If you’re experiencing sudden high CPU utilization in Windows 11, Microsoft might know what’s causing your problems. According to the Redmond, Washington-based software giant, a nasty bug in File Explorer affects Windows 11 21H2 and 22H2.
Specifically, Microsoft says that users are prevented from viewing the “Effective Access” menu in the “Advanced Security Settings” dialog box for shared files/folders. Instead of properly responding to the user’s command, “the results of the query might not be displayed and explorer.exe might continue to use CPU after the Advanced Security settings dialog is closed.”
Microsoft reports that the high CPU utilization will continue to plague the Windows 11 system until the currently logged-in user signs out or until the system is rebooted. Simply locking Windows will not resolve the bug, according to Microsoft.
It should be noted that this File Explorer bug was introduced with KB5026368 and KB5026372 for Windows 11 21H2 and 22H2, respectively. These were Patch Tuesday Cumulative Updates released on May 9. What’s interesting is that it took well over a month for Microsoft to acknowledge the issues; however, the following statement from the company seems to explain this seemingly slow response time.
“This issue is unlikely to be experienced by consumers using Windows devices in their home,” which is understandable given that Effective Access is geared more towards specific corporate environments.
If you are currently experiencing high CPU utilization when accessing this specific feature, you can attempt Microsoft’s suggested logout/reboot workarounds. In the meantime, the company says it is currently working internally on a fix, which should be available later this month.
