Tip: If you’re working with an older Mac, learn how you can get some new parts and upgrade it to being like new.
Identifying the Processes Consuming Excessive CPU
At the most basic, a Mac user should be aware of the different types of processes and the ins and outs of using Activity Monitor. To display the processes consuming the highest %CPU: The CPU tab highlights some important metrics.
%CPU is the percentage of total processor capacity the process consumes, e.g., the processor capability. CPU Time is the length of time a process has been active since the last startup. Idle Wake Ups is the number of times a process woke up from the sleep state.
For Apple Silicon Macs, you’ll understand how the Icestorm (or Efficient) and Firestorm (or Performance) cores behave. Most system-based processes (Spotlight indexing, Time Machine backups) use E cores. Apps and related user processes run on either E or P cores with a preference towards P cores. Helpful Hint: wondering if an app has been optimized for your Apple Silicon Mac? We show you how to check.
Managing Applications That Consume Excessive CPU on Mac
When an app consumes excessive CPU, it may hang or stop responding to user input. Your best option is to force quit it. Press Cmd + Option + Esc to open the “Force Quit” dialog box. A frozen app appears in red with the label “Not Responding.” Select that app and click “Force Quit.” If you’re dealing with an app that won’t respond to the Force Quit method or Activity Monitor fails to open, consult our guide on using Terminal to force quit an app. A web browser is based on multi-process architecture. It includes all the logical functions in separate processes: the main (browser) process, GPU process, and dedicated process for each tab and extension. To see this in practice, press Shift + Esc to open Chrome Task Manager and inspect its CPU + Memory usage. By nature, a browser will use excessive CPU if you open too many tabs that display high-resolution photos and videos. Once you close the tab or delete unused extensions, CPU usage will be reduced.
Fix Kernel Task High CPU Usage
The kernel loads the core macOS foundation and essential drivers. “kernel_task” is the process that displays important metrics from the kernel. Its main purpose is to regulate the CPU temperature by making the processor less available to the processes. In other words, if your CPU runs hot, the kernel gets activated to cool down your Mac. But in response, the CPU load of “kernel_task” spikes up. High CPU usage may indicate blocked vents, faulty temperature sensors, corrupt third-party kernel extensions, and incompatible hardware/peripheral devices. On Intel Macs, you can: The “kernel_task” process runs efficiently on Apple Silicon Macs because of the architectural change (System on Chip) coupled with kernel hardening and extensive core management (different cores running at varied frequency). SMC is absent and there’s no need to reset NVRAM manually. Shutting down and restarting your Mac can solve most of your problems. However, certain workflows or factors can still trigger the kernel panic. In this case, you should consult the Apple Support team.
Reduce WindowServer CPU Usage
The main role of “WindowServer” is to draw windows into the display and manage them. Without it, there’s no GUI (user interface) to interact, and you have no control over it. It takes advantage of the built-in Metal GPU to manage transparency, UI composite, and render your windows quickly. By default, WindowServer consumes 10% to 30% of your CPU and rarely causes any problems. If you’re experiencing high CPU usage, try these fixes.
Quit your apps in a gradual manner and note the CPU usage. Restart your Mac and monitor the CPU usage. Once you’ve identified the culprit app, send a detailed log to the developer.
The WindowServer process is also responsible for managing multiple displays and even controlling their behavior. If the CPU usage remains high, follow these steps:
Cut Down Bird Process CPU Usage
“bird” is the backend process behind iCloud that activates when you start backing up files to iCloud Drive. When your files get synced, the CPU usage should be reduced. High CPU usage suggests that certain files have been corrupted, and iCloud cannot sync those files. At the same time, you must take note of the “cloud” process related to CloudKit. Third-party apps can use CloudKit to move data between the apps and iCloud containers. Apple also uses CloudKit to sync your files in Desktop and Documents to other devices. To solve this problem, we’ll temporarily disable iCloud to prevent the “bird” process from syncing files again.
Curtail Spotlight Indexing CPU Usage
“mds” and “mdworker_shared” are part of Spotlight and consist of two components: “mds” stands for metadata server, which manages your index to give you quick search results, and “mdworker” stands for metadata server worker and does all the hard work of indexing your files. Both of these processes work in the background and maintain the databases of indexed metadata for each attached local volume. They never consume excessive CPU unless you’re copying files, say from an external hard drive to your new Mac. You can prevent some folders or volumes from being indexed to reduce the CPU load. Navigate to “System Preferences -> Spotlight” and click on the “Privacy” tab. Tip: read our guide on mastering Spotlight. Image credit: Pexel. All images and screenshots by Rahul Saigal. Stats is the macOS system monitor for your menu bar and supports 10.13 High Sierra or later. iGlance is a customizable system monitor menu bar that shows details like CPU utilization as a graph; reads CPU temperature; monitors fan speed, memory usage, network usage; and more. If you use Homebrew for Mac, you can install htop to see the percentage of CPU consumption, state of the processes, priority, CPU time, and more. You can sort the processes and trace the absolute path to the processes.
