Are you facing a high CPU usage issue with Runtime broker on Windows? What is Runtime Broker?. The RunTime Broker is an official Microsoft core process that was first introduced on Windows 8 and the legacy of the process is continuing on Windows 10. The only work that the process makes is to determine whether universal apps are declaring all of their permissions, like being able to access your location or microphone.
These universal apps are also called Metro apps on the Windows 8 and the Runtime Broker check on these apps for every instance in the background. The process has quite a bad credit for increasing CPU stress and RAM usage on systems frequently. You can consider the process as a middleman on your Windows between the system and the universal apps present on the OS.
Where can you find Runtime Broker details?
The Runtime Broker information is found on the Windows Task Manager applications where all the processes presently running are shown. In the list of processes, you can see the Runtime Broker process showing the status as running and the memory that the process is using on the system. Sometimes, you may find the Runtime process in the Details menu depending on the background usage of the applications on Windows.
Why the Runtime Process uses a High CPU on your System?
The process when on idle doesn’t use up much of your CPU and shows 0% as the CPU usage. But, the usage spikes up when you launch a universal app and that usage slowly rises to 25-30%; and comes back down in the same way after the app usage. The process to be more specific uses up the CPU only when a Windows loaded application is in the background and; checks for the appropriate permissions required for the application run on the system.
As the Runtime Broker is a universal Windows process, you will eventually find it on the task manager running in the background all the time. The exact number of the RAM usage of the process is around 20-40 MB while maintaining a low profile when no applications are running. The number spikes up when you launch a universal app and goes up to 500-700 MB. The process will return to its normal state of 20-40MB when the universal applications are closed.
How to Fix Runtime Broker causing High CPU usage on Windows
1. Disabling Tips and Tricks in Windows 10 Settings
There is a common and simple fix for the High CPU usage of the Runtime process. Windows tends to send tips, tricks, and suggestions as notifications that end up staying in the background all the time. By toggling off this feature you can not fully but at least lower your CPU usage in the background; avoid unnecessary distractions while you browse and work on your system.
- Use Windows+I to open the Settings application on Windows 10.
- Head over to System options and select Notifications & Actions.
- Locate “Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows“
- Toggle the preference to off for avoiding unnecessary notifications.
This one of the simpler and common fixes for ending the Runtime Broker process without entering the Task Manager. Most of the time, this method may work as it is a common issue on Windows 10 operating system. So, disabling the application that is responsible for displaying tips and suggestions to Windows users should lessen the CPU usage.
2. Ending the Runtime Broker process in Task Manager
You can find the main process of the Runtime Broker in the Task Manager as we have discussed in the beginning. The Task Manager is a tool that lets you have clear information on which processes are running on the system currently and in the background. If you have already disabled the suggestions, tips, and tricks in the settings and still face high CPU usage, you can easily end the process directly from the step-by-step guide below.
- Use Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open the Task Manager.
- Right-click on Runtime Broker.exe in the processes list.
- Click on End Task from the drop-down menu that opened.
- Restart the PC.
Even though you have ended the Runtime Broker process, remember that it’s a key process for the security and privacy of universal apps. The process appears again but the system may fail to launch the universal applications on Windows. This because of the crucial role played by Runtime Broker for keeping the integrity and security of the universal applications on Windows.
3. Limiting the number of applications running on background
Another easy and simple fix for your high CPU usage by the Runtime Broker process is disabling some of the applications that you don’t use quite often. The applications loaded from Windows that run in the background may end up using more of your CPU. Just disable the unnecessary applications that run in your background to fix the issue.
- Use Windows+I to open the Settings application.
- Go to Privacy options and search for Background Apps.
- Now, toggle off the applications from the list
- Select and turn off those applications that you won’t use quite often
There you go, this way you can just turn on the important and most used application to run in the background. Now, you have total control over which application runs in the background and which doesn’t. In this manner, you have an account of which application is having a high CPU usage. As the number of universal applications in the background is less, Runtime Broker may not kick in that often on the system.
Fixing the Runtime Broker High CPU usage on Windows
These are some of the quick and simple methods for keeping track and fixing the Runtime Broker process on Windows. You can check if the Runtime Process running in the background is safe by going to the file location of the process. If the process is stored inside the System32 folder then the Runtime Broker process is considered as a legit process for the universal applications of Windows. Do you have a different approach to fixing the high CPU usage of the Runtime Broker process? Comment down below your method to help us.
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