Microsoft investigating bug causing high CPU usage with Windows 10 update KB4512941

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
published

Microsoft says it will "provide an update in an upcoming release."

Surface Pro 6
Surface Pro 6 (Image credit: Microsoft)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft is now investigating a bug in the latest optional cumulative update for Windows 10, KB4512941.
  • The bug is causing CPU usage to spike for some users, and it's related to SearchUI.exe.
  • There's no official fix as of yet, but Microsoft says it will "provide an update in an upcoming release."

If you've noticed some odd CPU behavior since installing the latest cumulative update for the Windows 10 May 2019 Update, you're not alone. After user reports began springing up around the web, Microsoft has acknowledged that there is a bug with the update that causes high CPU usage spikes related to SearchUI.exe after installing KB4512941.

It's unclear how widespread the problem is, and Microsoft hasn't provided an official explanation for the root cause. There's also no fix for users to apply just yet, but there are ways to correct the issue by either removing the update or tweaking registry settings.

See more

While Microsoft says it is investigating the issue, the company only says that it will "provide an update in an upcoming release." The KB4512941 update is an optional update, so it's likely that we'll see Microsoft patch the issue in its regular monthly "Patch Tuesday" release, which is due out on September 10. Until then, your best option is to roll back the cumulative update to get rid of any negative performance impacts from the CPU usage spikes you're seeing.

How to fix high CPU usage after installing update KB4512941 on Windows 10

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

6 Comments
  • My SP3 updated to 1909 on the first of Sept. My other Desktop is on 1903 - 18362.327 and failing to install this update. Which apparently maybe a good thing. Edit: Both (and all my) machines are on Insiders release program.
  • Anytime, any update, any version, there's always high cpu and high RAM usage, high update times, reboots for everything... and so on.
  • I hope they will provide a fix in an upcoming update too :)
  • My Surface Pro 4 can't even install this update so that's lucky for me I guess.
  • I am utterly shocked they are investigating this.
  • Why? MS cannot possibly cover every single configuration out there in the wild. At least they're doing something about it.