A fix is coming for a ‘high CPU usage’ bug caused by a recent Windows 10 update

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Microsoft says it only affects a small number of users.

Microsoft has acknowledged reports from a "small number of users" who say their PCs are exhibiting CPU spikes when using Windows Desktop Search. A fix is in the works, and should be available in mid-September, the company says.

A recent Windows 10 update is to blame, specifically KB4512941, which Microsoft pushed out to PCs on Friday, August 30. Somewhat ironically, the update was supposed to fix a Visual Basic issue introduced by a previous update. Now a fix is needed for the fix that was supposed to fix a previous fix (that's a Yo Dawg meme in the making).

"Microsoft is getting reports that a small number of users may not receive results when using Windows Desktop Search and may see high CPU usage from SearchUI.exe. This issue only occurs on devices that have disabled searching the web using Windows Desktop Search," Microsoft states.

"We are working on a resolution and estimate a solution will be available in mid-September," Microsoft adds.

According to Microsoft, this only happens on Windows 10 version 1903 devices in which searching the web from Windows Desktop Search has been disabled. In other words, there's a bug with Microsoft's Cortana integration, which SearchUI.exe relates to.

Paul Lilly
Paul Lilly

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).