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Accountsaccountsd on Mac: what it is and why it uses CPUaccountsd keeps iCloud, Google and mail accounts signed in on your Mac. Why it can hit 400 percent CPU (the Catalina bug…App security checkamfid on Mac: the code signature checker, why it is busy, and why you leave it aloneamfid is Apple Mobile File Integrity, which checks code signatures on every app launch. Idle normally, busy after update…Music libraryAMPLibraryAgent on Mac: what it is and why it uses CPUAMPLibraryAgent keeps your Music and TV libraries up to date. Why it runs at high CPU after an import, a Sync Library ch…Push notificationsapsd on Mac: what the push notification daemon does and why it is busyapsd keeps your Mac connected to Apple's push servers for iMessage, FaceTime and iCloud. Here is what normal looks like,…Time Machinebackupd on Mac: Time Machine's engine, why it is busy, and how long it takesbackupd is Time Machine doing a backup. The first one takes hours, later ones minutes. Here is what normal looks like, w…iCloud Drivebird process on Mac: what it is, why it is high, what to dobird is the iCloud Drive sync daemon. Why it sits at 100 percent CPU, how to see what it is stuck on in Finder, how long…Bluetoothbluetoothd on Mac: what it is and why it uses CPUbluetoothd runs Bluetooth on your Mac. Why it can sit at high CPU or wake your Mac at night, and the safe fix order: tog…Adobe Creative Cloud helperCCXProcess on Mac: what it is, why it uses CPU, how to stop itCCXProcess is Adobe Creative Cloud's background helper, not part of macOS. Why it can pin the CPU and run the fans, and …App settingscfprefsd on Mac: the preferences daemon, why it spikes, and which app is to blamecfprefsd reads and writes every app's settings. When it is pinned high, one app is saving preferences in a loop. Here is…iCloudcloudd on Mac: what it is, why it is high, what to docloudd syncs app data through iCloud: Notes, Reminders, Safari, third-party apps. Why it spikes after sign-in or an upda…iCloud Photoscloudphotod on Mac: the iCloud Photos uploader, why it is busy, and when it stopscloudphotod uploads and downloads pictures for iCloud Photos. It runs hard on the first sync, then settles. How long it …Network settingsconfigd on Mac: the network configuration daemon and why it is using CPUconfigd keeps your Mac's network settings in sync. Here is why it spikes, what normal looks like, and the safe fix when …Control CenterControlCenter on Mac: the menu bar process, why it uses CPU, and what to doControlCenter runs the menu bar and Control Center on your Mac. Here is why it uses CPU, what normal looks like, and the…Soundcoreaudiod on Mac: what it is and why it uses CPUcoreaudiod is the Core Audio daemon that plays every sound on your Mac. Why it sits at high CPU (virtual audio devices, …Background schedulercoreduetd on Mac: what the Duet daemon does and why it is at 100 percentcoreduetd learns how you use your Mac for Siri Suggestions, Handoff and scheduling. Why it hits 100 percent, how long is…Spotlightcorespotlightd on Mac: what it is, why it is high, what to docorespotlightd indexes content inside your apps for Spotlight. Why it is at 100 to 400 percent CPU, how long it normally…Background schedulerdasd on Mac: the background task scheduler, why it wakes your Mac, and when it is stuckdasd schedules hundreds of background jobs on your Mac: backups, updates, photo analysis. Why it is busy, why it wakes t…Disksdiskarbitrationd on Mac: the disk mounting daemon and why it gets busydiskarbitrationd mounts and ejects every disk on your Mac. It is quiet unless a drive keeps disconnecting. What is norma…DockThe Dock process on Mac: what it is and why it uses CPUThe Dock process draws the Dock, Mission Control, Launchpad and Stage Manager. Why it sits at high CPU, what is normal, …Cloud filesfileproviderd on Mac: the cloud-folder sync engine, which app is driving it, and what to dofileproviderd syncs iCloud Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive folders. High CPU means one client is busy or broke…FinderFinder high CPU or not responding: why, and how to relaunch itFinder pinned at high CPU or showing a beachball? The usual