Fix: Avast High CPU Usage

Is Avast Antivirus or Avast Service using too much CPU? How can you force Avast to use less CPU? Here is the ultimate guide.

Ensuring you are protected while browsing the internet is extremely important. Many people depend on antivirus software to protect themselves, with Avast being one of the most popular choices.

However, anyone who frequently uses a computer knows that no software is perfect. Avast is no exception.

In this guide, we will look at how to solve a problem familiar to many users. If Avast is using most of your PC resources, making it almost impossible to do anything on your computer, these solutions should help.

Table of ContentsShow

The Problem Explained

Antivirus programs are hugely beneficial when they work properly, but they should run in the background and go largely unnoticed by the user.

Unfortunately, numerous users have reported that Avast consumes most of their CPU resources, an issue that appears to have been experienced by others in the community.

Avast using too much CPU

Not only does this considerably slow down processing, but it’s also unhealthy for the CPU as constantly operating at 100% can result in overheating.

Fix 1: Repair The App And Reboot Your PC

As stated by an official support team member in this Reddit thread, repairing the app and rebooting your PC is one of the most reliable fixes for this problem.

You can achieve this by following the easy directions below.

  1. Open Avast on your PC.
  2. Click Menu, then Settings. From here, open the Settings tab and click General.
  3. To commence the repair process, click Troubleshooting and then Repair App.

Once the process is complete, reboot your PC. The problem should now be gone. If it isn’t, Avast staff recommends reinstalling Avast and re-activating the software.

If that also falters to assist, take a look at the subsequent method.

Fix 2: Remove Avast Cleanup

Delete Key

Avast is a complex piece of software that includes multiple components. In addition to the mail shield, file system protection, threat scanner, and other features, there is also Avast Cleanup, which many users have enabled.

If you are unfamiliar with this feature, here’s what you need to know.

Avast Cleanup is tasked with keeping your PC optimized and healthy at all times. This is why it is designed to run constantly. This sounds great, but, in reality, it can have a negative effect on your system.

Avast Cleanup functions in the background, utilizing resources while examining for any process that should not be operating.

Any software that continuously operates in real-time, especially at such high magnitude, places a considerable burden on the CPU. This is why users report observing notable peaks in resource usage while observing Task Manager with this feature active.

This has been reported on high-end systems in addition to less powerful ones, which leaves us to conclude that the feature is simply not well optimized. For many users, it does more harm than good.

To uninstall Avast Cleanup, follow the instructions below.

  1. Open Avast on your PC, either via a Desktop shortcut or by left-clicking the icon in your system tray.
  2. Open the Settings tab and click Components in the menu on the left.
  3. Find the component you want to remove, in this case, Avast Cleanup, and select Uninstall Component to begin the process. Confirm by clicking “OK” when asked.
  4. When the process is completed, reboot your PC.

This should solve the issue of high CPU usage. If it doesn’t, you can still try one more method: uninstalling a component called Behaviour Shield.

You can do that by following the steps listed above, but instead, choose a different element: Conduct Shield instead of Avast Cleanup.

Update The App To The Latest Version

Web development concept: Mouse Cursor and Update on computer keyboard background

If none of the above solutions help, you might be using an outdated version of the software, which isn’t recommended, especially where antivirus programs are concerned.

To ensure you enjoy the best protection provided by recent changes, you must keep your antivirus up to date at all times.

Developer updates are not only to enhance security but also contain optimization changes. This means it isn’t uncommon to see the app performing better after installing its latest update.

Avast automatically gets updates, but if your computer fails to download or you have turned off this option, you can manually get the updates from their official database.

Conclusion

No matter why you use a computer, you want it to work as fast as possible so you can get stuff done. If a program like Avast is making things slower, even if it’s a good program, you should fix it.

Fortunately, you now know how to conquer the Avast excessive CPU usage dilemma on Windows.

Related Reads

You Are Not Eligible For This Purchase On Twitch Fix
Fix: You Are Not Eligible For This Purchase On Twitch
Bojan Veselinovikj
LinkedIn

Bojan is a video-game developer and a tech enthusiast. Combining these two passions allow him to keep you informed on everything that's new in this fast-paced digital world.