Suddenly, you feel that your computer is slowing down, disk constantly at high usage, and available memory is getting low. When you check the Task manager, you find that there is this process called svchost.exe or Service Host Local System that is running at very high CPU, disk, memory and network usage in Windows 11 or Windows 10.
This guide explains what the svchost.exe process is and what you can do to fix the high resource usage issue caused by the service.
See also: Why is My Memory Usage So High When Nothing is Running?
What is Service Host: Local System svchost.exe in Windows 11/10?
Service Host: Local System, also known as svchost.exe, is a group of services consist of core services of Windows. There are a huge list of Windows services that runs under Service Host Local System process. That is why you often see multiple svchost.exe processes in the Details tab in Task Manager.
If you notice any svchost.exe or the Service Host Local System is hogging up resources and causing high CPU usage, high disk usage or high memory usage (as high as 100%), it just mean that one of the Windows services under this process is currently running in the background.
Identify the problem service
To identify which service is currently causing the issue, you will have to expand the Service Host Local System process in Task Manager and look at the name of each individual service that causes high CPU, disk, memory or network usage.
Alternatively, you can identify the problem service by selecting the high CPU usage svchost.exe process in the Details tab in Task Manager. Right-clicking it and then select Go to service(s).
It will then bring you to the Services tab with the selected service highlighted with all the info and full name of the service. For example, in the screenshot below, the svchost.exe I have selected is the UsoSvc Update Orchestrator Service under netsvcs group.
You can then learn about the service by searching its name online to see whether if it is safe to disable it or not. Then, you can decide if you want to disable the service.
How to disable a service in Windows 10/11
To disable a service, press Win+R keys to open Run command. Type services.msc and hit Enter. In the Services window, look for the service that you want to disable. Double-click on the service. Click on the Startup Type drop-down menu and select Disabled. Make sure the service is safe to disable before disabling it.
Svchost.exe causes high CPU, disk or memory usage (common fixes)
If you have trouble identifying the problem service, you can try the fixes below to fix some of the most common services that causes high CPU usage, high disk usage, high memory usage or high network usage in Windows 11 or 10.
Run DISM repair tool
Some of these svchost.exe processes are related to Windows Update. By running DISM image repair tool, it may help to fix the high resources usage issue. Follow the steps below to run the tool in command prompt.
Go to start menu. Search for CMD and open command prompt as administrator. In the command prompt, enter the following command.
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
The scan and repair may take some time to run. Once it’s completed, restart your PC and verify if the Svchost.exe Service Host Local System high CPU, disk or memory usage is resolved.
Disable Superfetch service
Superfetch service is one of the most common service that often causes high CPU usage for Svchost.exe Service Host Local System process.
You can try to disable Superfetch service by following the instruction of how to disable service as outlined above. Select Superfetch from the Service window. Double-click on it and select Disabled for Startup type.
Run System File Check on CMD
When there is missing or corrupted system file that relates to one of the services under svchost.exe, it may also cause high resource usage. Running System File Check can help to automatically scan and repair these missing and corrupted system files in Windows 11/10.
Open Command Prompt as administrator as instructed above. In the command prompt, enter the following command.
sfc /scannow
Wait for the scan to complete and restart your PC when it’s done. On your next reboot, check to see if the Svchost.exe Service Host Local System high CPU, disk, memory or network Usage problem is fixed.
End Task svchost.exe process
If you are in a rush and have no time to learn what the problem service is about, you can try to just kill the service by selecting it and then click End Task.
This will temporary terminate the service. But in most cases, it will eventually come back running again. Also, if some of these services are core components Windows relies to run, your Windows may crash when you kill the process. So, do this at your own risk.
Let us know if any fixes here help to solve your problem. If none from the above works for you, show us the problematic service that bothers you in the comment below.
