On my OS X 10.9.5 system I'm seeing Dropbox consume CPU whenever anything on the file system changes, regardless of whether the changed files or folders are in the Dropbox synced folders. The CPU usage is proportionate to the rate of file system changes. When I'm running an installer that takes a long time and has high disk activity (e.g. installing a documenation update in XCode), then the Dropbox CPU usage goes through the roof and I see the Dropbox sync status change from 'up to date' to 'indexing'. For less sustained activities with less intensive file system changes, I see Dropbox just popup briefly in the list of top CPU consumers -- but it shouldn't be showing up at all (or certainly not at double digit CPU use and not for the duration of the file system activity. My guess is that Dropbox is simply listening for file system events and reacting to each one as if it might be change in a synced file or folder. It should be ignoring fsevents that are for items outside the Dropbox folders -- but it seems not to be the case. :-( :-( I'm on 3.0.3, but have been seeing this problem since the 2.* days. -- Dave Hein

I don't have any symlinks in the folder. I have very few files (less than 1000). Note: I've reported this before and gotten similar responses -- basically, the Dropbox support folks don't believe me. I'm giving up. My workaround now is simply to avoid running Dropbox at startup and to only start it when I want to sync and then keep it stopped otherwise. Eventually I'll move my Dropbox into some other cloud sharing/syncing system and stop using Dropbox entirely.

My iMac is always running at least Google Chrome, Apple Mail, Google Drive and DropBox but Activity Monitor shows DropBox consuming more CPU time than any other app and about 10x as much as Google Drive. I'm losing faith too!

I have a 2015 MacBook Pro with a 2.8GHZ processor that turbo boosts to 4.0GHZ, 500GB of flash storage and 16GB of RAM. The DROPBOX CLIENT IS CRUSHING MY MACHINE!!!! 150% of my CPU? That is obscene. That should never come to be. I am a software developer and know this is poor coding. You should be using a queuing structure or more manageable work units. I am currently a paying client of Dropbox and syncing is a critical part of cloud storage. There are too many competitors in the market for this to be even remotely acceptable.

I have the same problem, dropbox is simply eating most of my CPU usage all the time. I have running OS X, 4GM Ram, i7 (DropBox Team, 35,280 files). I re-install dropbox and re-installed my Mac, and nothing improved. What is bothering me more, that even my files are "up-to-date" DropBox's CPU usage is 20-40%.

I have the same issue: Every time I make any operations which modify a lot files anywhere outside the Dropbox directory Dropbox just consumes 100% CPU. I can reproduce this issue easily by just extracting a very large tar file (e.g. the Linux kernel sources) somewhere outside the Dropbox directory: Even with a completely empty Dropbox directory (that obviously contain no symlinks) I get a very high CPU use of the Dropbox process even though not a single file in the Dropbox directory was modified. I attached DTrace to the Dropbox process and can see it making thousands of system calls per second when I extract the tar file somewhere outside the Dropbox directory: Dear Dropbox developers, are you *sure* you're not listening to *all* filesystem events which happen in my user's directory? Because to me it completely looks like that and is the reason I get such a high CPU use when I make heavy filesystem operation which shouldn't bother Dropbox at all.

(OS X) Dropbox consuming a lot of CPU whenever any file or folder is changed anywhere

Roberto r.15
New member | Level 1
10 years ago
Also have the same problem.

MBP 13 retina 8GB RAM

Can't believe this happens all time I need a larger sync.
Marshall J.
New member | Level 1
10 years ago
Same issue again on another brand new 15" MBP running yosemite and selectively syncing only 3 directories...

Broke a new record with 144.4 % CPU
John H.7
New member | Level 1
10 years ago
Google Drive? - works like DropBox but uses very little CPU. Unlike DropBox, changing a folder name is almost instantly synced and doesn't require a load of re-syncing of the contents. I use Google Drive for real time syncing documents and files and Dropbox just for iPhone photo backup when required, maybe iCloud could do that for you though?

According to tonight's BBC Panorama it seems all UK internet traffic has to go through GCHQ surveillance first - maybe that is slowing down Dropbox.
Luwe S.
New member | Level 1
9 years ago
Dropbox is still using too much cpu imho. Narrowing down the folders a bit with selective sync helps, but does not solve the problem. The selective sync feature is also a bit immature. Please integrate some feature like a custom ignore list for reoccuring folders that you want dropbox to ignore by default

to name a few, for me the following can and should be always ignored by dropbox

node_modules
typo3_src
typo3
cache
idea
Steven G.6
New member | Level 1
9 years ago
I seem to have the same issues as Sebastian K. and others, basically anytime I modify a file or possibly install or update a package through homebrew it will start using a high % of CPU, 90-100 and for no good reason... at least I don't see why it would need to be reading activity outside of the Dropbox folder especially when I'm not using symlinks inside of it.

Something is afoul here.
Simon S.28
New member | Level 1
10 years ago
Activity-Monitor Screenshot: Dropbox is downloading one (1!) file, otherwise nothing currently changes in my dropbox folders. Result: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1776128/activity.png
Please also note the "CPU time" column.
Yashodhan B.
New member | Level 1
10 years ago
I have a 2015 macbook air (much lower spec machine than many of the people in this forum) but I have the exact same problem. downloading 3 files that were all text files, and the CPU usage is > 110%. battery life plummets as a consequence.

This is terrible because if I don't have my charger on me and have accidentally left dropbox running the night before, I'm in huge trouble. Doesn't look like anyone is getting much support from the Dropbox staff.
Dave H.
New member | Level 2
10 years ago
Google Drive seems better, but there is one glitch, at least on OS X -- if I turn off my Mac's WiFi (to save battery or avoid unsecured hotspots), the Google Drive pegs one CPU. I always have to remember to quit Google Drive before turning off WiFi or my battery gets drained pretty darn quick. (Yep, I reported to this to Google.)
Kevin P.30
New member | Level 1
10 years ago
I love how long this thread's been going on with no official response since Demetrios back in december of last year.

I've noticed that if I quit Dropbox as soon as I login to my machine (OS X 10.10.3, 16gb Ram, Core i7), I'm able to start using my system almost immediately, whereas when I let Dropbox sync the whole thing is laggy for a good 10 minutes.

This is a more-than-capable work machine, so I'm not sure how inefficient DB's code is for this sort of thing to prevent me from getting my work done in the morning.
Somen S.
New member | Level 1
10 years ago
The truth is Dropbox does not give a damn about problems faced by power-users with large file base to start with. They thrive on people uploading pictures 1 - 10 at a time and keep milking them for premium membership. Their deafening silence in this issue is a sign of lack of willingness to put our need in their roadmap since we are already paid members- Newsflash Dropbox you have started SUCKING !!!!