.Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+Escape to bring up the Task Manager directly.

The three easiest and quickest ways to run Task Manager are: If you already know how to do that, you can skip ahead to our next steps. How to check CPU usageĬhecking CPU usage on Windows comes down to simply opening the Task Manager.

If you’re unsatisfied with the performance of your PC, the first step is to check its CPU usage. However, if you open a CPU-intensive program (such as certain games or video editing software,) you may notice that the response times increase as your CPU usage goes up.įluctuations in CPU usage are normal and nothing to worry about - as long as your PC continues running smoothly. When you’re not running many applications, your CPU usage should be low, and in an ideal scenario, everything should run smoothly.

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