Fix high disk or CPU usage of Microsoft Office SDX Helper

In this guide, we are going to discuss various solutions to fix the problem of high CPU usage of Microsoft Office SDX Assistant. According to some affected users, this process uses too much CPU and ends up slowing down your PC. Now let’s see in detail what this process is and how you can fix its high CPU usage in this article.

What is the Microsoft Office SDX support process?

The Microsoft Office SDX Helper or Sdxhelper.exe is a process associated with Microsoft Office. This is Microsoft’s secure download manager that enables secure downloading and updating of Office modules. This process runs in the background and does not consume a lot of CPU and other CPU resources. However, some users have complained about high CPU usage of around 50-60% by Sdxhelper.exe. This problem is crucial as it slows down the PC and prevents you from using your system normally.

Now if you are having the same problem, this article is meant to help you. You can find all possible solutions to fix the problem.

What Causes SDXHelper.exe High CPU Usage?

Here are the possible causes of high CPU usage by SDXHelper.exe on Windows 11/10:

• The problem can occur if Office and Windows are not up to date.
• It can also be caused by a corrupt or faulty installation of Microsoft Office.
• Antivirus interference can also cause the same problem.
• Another reason for the same problem is the corrupted Office document cache.

Can I deactivate Microsoft Office SDX Helper?

You can disable Microsoft Office SDX Helper or SDXHelper.exe. But then, you will have to manually install the features and other updates of Office.

Fix high disk or CPU usage of Microsoft Office SDX Helper

If Microsoft Office SDX Helper (SDXHelper.exe) shows high memory, disk, or CPU usage, here is what you need to do to resolve the issue.

1. Update office.
2. Update Windows to the latest version.
3. Add an exception for SDX Helper in your antivirus.
4. Clear the Office document cache.
5. Disable some tasks in the Task Scheduler.
6. Rename the SDX Helper File.
7. Repair office.
8. Reinstall Office.

Now let’s discuss these solutions in detail!

1]Update office

This problem can occur if you are using outdated versions of Office. So make sure you are using the latest version of Microsoft Office. If your Office is not up to date, install any available updates. For this you can use the following steps:

1. First of all, launch any of the Office applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
2. Then go to the Home tab and click on the Account option.
3. Now tap on the Update options drop-down list and then select the Update now option.
4. After that, Office will check for available updates, download them and install them
5. After the update process is complete, check if the issue is now resolved.

2]Update Windows to the latest version

You need to make sure that Windows and Office are up to date. If there is any incompatibility issue between OS and Office modules, it can cause Microsoft Office SDX Helper high CPU usage issue. So make sure your Windows is updated to the latest version and if it is not updated update Windows then see if the problem is fixed.

You can open the Windows Settings app, then go to the Windows Update tab, then check for updates. After that, download and install Windows updates.

If the problem recurs, you can try the next potential fix to correct the error.

Read: Fixed Controller Services and Application High CPU usage.

3]Add an exception for SDX Helper in your antivirus

If your antivirus is interfering with Office module update operations, this problem may occur. Therefore, adding Sdxhelper.exe to your antivirus exception list may help you resolve the issue. To do this, follow the steps below:

1. First, turn off your antivirus and then scan if Sdxhelper.exe is not using much CPU.
2. If so, you can try adding Sdxhelper.exe to your antivirus exception or exclusion list. To do this, open your antivirus and go to the exclusion settings.
3. Now you will find Sdxhelper.exe at the location below:

   C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft OfficerootvfsProgramFilesCommonX64Microsoft SharedOFFICE16

4. When you are done adding the exception, activate your antivirus and hopefully the problem will be fixed permanently.

See: Microsoft Excel causes high CPU usage when running on Windows.

4]Clear the Office document cache

This problem can be triggered in the event of a damaged Office document cache. So, clearing the Office document cache should help you solve the problem. Here are the steps to do it:

1. First, start the Office Upload Center from the Start menu as an administrator.
2. Now open its settings and click on the Delete Cached Files button.
3. After that restart your PC and then check if the problem is resolved now.

