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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
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
Dropbox Staff
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!
BenDBXCommunity Manager
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
Yes, it is. Dropbox is still "syncing 1 file" forever. I can work properly only on another User on my Apple M1 Pro that is not logged in Dropbox.
Processes rtcreportingd and fileproviderd are still using above 100% of CPU on my original User. I am running v181.4.5678 and Ventura 13.5.1.
All open-and-save panels get often stuck with all apps (finder, word, excel, preview...) and the only way to have files opened and/or saved is to kill those two processes (tcreportingd and fileproviderd) that, indeed, get back to over 100% in seconds. My Dropbox folder is very large (approx 500 GBs)
- Nancy
I’m sorry to hear you’re still having trouble with this, gio18.
There was recently a newer desktop app build released. Can you please update your Dropbox app and let me know if it makes any difference at all?
If not, we’ll check this further.
It's absolutely still a problem. I'm running 182.4.6427 on my MacBook Air on Monterey 12.6.8, and the program has been blowing out my fan 24/7. It relentelessly starts syncing and resyncing files that are unchanged, for no good reason, constantly. I'm about ready to throw it out and reconsider iCloud if I can't get this fixed soon. So far the only workable fix I've found is turning Dropbox off, which really defeats the purpose of having it.
- Jay
Hi Arkadiy K., have you tried reinstalling the app, without uninstalling it first, by using this link and then rebooting your device?
Hello. Just updated to Monterey and I have this exactly same issue. Already updated Dropxbox for the last version and the problem remains. At the end what is the solution, or which dropbox version works fine on 12.7 and how can I download it?
- Megan
Hey @Francisco-Torres, thanks for posting here!
Would you mind clarifying the Dropbox version that you're using on your end?
You can find this by hovering your mouse over the little Dropbox icon on your menu bar, next to your WiFi.
Feel free to also take a look at this Help Center article.
I'll be waiting for your updates!
- Walter
Hey LaraRebooted, sorry to hear about this.
Have you taken a look at this Help Center article which outlines some possible reasons why this might be happening?
Still high CPU issues on the latest version. What's even more alarming is that I can't now fully kill Dropbox - the DropboxFileProvider process stays alive and keeps on consuming resources.
Yes, and none of them apply. Your program continuously restarts syncing items that have undergone absolutely no changes since it last synced them. It will then say it's all caught up... and a few minutes later, after I've done nothing except maybe browsed the Internet or talked to friends on Discord -- activities that generate NO CHANGES to my hard drive -- it will start claiming that it is syncing hundreds of files, and running up my CPU. This is what we all keep telling you guys. The only thing I can think of to do on my end, if you are unwilling to actually FIX the BUG, is replace Dropbox with another cloud service.
The only thing that worked for me after 4 nightmare months has been to install the stable version 184.4.6543, and set the Dropbox folder as it was BEFORE I had upgraded to File Provider, i.e. under my User folder AND NOT in CloudStorage. It took me a while to delete the older Dropbox folder, but I succeeded and now I am back to normal life! no CPU drainage. My suggestion is to NEVER NEVER UPGRADE TO DROPBOX FOR MACOS ON FILE PROVIDER!
