Microsoft Cross Device Service taking up all my ram

Question

Microsoft Cross Device Service taking up all my ram

Adam-9306 0

Once a day, Microsoft Cross Device Service takes up 15-20GB of ram and I have to end the process in task manager. Why does this happen? I've tried repairing and resetting the Phone Link app in settings, neither helped. I tried clearing the cache in AppData\Local\ConnectedDevicesPlatform but that didn't help either (after having to boot into cmd because it wouldn't let me delete it otherwise)

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Answer 1

Haien-L 4,290 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Dear Adam

Thanks for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A Foum. I'm Haien from Microsoft Q&A.

I understand you are experiencing a significant resource consumption issue with the Microsoft Cross Device Service on your Windows 11 system, where it consumes an excessive amount of RAM (15-20GB) until you manually end the process. You've already taken excellent steps by trying to repair and reset the Phone Link app and clear its associated cache. The Microsoft Cross Device Service is a system component designed to facilitate continuity and synchronization between your PC and mobile devices, primarily powering the Phone Link app. Features include cross-device clipboard, notification sync, and app continuity ("Resume").

Since you are using Windows 11, please consider my suggestions and keep me updated with anything new that you are trying so I can follow up your case easier:

Quick Checks First: Ensure Windows and Phone Link are fully updated: Go to Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates, and in the Microsoft Store, search for Phone Link > Update if available

Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Find Phone Link (or any cross-device app), click the three dots > Advanced options > Toggle "Share across your devices" to Off > Restart your PC afterward.
Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), go to Startup apps, locate Mobile Devices or any related Phone Link entry, right-click, and select Disable.
Open Windows Terminal (Admin) by pressing Win+X.
- Copy and paste this command, then press Enter: Get-AppxPackage *YourPhone* -AllUsers | ForEach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

Please keep me updated with anything new that you were try to each option.

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Adam-9306 0 Reputation points

2025-10-07T18:46:40.87+00:00

This sounds like it would disable phone link entirely, I still want to use it, I just don't want it to eat up all my RAM.
Adam-9306 0 Reputation points

2025-10-15T13:44:51.5966667+00:00

I tried these steps even though I wanted to keep using it because it just got too annoying. It didn't work though, it still starts up randomly and takes all my RAM.
Haien-L 4,290 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-25T01:13:16.45+00:00
Dear Adam-9306

Thanks for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A Forum.

Thank you for your update and for trying the suggested steps. The high RAM usage by the Cross Device Service likely stems from its background syncing processes (e.g., notifications, clipboard, or app continuity) becoming overactive, possibly due to corrupted data or conflicts with connected devices.

Could you let me know your Windows 11 build number (Settings > System > About) and whether you’re syncing with a specific device (e.g., Android/iOS, and its OS version)? This will help me pinpoint if it’s device-specific. Also, does the RAM spike occur at a specific time or after certain actions (e.g., opening Phone Link)?

Please consider trying these suggestions and please let me know anything news from it:

Option 1:

Open Command Prompt as Administrator (Win + X > Command Prompt (Admin)) > Run: net stop CDPUserSvc to stop the service.

Navigate to C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\ConnectedDevicesPlatform in File Explorer.

Delete the contents of the folder (you may need admin permissions again).

Restart the service: net start CDPUserSvc.

Restart your PC and monitor RAM usage in Task Manager.

Option 2:

Go to Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Find Phone Link, click the three dots > Advanced options.

Under Background apps permissions, select Never or Power optimized (recommended).

Reboot and test Phone Link functionality.

Test the System: Please monitor your RAM usage for the next 24 hours. If the usage remains stable, slowly re-enable only the features you need within the Phone Link app to see which one triggers the issue.

If it still fails, Re-register Phone Link with a Clean Install

Open PowerShell as Administrator (Win + X > Windows Terminal (Admin)) > Run: Get-AppxPackage *YourPhone* -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage to uninstall Phone Link.

Reinstall it from the Microsoft Store: Search for Phone Link and click Install.

Set up Phone Link again and test.

Note: Resetting or uninstalling Phone Link may clear synced messages/photos from the app. If you’ve backed up important data elsewhere, this shouldn’t be an issue.

If all of the above steps fail, consider taking your computer to the manufacturer's store for support in upgrading the RAM and removing any potential viruses from your computer.

We appreciate your comments that can improve Microsoft's limitations and at the same time contribute to the Microsoft Windows user community. You can contribute your comments through the instructions of the following link so that Microsoft's team can develop more software to support your needs: Send feedback to Microsoft with the Feedback Hub app - Microsoft Support

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Microsoft Cross Device Service taking up all my ram

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