You can also manually clear the Office document cache by going to the following location and deleting all files:

C:UsersAppDataLocalMicrosoftOffice16.0OfficeFileCache

Replace by your username. After clearing the cache, restart your PC after cleaning the cache and then see if the problem is gone.

5]Disable certain tasks in the task scheduler

If the problem persists, you can try disabling some relevant tasks from the Task Scheduler to resolve the problem. These tasks include Office feature updates and Sign in to Office Feature Updates Tasks. Note that after you disable these tasks, you will need to manually update the Office applications.

Here are the steps to disable relevant tasks in Task Scheduler:

1. First, open Task Scheduler from the Start menu.
2. Now go to the Library section of Task Scheduler> Microsoft> Office in the left panel.
3. Then, in the middle panel, right-click the Office Feature Updates task and click Disable.
4. After that, repeat step (3) for the sign in to Office feature updates task.
5. Finally, restart your PC and then check if the problem is resolved.

You can also run the below commands (one by one) in Powershell (Admin) to disable the above tasks:

Schtasks /change /s $_ /tn ‘MicrosoftOfficeOffice Feature Updates’ /disable
Schtasks /change /s $_ /tn ‘MicrosoftOfficeOffice Feature Updates Logon’ /disable

6]Rename the SDX Helper File

If none of the above solutions works for you, try renaming the SDX Helper file. Some users would have fixed the issue using this workaround, and it might work for you as well. However, after renaming it, you might need to update Office manually.

Here are the steps to rename the SDX Helper file:

First, open Task Manager and end the SDXHelper.exe process.

Now navigate to the following address in the file explorer:

C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft OfficerootvfsProgramFilesCommonX86Microsoft SharedOFFICE16

The location above may vary for you, so navigate to the location where the file is present.

Then select and right click on sdxhelper.exe, and in the context menu click on Rename.

After that enter the new name with an extension. For example, you can use a name like sdxhelper1.new

When the file is renamed, check if the problem is resolved or not.

Read: Host Delivery Optimization Service High network, disk, or CPU usage.

7]Repair office

The high CPU usage of Sdxhelper.exe may be due to a corrupt or faulty installation of the Office suite. If the scenario applies to you, you should be able to resolve the issue by repairing the Office suite. To perform an Office repair, here are the steps to follow:

1. First, open the Settings app by pressing the Windows + I keyboard shortcut.
2. Now go to the Apps tab and then click on the Apps and Features option.
3. Next, scroll down to the Office application and click on the three dot menu button present next to it.
4. After that click on Edit option and then hit Yes at the UAC prompt.
5. Then choose the Fast repair Where Online repair (recommended) and then press the Repair button to start the Office repair process.
6. After the process is complete, check if the problem is resolved or not.

8]Reinstall Office

If none of the above solutions work for you, the last resort is to reinstall the entire Office suite on your PC. The problem may lie in the corrupt installation of Office modules which is beyond repair. So, check with a fresh install, it might solve the problem for you.

First, you will need to completely uninstall the Microsoft Office suite using the Settings app. Then move the following address into File Explorer and delete the Office folder:

Users%Username%AppDataLocalMicrosoft

Then go to the following address and delete the folders named Microsoft Office and / or Microsoft Office 15

%programfiles(x86)%

Once done, download the latest version of the Office suite from an official source and then install it on your system.

Hope this will help you get rid of the problem of high CPU usage by SDX Helper.

See: Modern configuration Host high CPU or memory usage.

How to fix Microsoft Office SDX Help that has stopped working?

If the Microsoft Office SDX Assistant has stopped working, the problem may be due to a corrupted installation of Microsoft Office. You can try to repair Office using Quick Repair or Online Repair. If that doesn’t help, uninstall and then reinstall Microsoft Office on your PC.

That’s it!

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