High idle CPU usage (≈30%)

[ConnyJ]

Plan

Premium

Country

Sweden

Device

PC

Operating System

Windows 10 Home
Version 22H2
OS Build 19045.7058

My Question or Issue

I recently discovered (maybe a couple days ago) that my Spotify app (Windows store ver) on desktop has been using alot of my CPU while just idle. I have tried alot of things already, like reinstalling the app - both via their site and the windows store version - but to no avail. I also tried disabling/enabling hardware acceleration, no change. I don't have the Local Files feature turned on at the moment. I really don't know what is wrong, whether it is something on my side, or if it is a known issue with the desktop app.

I have attached a screenshot, this is Spotify when just idle.

Please, if anyone has had the same problem, or know of a fix, I would be really grateful!

Spotify for Windows (64 bit)
1.2.86.502.g8cd7fb22

[olafmol]

Btw disk space is plenty. Also notice that there is no network I/O happening but a huge amount of disk IO. 

[olafmol]

Another thing i noticed: Connecting to and from my windows desktop app from the iOS app does not work anymore. The iOS app tries to connect, it shows my laptop with the windows app running, but it keeps on blinking and trying "connecting". I feel this all started to happen after the last Windows 10 update. My Mac desktop app works like a charm btw, no lag or anything, smooth as butter, only the windows desktop app and the iOS app seem to be really lagging to the point of almost being unusable.

[Osaka250]

I have the same high idle CPU usage bug as many have described before. No solutions have worked.

[olafmol]

FYI, i reverted back to an older version (1.2.83.453) and all the issues are gone. CPU is nice and low, no lag or delays, normal memory usage (about 50% of the recent buggy version) and normal disk I/O (about 1% of the latest buggy version). I can also connect between my different spotify devices and apps again. I'm using all the same settings and nothing has changed except for the spotify application version.

BTW, as an IT professional it's very strange to me how this version slipped through your Q&A processes. I hope it's not to much AI vibe coding going on within spotify devs? 😉 If so, make sure you have your automated (synthetic) tests in place...

[ConnyJ]

What did you use to revert back to an older version? Uptodown?

[olafmol]

yes, uptodown

[joemakkio]

Experiencing this as well on Spotify for Windows (64 bit) 1.2.86.502.g8cd7fb22

[diego_souz09]

installing older version did it. thanks

[rronqe2794]

Hi,

Just wanted to also say that this has been affecting me as well. CPU load hovers between 8-12%, which is constantly keeping my CPU fans running on higher RPM, and temps fluctuating due to that.

Spotify version: 1.2.86.502.g8cd7fb22

I've used the Report an issue... tool, so logs should have been sent to Shopify dev team.

[Mstar01]

I have the exact same issues described here. High CPU load on the desktop app on two different computers. I now have to use the browser instead of the app because of the annoyingly high CPU usage. Tried every fix and nothing worked. Guess they let everybody code these days

[Yordan]

Hey folks,

Could you head to the app's settings and check if you have the 'Allow nearby devices on the same network to start Spotify' option? It should be located somewhere near the bottom, under 'Startup and window behavior'.

If you have it, try toggling it off to see if that helps.

Let us know how it goes 👍

[joemakkio]

At first it looked as it had improved, but it quickly went back to usual high CPU usage, so it didn't work.

[Yordan]

Thanks for testing, @joemakkio.

Something else that would aid us in the investigation is a screenshot of all Spotify processes listed under Task Manager when the CPU usage is high so we can see which one is using the most resources.

Cheers 🤘

[olafmol]

Before i moved back to an older version that runs ok, i remember that it was the process "Spotify Premium" that ran at high CPU and high disk I/O. I also remember that the high CPU was directly correlated to high disk I/O, and at the same time there was no network I/O at all. My guess is that it has something to do with the caching mechanism going off the rails, maybe for larger amounts of playlists/songs.

[olafmol]

BTW, in the old good version, this "Spotify Premium" process is not there, the name of the process is named the currently running "artist - tracktitle"  

[joemakkio]

Here's the screenshot. This is with 'Allow nearby devices on the same network to start Spotify' disabled.

[olafmol]

to add my own context to this screenshot: i would be happy to run at only 6% CPU, my laptop would run constantly at 50% CPU or more for only Spotify, and disk I/O would be consantly over 10MB/s. I'm using an older Intel Core i5 laptop btw...

[joemakkio]

Yeah I'm on high-end hardware but it's still enough for the fans to start spinning audibly. Before this current bugged version, CPU usage was below 1%

[ixmaway]

Same issue here since updating to latest desktop vers. I have a Ryzen 7 9800x3d - so higher end hardware and it's not making my pc stutter very noticeably, but it is raising my idle temps. 

[Yordan]

Thank you for your cooperation, folks!

In order to investigate further, would you mind confirming the following:

• When the app is idling and you're still seeing high CPU usage, could you check if "SpotifyLauncher" is running in Task Manager?
• What's your OS version? Are you using Windows 10 or 11?
• Could you try running the app with a fresh cache to see if that makes a difference? See the steps below.

Some log files which capture the app's behavior in action would also be quite useful here. Check out the steps below for more info on how to create one.

⚠️ Note: for security reasons, do not share any log files publicly in this thread as they contain sensitive information. Instead, you can share them to me or the rest of the Moderator team via private message. This article goes in-depth on how to set this up.

Run with fresh cache

Spoiler

Run the below commands in a cmd prompt. You can use WinKey + r and type "cmd" to launch.

Windows Store Client:

mkdir "%USERPROFILE%"\Documents\temp_spotify_cache
start Spotify.exe --mu="%USERPROFILE%"\Documents\temp_spotify_cache

Windows Non-Store (Web Installer) Client:

mkdir "%USERPROFILE%"\Documents\temp_spotify_cache
start %APPDATA%\Spotify\Spotify.exe --mu="%USERPROFILE"\Documents\temp_spotify_cache

 

Create a log file

Spoiler

Via command prompt

1. Make sure Spotify is closed and isn't running in the background.
2. Open Windows' Command Prompt as an administrator.
3. Enter one of the lines below, depending on where you installed Spotify from:
   
   Non-Store version:
   

   "%APPDATA%\Spotify\Spotify.exe" --log-file="%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\spotify.log"

   
   Microsoft Store version:
   

   start Spotify.exe --log-file="%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\spotify.log"

The above will launch Spotify and create a log file called spotify.log on your desktop. Now just leave the app working in the background so that its activity is recorded, then quit Spotify and share the log file here so I can forward it to the relevant team.

If you're unable to attach the file in your reply, you can instead upload it to a Cloud service and share the URL - just make sure the file can be accessed by anyone with the link.

You can also check the standard path for log files on Windows and share any recent log files you find there:
 

Windows Store Client:

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Packages\SpotifyAB.SpotifyMusic_zpdnekdrzrea0\LocalCache\Spotify\Logs

Windows Non-store (Web Installer) Client:

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Spotify\Logs

We'll be on the lookout for your replies. Cheers 🤘