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Forum Discussion
High CPU Usage after updating MacBook Pro to MacOS Monterey (12.3)
I installed the latest MacOS update (Monterey 12.3) on my MacBook pro last night and now Dropbox is almost continuously syncing files and sucking my CPU usage. Fans are running almost constantly, and battery life has been dreadful as a result.
Anyone else experiencing this?
All my files are fully synced so I have no clue what files Dropbox keeps re-syncing and why over and over again. I've rebooted, turned Dropbox on and off. Pretty much everything I can think of other than deleting and reinstalling the desktop app.
Any suggestions? Thanks.
Hi Everybody,
I spoke with our engineering team to confirm that this issue was resolved. I'm following up with this thread to confirm that high CPU usage is no longer a problem for any users. Ensure your MacOS and Dropbox are up to date, and please let us know if this is still affecting you. Thanks!
Regards,
Ben
Same problem here. This is an ongoing problem, not a new one. Hopefully Dropbox will find a fix – we are thinking of changing to a different data storage solution
I don't know if it would help but is your outgoing transfer speed slowed?
If you go into Bandwidth | Upload is normally throttled as a default.
I always set that to full speed for other sync reasons but if you typically have a bunch of files on the Air to be synced with the cloud it might cause high CPU as the Air is restricted in upload speed.
Dropbox is the largest single energy consumer on my laptop. Historically I close it when I'm on battery, however this is not ideal because it is a bit annoying and because it stops sync until reopened. It doesn't seem like there's any intrinsic reason it needs to use so much energy while idle, and fixing that would be a small improvement for every Dropbox user.
I am also experiencing this issue since update MacOS.
MacBook Pro 15", Intel i7
MacOS Monterey version 12.3
Dropbox v144.4.4491
As I mentioned, I have my dropbox folder on an external SSD that is large enough to hold all of my files. I turned Smart Sync off yesterday, and I have not had the extreme problems I was having before. That is, the computer has not frozen.
Activity Monitory shows the CPU% has been hovering around 100% for the last hour, and I have seen it as high as 237.5% in the past few minutes. I have not added anything to the dropbox folder, so I have no idea what it might be thinking about.
I've got a 16-inch MBP 2021 w/M1 Pro CPU and am not sure if I'm on the beta or not but my version is 145.3.4888. I'm not experiencing any of these issues on 12.3 but I noticed that everyone in this thread is using version 144? I keep all my files local which is another difference.
I activated beta software (log onto the website and opt in under settings), and my system updated to v.145.3.4888. In the few hours since then there seems to be less Dropbox-related CPU activity, my fan isn't on all the time, and my battery is holding a charge for longer.
So I'm keeping my fingers crossed this addressed the issue. Will keep an eye on it over the next few days of heavier use and see how it goes.
As stated in title, my M1 Macbook Air has been running on 100% CPU because of the fileproviderd process. The process disappears once I quit Dropbox, but reappears once I reopen it so I'm assuming something to do with Dropbox itself (seen other problem with fileproviderd here but nothing related to CPU usage).
I have iCloud Drive disabled so Dropbox is the only program which would be using this process. I am currently running on Dropbox v157.4.4808, so any help or an update is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Hi
Was working fine until Monday, 1/2/2023. I tried to set a large folder to be offline available. Was taking way too long, so I instead removed it via selective sync. Folder is gone from my local machine, but Dropbox shows "syncing" and fileproviderd is at 100%. Is this going to work itself out or do I need to intervene ?
Killed Dropbox. Killed iCloud drive. Killed Google Drive. Restarted.
Now I have DropboxFileProvider varying between 2% and 120% AND fileproviderd at 104%.
Same problem here. The process "dropboxfileprovider" is constantly using between 90-100% cpu. Now I regret updating dropbox. I'm on an M1 Macbook Pro and dropbox is the only app that is making my computer uncomfortably warm. Any solutions?
- Megan
Dropbox Staff
Hi virkot, thanks for posting here today!
In regards to your high CPU usage on your device, have you tried contacting our Support, about this? I'd highly suggest that you open a ticket with them.
Feel free to send me back the ticket number reference, if you do end up contacting them.
Keep me posted!
With Ventura 13.3, I have the same issue with "fileproviderd" using 125% CPU on an M1 MacBook Pro. I restarted the laptop about 75 minutes ago and the Dropbox menu panel still reports "starting". (Dropbox v171.3.6099)
After installing today's Ventura 13.3 (22E252) update, Dropbox (v171.3.6099) is behaving badly.
* "fileproviderd" is using 125% of my M1 MacBook Pro ..
* the processes "Dropbox Helper (Renderer)" and "Dropbox Helper (GPU)" are the 2nd and 4th in the CPU usage list (Spotlight is 3rd, as it often is reindexing after an install). All three of those have dropped to very little CPU usage after initially being very busy.
* all file system actions are very slow (saving a small, non-Dropbox related, text file, with BBEdit, took over half a minute)
* I rebooted my Mac to see if these were "first use after an install" problems, but they remain.
* The Dropbox menu dropdown panel still shows "starting" after 40 minutes.
If I'm the only person experiencing this behavior, then I'll work on it myself. But if it's systemic, I'll stop wasting my time, "leave beta", and wait for an update.