causes (huge folders, network drives, iCloud Desktop, Quick …Chrome tabGoogle Chrome Helper (Renderer) on Mac: what it is and how to calm it downEach Google Chrome Helper (Renderer) is one tab or extension. Find the busy one in Chrome Task Manager, close it, turn o…macOS coolingkernel_task on Mac: what it is, why it is high, what to dokernel_task high CPU means your Mac is hot and holding itself back, not a broken process. What it does, what normal look…macOSlaunchd on Mac: what it is and why it uses CPUlaunchd is process 1 on every Mac: it starts and supervises everything else. Why it can show CPU (a child crashing in a …Your loginloginwindow on Mac: what it is and why it uses CPUloginwindow runs the login screen and owns your session after you sign in. Why it can show high CPU or memory, and why q…NetworkmDNSResponder on Mac: what it is and why it uses CPUmDNSResponder is the DNS and Bonjour service on your Mac. Why it sits at high CPU or sends data constantly (busy network…Spotlightmds process on Mac: what it is, why it is high, what to domds is Spotlight's metadata server behind mds_stores and mdworker. Why it is using CPU, how the three fit together, how …Spotlightmds_stores on Mac: what it is, why it is high, what to domds_stores is Spotlight building its file index. Why it is at 85 percent or more after an update or a big import, how lo…Spotlightmdworker on Mac: why there are so many, why they use CPU, and what to domdworker is Spotlight reading your files so search works. Many copies at once is normal. Here is how long it takes, when…Photosmediaanalysisd on Mac: what it is, why it is high, what to domediaanalysisd scans photos and videos for Visual Look Up and Live Text. Why it sits at 100 percent for hours, how long …Background downloadsnsurlsessiond on Mac: what it is, why it is high, what to donsurlsessiond moves background downloads and uploads for iCloud, the App Store, Mail and Photos. Why it is busy, what th…Photosphotoanalysisd on Mac: what it is, why it is high, what to dophotoanalysisd is Photos finding faces, scenes and Memories in your library. Why it runs for hours, roughly how long per…Photosphotolibraryd on Mac: why Photos is busy in the background and what to dophotolibraryd is the Photos app's background service. Busy after imports, iCloud sync and updates, then it settles. What…Powerpowerd on Mac: the power manager, why it is using CPU, and what is really keeping your Mac awakepowerd manages sleep, wake, battery and thermal limits on your Mac. It should be nearly idle. High CPU means something e…Nearby devicesrapportd on Mac: what it is, why it wants incoming network connections, and whether to allow itrapportd runs Continuity: Handoff, Sidecar, Universal Control and Continuity Camera. Allow its firewall prompt if you us…AirDrop and Handoffsharingd on Mac: AirDrop, Handoff and why it is busy or waking your Macsharingd runs AirDrop, Handoff, Universal Clipboard and Instant Hotspot. Normally idle. Why it spikes, why it wakes the …System logsyslogd on Mac: why the log writer is using CPU, and which app is really to blamesyslogd writes older-style system logs. High CPU means another process is logging nonstop. How to find that process, wha…App security checksyspolicyd on Mac: Gatekeeper's checker, why it is busy, and what to dosyspolicyd is Gatekeeper. It checks apps on first open and scans big installers, busy for seconds to minutes, then quiet…Menu barSystemUIServer on Mac: what it is and why it uses CPUSystemUIServer draws the menu bar extras on your Mac. Why it spikes (third-party menu bar apps, a stuck item), what norm…Security checktrustd on Mac: what it is, why it is high, what to dotrustd checks that websites and apps are who they say they are. Why it spikes for a few minutes, why killing it makes ap…Your screenWindowServer on Mac: what it is, why it is high, and what actually helpsWindowServer draws everything on your Mac's screen. Here is what normal CPU and memory look like, why it climbs, how to …Malware checkXProtectService on Mac: Apple's built-in malware scan, why it runs, and when it stopsXProtectService is Apple's built-in malware scanner. It runs after updates and about once a day for a few minutes. What …