Fix: High GPU Usage in Windows Explorer Windows 11/10 [Solution]

Several Windows 11 users have reported that when looking at Task Manager, they notice that Windows Explorer is using the maximum GPU on their computer. This issue occurs even when Explorer is not actively running as a background process and when users attempt to restart the program, the system crashes with a "Critical Process Dead" error code.

Issues covered in this tutorial:
Windows Explorer High CPU
high CPU usage by Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer High CPU Windows 10
Windows Explorer high CPU usage
Windows Explorer high CPU and memory usage
high GPU usage in Windows 10 Explorer
Windows Explorer high battery usage
Windows 100 GPU Explorer
desktop window manager with high GPU Windows 11
Windows 10 high-performance GPU
high GPU usage Microsoft Edge
High power consumption of Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer high RAM
Windows 10 GPUs
Windows Explorer high CPU usage Windows 10
high Windows Explorer usage
Windows Explorer high CPU usage Windows 11

Desktop Window Manager (DWM) is a system process responsible for rendering every item displayed on your desktop. It is also responsible for menus, system animations and transparency elements in Windows.

Desktop Window Manager usually uses the integrated graphics card to meet all the requirements. Many users have noticed high GPU usage by the process, even when no demanding applications are running. Moreover, high-end GPUs, with high processing power, also face the same problems.

Fortunately, there are some known issues that can cause this chaos on your computer and they are simple and easy to fix. That being said, before continuing, it may be helpful to learn more about the problem.

This tutorial will apply to computers, laptops, desktops, and tablets running Windows 10 and Windows 11 (Home, Pro, Enterprise, Education) operating systems from all supported hardware manufacturers, such as Dell, HP, Acer, Asus, Toshiba, Lenovo, Alienware, Razer, MSI, Huawei, Microsoft Surface and Samsung.

Please take the opportunity to connect and share this video with your friends and family if you find it useful.