How to fix Anti malware Service Executable High CPU Usage MsMpEng.exe?

If you are using Windows 10 then Windows Defender is the default antivirus or antimalware solution. It helps you to give the protection against any type of ransomware by using Controlled Folder Access.

Windows Defender is one of the best in-built antiviruses among the entire antivirus and it really works well if you follow all the guidelines on how to use this antivirus and how to use a computer. You have to understand how to be careful when using the Internet if you want to be protected from viruses, malware, etc.

Sometimes you can find out that the CPU Usage of Windows Defender may really high from 30 to 90 percent. If you want to see the CPU Usage of Windows Defender then open the task manager where you will find the actual CPU Usage just below the “Antimalware Service Executable”.

A MsMpEng.exe process is also called Antimalware Service Executable and it is totally related to real-time protection module of Windows Defender. When your system is crashed or infected with malware then MsMpEng.exe use the very large amount of CPU resources and slows down the normal operations and processing speed of your computer.

To deal with this type of issues, you need to follow just simple steps which can be helpful for you to fix this problem on your computer. We are giving you step by step methods:

1. Find out the infection on your system

1. Go to the start menu and reach Windows Defender Settings and Hit the Virus and Threat Protection to scan the system.
2. A dialogue box will be opened. Now you need to click on Run a newly advanced scan which is present just below the Scan Now option to do a full scan.
3. You will find three options here: Full Scan, Custom Scan, and Windows Defender Offline Scan. Click on Full Scan and then Scan Now button.
4. The process will take some time and if they detect any type of threats or viruses then it will be automatically removed.

After detecting the infected malware or virus and removing it from your system, follow the below steps:

2. Exclude the folder of Windows Defender

Windows Defender protects your system from threats, virus, malware, etc by running in the background which is called real-time protection. It watches all the internal processes and scans them. It scans itself also to find out the unusual behavior and it may also result in high CPU Usage sometimes.

It is funny but if you want to avoid the problem of MsMpEng.exe then you need to add Windows Defender into the execution list so that it will not scan itself and reduces the CPU Usage.

1. Open the Windows Defender Settings option present in the Start menu.
2. Click on Window Security window and you will find the option or Virus and Threat Protection at the right panel.
3. Now you will find many options out of which Virus and Threat Protection Settings is one of them. Select this option and scroll down till last and click on Add or remove Exclusions.
4. You will see the option of Add Exclusion and add anything you want like File, Folder, Processor File type in the execution list.
5. Click on the Folder option and reach C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\. Now choose the folder of Windows Defender.
6. Sometimes you may see User Access Control, you need to just click on Yes and then continue.
7. Your work is down. Now restart your computer and you will not find the high CPU Usage of Windows Defender.

But if you still find the issue of Antimalware Service Executable high CPU usage then you might follow the below method also.

3. Disable Real-time protection

One of the main reasons behind the high CPU Usage of Windows Defender is its real-time protection. So, if you disable the real-time protection then it will reduce the high CPU Usage. But is my personal recommendation that does not disable the real-time protection for a long time.

This method is only used for the temporary fix. It may also happen that you will face the issue again after enabling the real-time protection. Follow these steps to disable the real-time protection:

1. Open the start menu and search Windows Defender Security Centre. Reach Virus and Threat Protection option and then Virus and Threat Protection Settings.
2. After Click on the option, you will find the toggle button on the right panel. Just off that button and if you face the pop-up box of User Access Control then click on Yes option.

You will not face the problem of the high CPU Usage of Antimalware Service Executable. But remember the thing that it is the temporary solution. Do not disable the real-time protection for a long period of time.

4. Use Other Antivirus

The above methods will definitely help you but if these methods did not work then you can switch from the Windows Defender Antivirus to any other antivirus like Avast, Kaspersky, AVG, Norton, McAfee, etc. There is no need to do anything.

Just download the antivirus and install on your computer. Windows defender will automatically disable itself. In this way, you can reduce the maximum CPU Usage of Antimalware Service Executable.

If you want to get more protection then you can install MalwareBytes on your system. You will find that your computer is more secure than Windows Defender.

Hope these methods will help you to solve the high CPU Usage Antimalware Service Executable problems. If you find anything wrong in these above methods or you have something to tell us then write on the comment box. We will let you know all the things which you want to ask.