How to Fix Microsoft Cross Device Service High Memory or CPU Usage in Windows 11

Microsoft Cross Device Service, also known as crossdevice.exe, is a background process of the Phone Link System on Windows 11. It allows communication between your computer and phone through Phone Link and Link to Windows. When it's working properly, this service uses a small amount of system resources. However, it can bug out and start using a lot of CPU and memory resources for no good reason, slowing down your entire system. In this guide, we look at practical ways to reduce resource usage and stabilise system performance.

How to Fix Microsoft Cross Device Service High Memory or CPU Usage in Windows 11

Phone Link and mobile device services start automatically when Windows boots, so if you aren't actually using Phone Link, disable them.

• Open Task Manager, go to the Startup tab, then disable Phone Link and Mobile devices.
• After restarting the PC, these components will no longer run in the background unless opened manually.

If you don't have any intention of ever using it, you can uninstall Phone Link in Settings > Apps. Just find it on the list and select Uninstall. This will make sure you never have to deal with this again.

Turn off Share across devices

The Share across devices feature uses Cross Device Service to sync content between devices. So you might as well disable that option too.

• Open Settings, go to Apps, then Advanced app settings.
• Open Share across devices and set it to Off.

Disable mobile device visibility in File Explorer

When a phone is connected, Windows can display it inside File Explorer. This keeps Cross Device Service active.

• Open Settings, go to Bluetooth and devices, then Mobile devices. Select your phone and turn off Show mobile device in File Explorer.

Reinstall Cross Device Experience Host

• If the service becomes unstable or corrupted, it may consume excessive resources.
• Open Command Prompt or PowerShell as administrator and run:

• Restart your PC.
• Then reinstall it using:

• This resets the component and often restores normal resource usage.

Still Having Problems?

If you are still having problems with both of these things, the best thing to do is to either uninstall the last update or try to update to the latest version of Windows. It's a dice roll on which is going to potentially solve the problem. However, if the problem only just started after an update, you know what to do. Go back!

Best Phone Link Alternatives for Windows 11?

Personally, I think that Phone Link on Windows 11 is garbage. I much prefer to use SCRCPY instead. It allows you to screen mirror your Android device to your PC with full control. It's also super lightweight, has a ton of customisation options, and it's free. You can check out all of our guides on SCRCPY here.