Use Get-Process to find process names and PIDs, then use Get-Counter to sample current processor utilization. The CPU(s) value shown by Get-Process is accumulated processor time in seconds—not a live CPU percentage. For a load that comes and goes, repeated samples or a performance log are more useful than a single reading.
Find processes and their PIDs
Start by listing processes with the greatest accumulated CPU time:
Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 15 Id, ProcessName, CPUThe CPU property (shown as CPU(s) in the default display) is the amount of processor time a process has used across all processors, in seconds. Microsoft defines it as “the amount of processor time that the process has used on all processors, in seconds” in its Get-Process documentation. A large value means the process has accumulated CPU time; it does not tell you how much CPU it is using at this moment.
To inspect a process by name, run Get-Process -Name name, replacing name with the process name. If more than one process has that name, use the Id (PID) to keep track of the specific instance. On 64-bit Windows, 32-bit PowerShell may return $null for Path and MainModule when inspecting a 64-bit process; use 64-bit PowerShell or the Win32_Process class when you need those properties. For remote process information, Microsoft documents using Invoke-Command.
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Sample current CPU use with Get-Counter
To see process-level processor-counter samples, run:
Get-Counter -Counter 'Process(*)% Processor Time' |
Select-Object -ExpandProperty CounterSamples |
Sort-Object CookedValue -Descending |
Select-Object -First 15 InstanceName, CookedValue, PathThe command sorts the counter samples by CookedValue, putting the largest readings first. The counter is a sample, not a diagnosis: take further readings to determine whether a process remains busy or was caught during a brief spike. The Get-Counter documentation describes this counter path and sorting its samples.
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To sample processor instances instead, use:
Get-Counter -Counter 'Processor(*)% Processor Time'To keep sampling process counters continuously, use:
Get-Counter -Counter 'Process(*)% Processor Time' -ContinuousContinuous mode samples every second in Microsoft’s documented example and keeps running until you stop it with Ctrl+C. For a finite collection, add -MaxSamples to limit the number of samples. Compare the readings over time: one sample can miss a spike, while repeat samples can show whether load is sustained, intermittent, or associated with a particular activity.
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Correlate counter instances with processes
Counter instance names can have suffixes when multiple processes share a name. Do not assume a counter instance belongs to a particular process based only on its name. Keep the PID from Get-Process and correlate it with the relevant process instance before assigning the load to an application.
This is especially important when investigating WMI provider hosts. If WmiPrvse.exe or a WMI-hosting svchost.exe is busy, Microsoft’s WMI high-CPU guidance describes identifying the PID and matching it to the corresponding Performance Monitor instance.
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Capture a recurring or intermittent CPU problem
If repeated checks do not catch an issue reliably, record counters over a longer period. Microsoft recommends Performance Monitor logs for relevant Windows Server investigations, including processor and process counters. Its Performance Monitor troubleshooting guidance includes a local Logman example that collects counters at one-second intervals. That is an example configuration; choose an interval and duration appropriate to the incident and available storage.
For the Windows Server scenarios covered by Microsoft’s high-CPU troubleshooting guidance, the article treats utilization of 80 percent or higher for extended periods as a high-CPU case, while noting temporary spikes can be normal. This is scoped troubleshooting guidance, not a universal threshold for every PC, workload, or Windows configuration.
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When the scenario calls for a deeper capture, Microsoft advises running Windows Performance Recorder for only a few minutes—three to five in the described workflow—while the problem is occurring, because the log can grow quickly. Performance Monitor can show what was happening but does not access the kernel; tracing may be needed to investigate processes, threads, modules, and functions. Do not infer a root cause from a high counter alone.
Choose the right level of evidence
| Tool or approach | What it tells you | Best use |
|---|---|---|
Get-Process |
Process identity, PID, and accumulated CPU time. | Find candidate processes and track a specific PID. |
Get-Counter |
Performance-counter samples for processes or processor instances. | Check current readings and compare repeated samples. |
| Performance Monitor or Logman | A record of selected counters over time. | Capture a recurring or intermittent issue that a snapshot may miss. |
| Windows Performance Recorder | A deeper trace for the scenarios in Microsoft’s high-CPU guidance. | Investigate cases where counter logs do not expose enough detail; keep the capture short because it can grow quickly. |
Counter sets and paths can vary by Windows environment. If a counter path is unavailable, use Get-Counter -ListSet * and inspect counter-set path properties to discover the counters available on that system. If a third-party application is responsible for sustained CPU use, Microsoft’s guidance is to contact its vendor to investigate why it is consuming processor time.
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