Now, after an hour, Dropbox is still "starting" .. BBEdit just took 40 seconds to save a 20-character file
I just checked an M2 Mini also updated to Ventura 13.3 (22E252), but with the old Dropbox, and it's behavior is normal.
If more information is needed, or I can help resolve this .. please ask me. I've been a Mac developer for 20+ years!
It would be helpful if Dropbox developers could investigate and report back to users the outcome. And if any problem has been identified and corrected. That way we know when it is safe to upgrade MacOS.
I have the exactly same experience on my MacBook Pro M2 after upgrading to macOS 13.3 yesterday.
Dropbox is v171.3.6135, beta.
- fileproviderd process is at 110% CPU
- Most of the apps that use the content from Dropbox folder are just beachballing for an indefinite amount of time
- First noticed it yesterday while trying to attach some files to an email from Firefox (and later Safari): trying to open a file browser to choose a file hangs and never completes. Now trying to work with some music project files I have in Dropbox and my music software also hangs for 10 minutes already. Never happened before.
- Finder seems to work just fine
- Dropbox status is jumping between "Syncing" and "Syncing 1 file"
Let me know if I can provide any more info.
- Megan
Hi t0ny, thanks for posting here!
Keep in mind that following a migration to the new Dropbox for macOS, your files need to be re-synced. Depending on the amount of files you have in your Dropbox, this may take some time to complete.
There are some things you can check to ensure that the migration and the re-sync is still progressing and not stuck.
Click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar at the top of your screen.
Take note of the time and the number of files that are currently syncing—this will be displayed at the bottom of the window that appears.
Wait a while then repeat step 2. If the number of files that are syncing has reduced, then it may be worth waiting a little longer to see if the syncing completes.
If the number of files has not reduced it might be worth checking out the troubleshooting steps outlined in this article . Note that we do not recommend re-installing the application if the migration is still in progress.You can leave your computer running for a while. with nothing else running, in order to give some time for the migration to complete.
Keep me posted on any updates you might have!
- Megan
Hey there, afrey25, I'd be happy to have a closer look into this for you!
Keep in mind that the Beta version of the Dropbox app could be contributing to high CPU usage and not ease the issue. What is the current version you're using?
Feel free to hover your mouse over the Dropbox icon near your WiFi, and let me know.
Have you taken a look at this Help Center article?
Thank you very much!Thanks, Megan.
I just checked my current version and it's v143.4.4161. I don't think I'm signed up for beta versions of the Dropbox app on Mac.
It's the oddest thing. Dropbox app will show that everything is synced ("Your files are up to date") and it will sit there for a minute or two and then it will just start syncing files again. Some times it will just say "Syncing..." and other times it will say "Syncing 20 files" or "Syncing 128 files" and just keep changing the number. Eventually it will say everything is up to date again. Nothing is changing with my files or folders.
Also I took a look at the help article you linked to. I tweaked a couple settings based on the article recommendations, but there shouldn't be any issues with my files or anything else listed in the article. The only thing I haven't done is uninstall and reinstall.
I have got the exact same problem, (Dropbox app will show that everything is synced ("Your files are up to date") and it will sit there for a minute or two and then it will just start syncing files again. Some times it will just say "Syncing..." and other times it will say "Syncing 20 files" or "Syncing 128 files" and just keep changing the number. Eventually it will say everything is up to date again. Nothing is changing with my files or folders.).
And then the fans kick in with tremendous CPU usage. It all started when Dropbox autoupdated to 144.4.4491. I am on Monterey 12.2.1. I have done all troubleshooting steps, it is clearly a Dropbox bug.
- MeganHello everyone, happy Tuesday!
First of all, thank you for reporting this, I appreciate your time.
If all of you can open a ticket about what you mentioned, that'd be awesome. If you're having any trouble doing so, I'm here to help you open one, just give me a shout.
In any case, feel free to reply back to me with your ticket number, so I can locate it on our system.
Keep me posted!
I have exactly the same problem. At the same time, I noticed that for files that were in the status of "online only", now the size is not shown.
I am having trouble with my iMac slowing down to the point of being unusable. Seemingly without warning I will get beachballs while I am working. Sometimes I can switch to another app which seems to work fine, and sometimes it seems to drag down the entire system.
According to Activity monitor, the CPU usage is frequently very high, and frequently up near or even over 100%.
I boot from an external SSD. I have my dropbox files stored on another external SSD. That SSD is large enough to hold all of my dropbox files. I have Smart Sync turned on. I tried to turn it off but a kernel panic hit when I started to do that. Maybe it was unrelated, I don't know. Is there a downside to turning Smart Sync off?
Any other ideas?
- Same issue. Dropbox is draining my battery
Same here. Support ticket opened.
I have had this issue since the 12.3 update. Dropbox is essentially unusable on my work machine, because even when not syncing it maintains 99% on at least 1 core in activity monitor. I have excluded 100% of my workplace share folders in hope to be able to access my personal files, but I have to leave the agent off until I can leave the room. Once it's on the fan is at 100% even when it's doing nothing.
Let me point out that I have been subscribed with a Pro account personally since 2011. I use dropbox on M1 macs, a Mac Pro and linux systems and have never had more than a nuisance type issue with syncing. The current state is unacceptable.
