(Extremely) high data usage "Settingsynchost"

[Robbert1986]

Hi there,

 

I recently built a new PC, and since about a week or so, I started to notice that my PC is using up a ton of data. Specifically the program "settingsynchost". 

From what I can see, it has used up 513gb since late November. (note that it was 488gb last night)

 

The PC:

Ryzen 5 3600

2x 8gb ram (Corsair)

MoBo: ASUS Strix X570 mobo with WIFI 6 (wifi 6 was a must)

Graphics: Radeon 580 (Receiving my RTX 2070 Super tomorrow)

HDD: 2TB WD Blue SSD

 

The router I use is an ASUS RT-AX88U (also wifi 6), this router allows you to monitor your data usage. I've attached a screenshot at the bottom, which shows my network used 106gb of data in the last 24h.

Please note that during this time, I installed no updates, no game updated, and the only Thing my PC has done is stream some youtube/twitch and I played Red Dead Redemption 2 offline. 

 

On that same note - my onedrive has also been acting strangely - I don't have anything on my onedrive that I actively use. So for it to use 20GB in data is strange, note that I may have 2GB on onedrive in data.

So possibly ASUS's readings are wrong.

 

What is real however, is that my ISP noted I have used over 1TB in data this month, I'm at 1.2TB right now. So something weird is going on... My usage normally is around 5-600GB a month.

I have run my virus scanner (windows), ran malware bytes, and nothing came out of this.

 

I'm truly at a loss here, as I've been trying to do some googling, and I didn't find anything that stood out as the issue.

 

Thanks!

 

Robbert

 

 

[Eigenvektor]

SettingSyncHost is a system file.

Quote

“SettingSyncHost.exe” is the process that synchronizes your system settings with your other devices so that changing your wallpaper/color on one computer changes all your other computers.  It also syncs your Internet Explorer, mail app, OneDrive, Xbox and other useful apps settings. 

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/what-is-settingsynchostexe/e19855db-6d26-4a9a-9729-1d31c3bcb884

 

 

Are you using OneDrive?

[Robbert1986]

6 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

SettingSyncHost is a system file.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/what-is-settingsynchostexe/e19855db-6d26-4a9a-9729-1d31c3bcb884

 

 

Are you using OneDrive?

I am, but not actively, most of the files on there are in the cloud, and not stored locally.

[jjbeebe]

First, i would manually check for updates for windows, then restart, rinse and repeat till there are no more updates found. Microsoft has released fixes "settingsynchost" included in updates (regarding CPU usage etc..). If the issues persist set your connection as a metered connection (Band-Aid fix) and try Turning off/change Delivery Optimization for windows update. Using software like Glasswire or Wireshark may help also in finding the issue.Turn the service off if you do not use it, "Settings > Accounts > Sync your settings > turn Off "Sync settings"  and try fix it from there or re-enable to see what happens.This is where I would start to try and solve the issue.

[Robbert1986]

1 hour ago, jjbeebe said:

First, i would manually check for updates for windows, then restart, rinse and repeat till there are no more updates found. Microsoft has released fixes "settingsynchost" included in updates (regarding CPU usage etc..). If the issues persist set your connection as a metered connection (Band-Aid fix) and try Turning off/change Delivery Optimization for windows update. Using software like Glasswire or Wireshark may help also in finding the issue.Turn the service off if you do not use it, "Settings > Accounts > Sync your settings > turn Off "Sync settings"  and try fix it from there or re-enable to see what happens.This is where I would start to try and solve the issue.

Thanks for the tips! I'm seeing a drop of about 3gb over the last hour, we'll see how it goes.