Why does Windows "Photo service" run when I'm away from my computer?


  1. Posts : 289
    Windows 10 Pro 21H2
       #1

    Why does Windows "Photo service" run when I'm away from my computer?


    If I leave my computer for 10 minutes, the "photos service" starts running. It will use about 50% of the cpu. When I move the mouse it will stop and free up the cpu. What is this service doing that it needs to run so much?

    Note: this happens on all editions of Windows 10 I've run.
      My Computers


  2. Posts : 42,978
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #2

    Hi,what exactly is the 'photos service'? Can you identify it from the task manager?

    Perhaps these may help?

    Microsoft.Photos.exe causes high cpu usage - Microsoft Community
    Photos Background Task Host - High CPU usage! Solved - Windows 10 Forums

    Windows Photos may be searching through folders designated as albums, or perhaps auto-optimising photos.

    Turn On or Off Auto Enhance in Photos app in Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials

    Consider the options and controls for these.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 369
    Windows 10 x64 Pro 22H2
       #3

    Also, don't forget to disable running background apps (better disable them one by one, if you turn off the switch all together, bugs can happen, specially if you use the search functions, also, be sure that, if you like to get toast notifications from apps like Edge or Twitter, those have to remain enabled)

    Turn On or Off Background Apps in Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials

    Also, I would open Powershell in administrator mode and run this command:
    Code:
    Disable-MMAgent -ApplicationPreLaunch
    This will prevent Windows from preloading apps in the background when your machine is idle for an extended period of time.

    Cya!
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 42,978
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #4

    Photos is enabled, background, on mine, but no problems. If there are, and the problem is linked to disabling it running in the background, that might suggest it's related to how Photos has been used or configured.
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 289
    Windows 10 Pro 21H2
    Thread Starter
       #5

    dalchina said:
    Hi,what exactly is the 'photos service'? Can you identify it from the task manager?

    Perhaps these may help?

    Microsoft.Photos.exe causes high cpu usage - Microsoft Community
    Photos Background Task Host - High CPU usage! Solved - Windows 10 Forums

    Windows Photos may be searching through folders designated as albums, or perhaps auto-optimising photos.

    Turn On or Off Auto Enhance in Photos app in Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials

    Consider the options and controls for these.
    Photos is listed in your background processes, mine simply says PHOTOS. I tried changing these settings, but no luck. I get up for 5 minutes, come back and my cpu is cranking away again because the photos process is running. In the past I just type the removal command into powershell and remove photos all together. The problem goes away. I just use a third party image viewer instead. But that just does not seem right to have to do. Although many other people remove it too, because they don't like their cpu running like that when they leave their computer.

    get-appxpackage -allusers *Microsoft.Windows.Photos* | remove-appxpackage

    How to uninstall Photo app in Windows 10 - Microsoft Community
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 42,978
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #6

    Hi, nothing called Photos is listed anywhere I can see in Task Manager - tried Details, Services..

    I agree that it shouldn't be the case that it's using CPU time.
    I only see this if I choose to launch Photos.
    Why does Windows "Photo service" run when I'm away from my computer?-1.jpg
    This thread I quoted above
    Microsoft.Photos.exe causes high cpu usage - Microsoft Community
    refers to
    Microsoft.Photos.exe
    which I can't find.

    I'd suggest perhaps rt clicking your PHOTOS and finding out what it is exactly.

    If you use, for example, Sysinternals Procmon (free from MS) you can capture all activity on your PC. You can search that for PHOTOS (or whatever is appropriate) and see what it's doing. That may give you a clue.

    Another thread here:
    Photos Background Task Host - High CPU usage! Solved - Windows 10 Forums

    There are several suggestions that worked for people here - worth looking through thoroughly.
    Microsoft.Photos.exe causes high cpu usage - Microsoft Community
      My Computers


 

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