# Why does Plex transcoder come on at random? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2018, 12:42am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-transcoder-come-on-at-random/234307 "2018-05-01T00:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![abuj19](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@abuj19](https://forums.plex.tv/u/abuj19)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 12:42am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-transcoder-come-on-at-random/234307/1 "2018-05-01T00:42:07Z")
I won’t be on Plex at all and all of a sudden when I’m on my computer the CPU is being used up by the transcoder. ---
**Author:** ![SE56](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/se56/32/222425_2.png) [@SE56](https://forums.plex.tv/u/SE56)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 12:45am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-transcoder-come-on-at-random/234307/2 "2018-05-01T00:45:14Z")
> @abuj19 said: > I won’t be on Plex at all and all of a sudden when I’m on my computer the CPU is being used up by the transcoder. Can you enable [debug logging](https://support.plex.tv/articles/201643703-reporting-issues-with-plex-media-server/#toc-1) and when server does it again attach logs to this discussion. Server settings/help/logs/ attach zip file ---
**Author:** ![abuj19](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@abuj19](https://forums.plex.tv/u/abuj19)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-transcoder-come-on-at-random/234307/3 "2018-05-01T00:50:18Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![abuj19](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@abuj19](https://forums.plex.tv/u/abuj19)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-transcoder-come-on-at-random/234307/4 "2018-05-01T00:50:43Z")
Plex is open right now but nothing is or has been played ---
**Author:** ![abuj19](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@abuj19](https://forums.plex.tv/u/abuj19)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-transcoder-come-on-at-random/234307/5 "2018-05-01T00:50:58Z")
I’m not sure if I did the right thing or not ---
**Author:** ![SE56](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/se56/32/222425_2.png) [@SE56](https://forums.plex.tv/u/SE56)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 12:53am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-transcoder-come-on-at-random/234307/6 "2018-05-01T00:53:29Z")
> @abuj19 said: > I’m not sure if I did the right thing or not Turn on in PMS settings, go to Help in settings, download, attach zip ---
**Author:** ![abuj19](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@abuj19](https://forums.plex.tv/u/abuj19)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-transcoder-come-on-at-random/234307/7 "2018-05-01T00:55:43Z")
Oh, thank you. Here it is. ---
**Author:** ![anon18523487](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@anon18523487](https://forums.plex.tv/u/anon18523487)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 11:18pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-transcoder-come-on-at-random/234307/8 "2018-05-02T23:18:19Z")
You have the option enabled to create video thumbnails of your videos. This uses the transcoder and is quite CPU intensive. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 12:59am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/why-does-plex-transcoder-come-on-at-random/234307/9 "2020-01-08T00:59:14Z")