[FIXED] Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation high CPU usage

[FIXED] Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation high CPU usage

After reading this article all your doubts will be cleared about what windows audio device graph isolation is how to fix it if it is causing High CPU usage in your windows computer.

If you spend some time in Task Manager, you may have noticed something called “Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation”, with high CPU usage, 

Here’s what it does and what you can do if “Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation” is using your computer and CPU resources more than it should.

What Is the Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation Process?

Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation high CPu usage

At first, it doesn’t give you much clue about what “Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation” is and what it does on your computer. But just like other programs “Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation” is also an important part of the Windows operating system.

Windows audio Device graph isolation which is also known as AudioDG.exe is a part of the windows audio system. which allows third-party apps to run sound on your computer. in computers, we call this digital signal processing.

AudioDG.exe does not only allow you to play sound in 3rd party apps but it also allows you to apply special effects to audio. like Adding reverb, boosting the bass or simulating echo, etc.

Why Does Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation Process Sometimes show high CPU usage?

Now since we know This is actually good software that allows us to play sound in 3rd party apps, then why it is causing trouble and showing high CPU usage?

if Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation is showing you high CPU usage in the task manager then it’s not normal. and it needs an immediate fix.

There can be various reasons why it’s showing you high CPU usage. so, here is the list of all the things that you need to check and fix it.

  • Fix Audio Drivers
  • Disable Sound effects
  • Check for malwares/virus

How to Fix Audio Drivers in Windows 10?

Under normal conditions, you should see “Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation” using below 5% of your CPU, minimal memory, and no disk activity at all.

[FIXED] Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation high CPU usage | WINDOWS GROUND.

but if you see a change in any of the above then, check whether you have the right audio drivers installed or not and also check if they are updated or not.

Because most of the time problems like this occur when you have the wrong drivers installed and they could be the reason your computer is having high CPU usage.

so If your audio drivers are corrupted or out of date, they can cause Audio Device Graph Isolation to High CPU usages.

So now the question is…

How to check if your audio drivers are corrupt or out of date?

To check whether your audio drivers are corrupt or not, go to the device manager and then expand the Sound section.

here is a step by step method to find any corrupted audio drivers.

  1. Press “Windows start button+ x”
  2. Click the “Device Manager”
  3. [FIXED] Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation high CPU usage | WINDOWS GROUND.
  4. then expand the sound Section.
  5. and check whether any of them have any yellow triangle sign (which means they are corrup.

open device manager find and update audio drivers

if they show this sign then you need to update your audio drivers.

damaged audio drivers

how to update your damaged audio drivers manually?

Now you found those corrupt drivers which were causing problems in your computer, so to update these corrupted/damaged drivers follow these steps carefully.

  1. right-click on the damaged driver from device manager
  2. open device manager find and update audio drivers
  3. click update drivers from the options
  4. click search automatically for updated driver software

it will automatically load you, updated driver.

else if you don’t see any warnings on your audio drivers then your drivers are perfectly fine.

other than this, you can also use third-party software to install and update your drivers.

Also read: How to enable dark mode in Google Chrome, Facebook, etc in Windows 10 (no apps needed)

How to Disable Sound effects in windows 10?

If you’re

most Windows users have seen that optimizing your sound settings can help with your high CPU usage issue.

so try that also.

To do that, use the following instructions:

  1. Right-click on the speaker icon on your Taskbar.
  2. Select “Open sound settings
  3. Click “sound control panel
  4. go to the “sounds” tab.
  5. select sound scheme windows default to “no sound
  6. click apply and click ok.

How to Disable Sound effects in windows 10 right click in taskbar

open sound control panel windowsgroun.com

[FIXED] Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation high CPU usage | WINDOWS GROUND.

Hopefully, your CPU usage is at a reasonable level now.

Also read: Where are snipping tools screenshots saved Windows 10

Is AudioDG.exe a virus?

the third thing you can do to reduce high CPU usages from windows audio graph isolation is to check for any malware.

now if you’re wondering, could “Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation” be a virus then a straightforward way to check that is this-

  1. go to task manager
  2. find Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation
  3. right-click on it
  4. select open file location 
  5. and check it’s location

if its location is C:\Windows\System32 then it’s not a virus. because this is where all your system programs lives.

also, there could be any malware that is trying to do damage in any way possible.

so check for that.

go to the windows defender and scan the whole computer.

windows defender and scan the whole computer.

also, you can use paid virus scanner applications like Malwarebytes which is highly recommended.

Answers to your common questions( People also ask ) :

Can I Disable Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation?

Many windows users think that disabling windows audio device graph isolation will fix all their problems regarding their High CPU usage in the computer, but now you know that this is an import software for your audio system, disabling this is a bad idea. There is no benefit in doing that, it will close all audio service from your windows computer.

How do I stop AudioDG.exe from running?

There is nothing you can’t disable or stop from running in your windows computer, but stopping windows audio device graph isolation AKA AudioDG.exe from running is a very bad idea, as after disabling AudioDG.exe you won’t be able to play audio properly. So if you don’t want that on your computer my advice would be to not do it.

How do I fix Audiodg.exe in Windows 10?

If you’re having problems such as HIgh CPU usage because of running AudioDG.exe aka windows audio device graph isolation process in the task manager then read the whole article where I have explained how to fix high CPU usage in your windows computer above.

Why is Audiodg.exe running?

To run the audio engine in various third-party apps, the windows audio device graph isolation (AKA AudioDG.exe) program is required in your windows computer. so if you’re seeing the windows audio device graph isolation (audioDG.exe) process running in the task manager you shouldn’t be surprised.

 

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6 Comments

  1. So after struggling with this issue for a long time and not having any luck with these various mostly generic (no offense intended) approaches – namely updating or sometimes downgrading drivers, disabling sounds, etc – I have found what seems to be where the issue lies most of the time. AudioDG doesn’t just control output but also factors in when it comes to input. I believe it may be a factor of Cortana voice command integration, but it seems that awhile back something changed that allowed the mic to be seen as active and thus the windows audio device graph isolation is kicked into gear. After finding this out, I was able to fully update my system again to the most recent drivers (which will also enable the microphone again, so it had to be disabled a second time) and eliminate all excess CPU usage from the process. I do not typically use my microphone on my computer to begin with and use a plug in set of headphones or my bluetooth headphones and haven’t had any issue or resulting CPU drag.

    1. Matt’s solution worked. Cortana was allowed permissions and that was causing the issues. I went into the settings of Cortana and disabled its access for the microphone and the cpu utilization went down.

  2. +1 The only way I found to completely fix this was to just disable the microphone access to every app that I don’t need, i.e. Cortana ; )

  3. Alexa was the source of the high CPU utilization in my case. I just disables Alexa’s access to the mic & the problem was solved.

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