You might be wondering what COM Surrogate is if you see it in Task Manager or an error message. The good news is that it’s almost certainly safe because it’s a genuine process from Microsoft.

Still, it’s smart to take a closer look at it in case the “COM Surrogate” on your computer is actually a virus.

What Is COM Surrogate?

COM Surrogate is an overarching name for a process called dllhost.exe that has been part of Windows since Windows 7. If you have that version of Windows or Windows 8, 10, or 11, you can see this process yourself in Task Manager.

This process is necessary to load DLL files, so it’s actually quite important. COM Surrogate is a catch-all term for many processes that perform several tasks and effectively isolate DLLs from File Explorer.

COM Surrogate can be used for tasks like grabbing thumbnails for images or documents in a folder. The reason is simple: if anything goes wrong with those DLLs—say they crash for some reason—they won’t take File Explorer down with them.

It’s basically Windows’ way of isolating itself from problematic bits of code that could cause stability issues. COM Surrogate makes your Windows PC more stable.

Does COM Surrogate Consume System Resources?

COM Surrogate processes use some system resources but not much. If you’re not doing anything specific on your computer, there’s a good chance COM Surrogate processes will show 0% CPU usage and maybe under 1 MB of RAM usage in Task Manager.

Is COM Surrogate a Virus?

It depends. The real and genuine process provided by Microsoft for use in Windows is definitely safe. However, that’s not to say that viruses and malware can’t disguise themselves as a COM Surrogate process.

How to Check if COM Surrogate Is Malware

The real COM Surrogate process is tied to the dllhost.exe file in the System 32 folder. Anything else you see in Task Manager that appears to be COM Surrogate but that isn’t located there could be dangerous.

Here’s how to know if COM Surrogate is safe:

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.

2. Locate a COM Surrogate process. You can search for it in some versions of Windows, otherwise, you’ll need to sift through the list to find it.

3. Right-click the process and choose Open file location.

4. When File Explorer opens, confirm that the path at the top of the window says this:

    C:\Windows\System32
   

   If the folder you’re in is anything else, it could mean that COM Surrogate is fake.

   Also, notice which file is highlighted. When this folder opened automatically, the file dllhost.exe should have been preselected. Look closely to ensure that it reads DLLHOST.EXE and not something similar, like diihost, bllhost, dllhos, etc.

   If something seems off or you’re unsure whether COM Surrogate is safe, scan your computer for malware as soon as possible.