Microsoft Teams is a popular team collaboration and meeting software. It is mainly known for its group calling facilities. However, you might sometimes notice Microsoft Teams consuming a lot of CPU processing power.

As such, below are all the primary reasons behind the high CPU usage of Microsoft Teams, along with solutions to eliminate the issue.

What Causes a High CPU Usage With Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is a comparatively lightweight application, normally it will not consume a lot of CPU processing power. But if it is, there's something wrong with the application. Below are some of the common reasons behind Microsoft Teams' high CPU consumption.

  1. Microsoft Teams is built on an Electron platform; it loads multiple libraries simultaneously. Due to this, Teams can consume a lot of CPU resources.
  2. Microsoft Teams will consume a lot of CPU memory due to compatibility issues with other installed applications.
  3. The problem can also occur due to corrupt application files.

Fortunately, it's very easy to troubleshoot Microsoft Teams' high CPU usage issue. Here are all the effective solutions to try in this situation.

1. Update Windows

High CPU consumption of different applications, including Microsoft Teams, can result from outdated Windows versions. Each Windows update comes with performance improvement and bug fixes. Thus, the first thing to try to fix the high CPU usage of Microsoft Teams is to download the latest Windows update. Here's how to do it.

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Click on Windows Update.
  3. Click on Check for updates.

Windows will check for any pending updates and install them if available.

2. Disable GPU Hardware Acceleration on Microsoft Teams

The GPU Hardware Acceleration of Microsoft Teams puts more load on the application, causing it to consume more processing power.

Hardware acceleration provides more performance and efficiency than if the same process used only your general-purpose GPU. You will have to disable Microsoft Teams GPU hardware acceleration to fix the issue. Here's how.

  1. Launch Microsoft Teams.
  2. Click on your profile picture, and choose Settings.
  3. Choose General from the left pane.
  4. Uncheck Disable GPU hardware acceleration.
    Microsoft Teams settings screen
  5. Close Microsoft Teams, and restart the system.

Launch Microsoft Teams and check if there's an improvement in CPU consumption.

3. Disable Register Teams As The Chat App For Office

The next solution you can try in this situation is to disable register Teams as the chat app for the Office feature. You can do it by following the below steps:

  1. Launch Microsoft Teams, and go to Settings.
  2. Click on the General tab.
  3. Under the Application section, uncheck Register Teams as the chat app for Office feature.
    Microsoft Teams settings screen

Reboot the system and launch Microsoft Teams. Check if the problem is fixed or not.

4. Turn Off Read Receipts

The Read receipts feature of Microsoft Teams lets you know when the recipient has read your message. When the other person reads your message, it will be denoted by a Seen notification. Otherwise, the message will be indicated by a Sent notification.

However, this feature can also be responsible for Teams' high CPU consumption. You can disable read receipts on Teams by following the below steps.

  1. Launch Teams, and go to Settings.
  2. Click on Privacy from the left pane.
  3. Disable the Read receipts toggle.
    Microsoft Teams privacy options

Relaunch Microsoft Teams, and check if the problem is fixed. If not, try the next solution on the list.

5. Clear Microsoft Teams Cache Data

Microsoft Teams Cache folder

Like any other application, Microsoft Teams stores cache data. It helps the application enhance the user experience and reduce the load time. But at the same time, if the cache data gets corrupted, it can directly affect the app's performance.

You will have to clear the Microsoft Teams cache data to resolve the high CPU usage issue. Here's how to do it.

  1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialogue box.
  2. Type %appdata% and click on OK.
  3. Navigate to Microsoft > Teams.
  4. Delete everything inside these folders -- blob_storage, cache, GPUcache, databases.

Launch Microsoft Teams, and check for the issue.

6. Repair Microsoft Teams

If Microsoft Teams has some corrupt files, it might be the root of your high CPU usage issue. Fortunately, you can use the repair feature to eliminate the problem.

Here are the steps you need to follow to repair the Microsoft Teams app:

  1. Open Settings by using the Win + I hotkey.
  2. Choose Apps from the left pane.
  3. Click on Apps & features.
  4. Locate Microsoft Teams, click on the three dots next to it, and choose Advanced options.
  5. Under the Reset section, select the Repair option.
    repair microsoft teams

Windows will take a few minutes to repair the application. Once done, launch Teams to see if the high CPU consumption is fixed or not.

7. Update Microsoft Teams

Sometimes outdated applications can also cause high CPU consumption issues. You'll have to download the application's latest update to fix the problem.

Here's how to update Microsoft Teams.

  1. Launch the Microsoft Teams app.
  2. Click on the three dots in the top right corner and choose Settings.
  3. Tap on About Teams in the left pane.
    Microsoft Teams About page

Microsoft Teams will look for any pending updates and install them if available.

8. Reinstall Microsoft Teams

If none of the steps were helpful in solving Microsoft Teams' high CPU usage problem, you can consider reinstalling the application. Reinstallation will resolve issues caused due to corrupt app files.

Below are the steps to uninstall Microsoft Teams.

  1. Open the Settings window.
  2. Head towards Apps > Apps & features.
  3. Locate Microsoft Teams.
  4. Click on three dots next to Microsoft Teams, and choose Uninstall.
  5. Now, visit the Microsoft Teams download page, and download the desktop version.

Run the installer to install Teams on your system.

9. Adjust Visual Effects

The high CPU consumption issue can occur due to wrong visual effect settings. Windows OS offers plenty of visual effects, but if you're using all of these effects on a low-end device, you will constantly face high CPU consumption problems. You will have to adjust visual effect settings to fix the issue. Here's how to do it.

  1. Open the Start Menu, type Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows, and press Enter.
  2. Click on Visual Effects.
  3. Choose Adjust for best performance.
  4. Click on Apply > OK.

Check if there's any difference in the CPU consumption.

Microsoft Teams High CPU Usage Fixed

Hopefully, the solutions were helpful in fixing the issue. While Microsoft Teams is a useful application, it can sometimes consume a lot of CPU processing power. You can make some in-app changes to eliminate the problem.