As you know, Windows 10 and Windows 11 are modern computer operating systems which offer practically every feature that you could ever want. While you may use some of these features on a daily basis, others might be left out from your computer usage. But in either case, all of these features are handled by a large number of processes that run in the background in Windows 10 and Windows 11.
One such highly important background process in Windows 10 includes the RuntimeBroker.exe process. And while it is a highly important process for managing Windows 10 permissions, it can sometimes malfunction. To be more specific, you may face RuntimeBroker.exe high CPU usage issues in Windows 10.
Since this can affect the performance of your Windows 10 computer quite a lot, fixing the same is quite important. For the same, we are here with a complete guide on how to fix RuntimeBroker.exe’s high CPU usage in Windows 10 along with all the related details that you can find down below.
What Is ‘RuntimeBroker.exe’?
Before anything else, it is quite important to know the basics and the importance of the RuntimeBroker.exe process in Windows 10. This process can be found running in the background at all times since it handles the permissions in Windows 10.
All Windows 10 apps that you have on your computer, including both native and third-party ones, rely on the RuntimeBroker.exe process for their permissions. It includes permissions like file access, camera access, location access, and other app permissions.
The RuntimeBroker.exe file itself is stored in the System32 folder on your Windows 10 computer. And by default, this process is always running in the background. Because this is a background process, you will need to go to the Details tab in the Task Manager to find the RuntimeBroker.exe process.
Is ‘RuntimeBroker.exe’ Safe & Can You Disable ‘RuntimeBroker.exe’?
Since the RuntimeBroker.exe process is always running in the background of your Windows 10 computer, you might be worried about the safety of your PC. And if you are seeing the RuntimeBroker.exe process for the first time, you may think of it as a possible virus.
Fortunately, that is not the case since this is a part of the major processes that make up the Windows 10 operating system. In fact, RuntimeBroker.exe plays a huge role in keeping your computer safe since it revokes all important permissions from the different apps on your computer.
But despite all of this, you might consider disabling the same to free up memory and lower CPU usage on your computer. Unfortunately, because RuntimeBroker.exe is highly important, it will automatically restart even if you terminate it. And even though it cannot be disabled permanently, you should refrain from even trying so since it is highly important for proper functioning of your Windows 10 computer.
Causes Of ‘RuntimeBroker.exe’ High CPU Usage In Windows 10
While the RuntimeBroker.exe process is one of the most important ones, it can sometimes malfunction. And in most cases, this will result in RuntimeBroker.exe high CPU usage issues in Windows 10. And no matter what kind of processor you have, that is never a good thing since it will always affect your computer’s performance up to an extent.
And before you can go ahead and fix this high CPU usage issue caused by RuntimeBroker.exe, it is better to first understand the same. Usually, the RuntimeBroker.exe process will have high CPU usage when you launch a UWP app that has been installed from the Microsoft Store. When you launch such an app for the first time, the RuntimeBroker.exe process starts checking all the different permissions required by the given app. And thus, it results in high CPU usage temporarily.
4 Fixes for ‘RuntimeBroker.exe’ High CPU Usage In Windows 10
Even though RuntimeBroker.exe should only have high CPU usage temporarily while checking permissions, it can sometimes have high CPU usage over a long period of time. This can be caused when a bugged app is requesting for permissions again and again. It can also be caused when you are relaunching a UWP app in Windows 10 again and again. Thankfully, fixing such RuntimeBroker.exe high CPU usage is fairly easy. For the same, you can try the following top 4 fixes for RuntimeBroker.exe high CPU usage in Windows 10:
1. Disable ‘RuntimeBroker.exe’ Using Registry Editor
While the RuntimeBroker.exe process should not be disabled in ideal conditions, you can consider the same if RuntimeBroker.exe is causing 100% CPU usage. Thankfully, Windows 10 allows you to disable all system background processes with ease using the Registry Editor. And if you are unfamiliar with the same, you can use these instructions to disable RuntimeBroker.exe using Registry Editor:
- In order to use the Registry Editor to disable RuntimeBroker.exe, you first need to open Windows Run by pressing Windows Key + R on your keyboard.
- Then, type regedit and press Enter to open the Registry Editor in Windows 10.
- Once you are here, you need to head over to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TimeBroker using the left hand side menu after which you will find a list of different entries.
- After this, double click on the Start entry and change its value from 3 to 4.
- Finally, restart your Windows 10 PC which will disable RuntimeBroker.exe process on your PC and fix high CPU usage issues.
2. Terminate ‘RuntimeBroker.exe’ Using Task Manager
If you only face RuntimeBroker.exe high CPU usage issues in Windows 10 once in a while, then it’s better to temporarily terminate instead of permanently disabling it. And the best part about this method is that you don’t even need to use the Registry Editor which can be overwhelming for some. Instead, you can simply terminate RuntimeBroker.exe using Task Manager in Windows 10 as described here:
- While there are multiple ways to open Task Manager in Windows 10, the easiest way is to simply press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard.
- After opening the Task Manager, click on More Details to open the expanded view of the Windows Task Manager.
- Here, head over to the Details tab and locate the exe process.
- Then, right click on the RuntimeBroker.exe process and select End Process Tree which will completely terminate the process and fix high CPU usage issues.
- Optionally, you can also restart your PC to see if the problem still persists or whether it was temporary.
3. Disable Windows Tips, Tricks, & Suggestion
Apart from automatically checking the permissions of different Windows 10 apps in the background, the RuntimeBroker.exe process also works along with the Tips, Tricks, & Suggestion system of your computer. This simply means that every time you get any kind of tip or suggestion in Windows 10, it is also handled by the RuntimeBroker.exe process. So, if you are facing RuntimeBroker.exe high CPU usage issues, then you can try to disable Windows Tips, Tricks, & Suggestions by following these instructions:
- To disable Windows Tips, Tricks, & Suggestions, you have to first open Windows Settings by pressing Windows Key + I on your keyboard.
- Then, head over to the System menu and look for the Notifications & Actions tab using the left hand side menu.
- Now, scroll down and find the Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows option and turn it off.
- After that, restart your computer to save this change which should lower RuntimeBroker.exe CPU usage.
4. Disable Background Apps In Windows 10
As we have already explained earlier, RuntimeBroker.exe is a process that is always running since it has to continuously check the various permissions of all the different background apps running on your Windows 10 PC. However, this also means that if you have too many background apps running on your computer, then they can cause RuntimeBroker.exe high CPU usage issues. Thus, it is a great idea to disable background apps in Windows 10 by going through the following steps:
- Similar to the previous solution, first open up Windows Settings by pressing Windows Key + I on your computer.
- Here, open the Privacy menu and head over to the Background Apps section via the left hand side menu present on your screen.
- Once that is dones, disable all the background apps that you don’t want running in the background. Since these apps won’t be using Windows permissions anymore, it will also lower RuntimeBroker.exe CPU usage in Windows 10.
Conclusion
At any given time, there are a large number of processes and tasks that are running in the background of your computer. While some of these processes might be idle, others are actively working to keep your Windows 10 PC functioning while offering all the important functionality and features. But sometimes, some of these background processes of Windows 10 can have issues with them.
One such issue happens to be the RuntimeBroker.exe high CPU usage issue in Windows 10 that we have thoroughly discussed up above. More importantly, we have given the top 4 fixes for RuntimeBroker.exe high CPU usage in Windows 10. In case these fixes have reduced CPU usage on your Windows 10 PC, consider leaving your suggestions and thoughts in the comments section down below.
