How to fix UnrealCEFSubprocess on Windows using high RAM and CPU

Does the UnrealCEFSubprocess process consume a lot of CPU and RAM resources in Task Manager, causing your game to stop? Does it continue to put pressure on your hardware even after you close all active programs and applications? You may also have seen many of these processes appear in Task Manager due to viruses.

No need to worry; UnrealCEFSubprocess is not a virus but a legitimate process belonging to Valorant. The following article will discuss why this process consumes a lot of system resources and how you can reduce its resource usage to reduce the burden on the hardware.

Why does the UnrealCEFSubprocess process consume a lot of CPU and RAM resources?

UnrealCEFSubprocess is a legitimate Valorant process, so it usually won't overload your system resources. If this process starts to overload the hardware and causes CPU, RAM or GPU usage to spike in Task Manager, it could be that the process is not working correctly or other processes are interfering with it. .

As many users have pointed out on Reddit, one of the main reasons why this process is so resource intensive is interference from Windows' built-in security tools, Windows Defender, and third-party antivirus software. third, mainly AVG and Avast anti-virus software. If you are using security software, it can also cause problems.

Is it possible to disable UnrealCEFSubprocess through Task Manager?

Disabling the UnrealCEFSubprocess may adversely affect your active gaming session in Valorant. Gaming elements that this process controls or handles will crash and behave abnormally. Because of this, the article does not advocate closing this process.

Furthermore, the Valorant or Riot client will automatically relaunch this process the next time you open them, so just disabling the process won't solve the problem. Therefore, the article recommends that you fix the potential problem instead of just disabling the process.

How to prevent UnrealCEFSubprocess from using too much RAM and CPU

The easiest way to reduce the CPU and RAM consumption of UnrealCEFSubprocess is to permanently disable Windows Defender, the built-in security software in Windows, and uninstall any third-party antivirus software you are currently using. While it's easy and quick to do this, it's not recommended. Why so?

Windows Defender and third-party antivirus software installed on your laptop are a solid layer of protection against viruses and malware. They prevent any potentially harmful agents from wreaking havoc on your device. If you remove or disable them, you will eliminate your warriors and allow the enemy to attack you easily.

These security suites can isolate many threats and block potentially harmful files from affecting your computer. Disabling or deleting them can unleash these threats and remove restrictions on malicious files. As a result, this can negatively affect your computer in the long run.

Considering the risks associated with this, not disabling security software would be a wise choice. Instead, you can whitelist the UnrealCEFSubprocess process. Putting any file on the whitelist instructs security software not to interfere with that file. Therefore, whitelisting the file associated with this process will prevent anti-virus programs from interfering with that file. As a result, you will succeed in reducing resource consumption without compromising your security factor.

How to whitelist UnrealCEFSubprocess from Windows Defender

Follow these steps to whitelist UnrealCEFSubprocess from Windows Defender:

1. Type "Windows Security" in Windows Search and open the Windows Security application.

2. Go to the Firewall and network protection tab on the left.

3. Click the Allow an app through the firewall link on the right side of the screen.

4. Click Change settings .

5. Click Allow another app .

6. In the Add an app window , click the Browse button .

7. Then go to the following path:

C:Program FilesRiot GamesVALORANTliveEngineBinariesWin64

8. Here, select UnrealCEFSubProcess from the list.

9. Then click Add .

10. Then, check the Public and Private boxes next to the UnrealCEFSubProcess process and click OK.

11. Restart the computer after whitelisting this process.

Note : If you installed Valorant in a different directory or your operating system is on a different drive, change the path above to reflect the correct location.

How to whitelist UnrealCEFSubprocess from Avast Antivirus

Follow these steps to whitelist UnrealCEFSubprocess from Avast Antivirus:

1. Launch Avast Antivirus.

2. Click the Menu button (represented by three stacked dashes) at the top right of the screen.

3. Go to Settings .

4. Go to the Exceptions tab in the General settings .

5. Click Add Exception .

6. Click Browse in the Add exception window .

7. Navigate to the following path if you have not changed the default installation path when installing Valorant:

C:Program FilesRiot GamesVALORANTliveEngineBinariesWin64

8. Check the box next to UnrealCEFSubprocess and click OK.

9. After that, restart your computer and hope this process won't overload your computer's resources anymore.

How to whitelist UnrealCEFSubprocess from AVG Antivirus

The interface of AVG antivirus is similar to Avast antivirus. So you can whitelist UnrealCEFSubprocess by following the steps outlined above. Once you have whitelisted the file, restart the computer and hope that the resource consumption of this process will decrease significantly.

According to some users, whitelisting the UnrealCEFSubprocess file from AVG antivirus does not always reduce its resource consumption. Therefore, users must remove AVG anti-virus software from their computers. So, if whitelisting the file doesn't reduce the load on the hardware, you can remove the AVG anti-virus software.

Before you do that, enable Windows Defender if it's off, or install an alternative antivirus for AVG and keep your computer safe from incoming threats.

Note : If you use anti-virus software other than the two listed above and the UnrealCEFSubprocess process is consuming more than half of the system resources, you need to whitelist the UnrealCEFSubprocess file there as well. If you are not familiar with the whitelist process, visit the official website of the antivirus for help.

Kareem Winters

Update 14 April 2023