iCloud Photo Sync killing my MacBook (cloudphotod and nsurlsessionid processes)

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iCloud Photo Sync killing my MacBook (cloudphotod and nsurlsessionid processes)

The cloudphotod and nsurlsessionid processes have taken over my Mac with massive %CPU (around the 99% mark) and insane disk activity (right now at 2.7TB between them). Causes the fan to run frequently, other apps to run slow and crash, and drags battery life down to less than 4 hours.

I read somewhere that this is due to iCloud photo synchronisation (doesn't matter whether Photo App is open or not). So I completely switched that off on the Mac and the madness stopped. Is there no other fix for this? Do I need to stop using iCloud for photos and use Google or Dropbox instead?

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Jan 22, 2020 4:08 PM

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Answer 1

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Chris_D13

Community Specialist

Jan 26, 2020 9:50 AM in response to JensSeidl

Hi JensSeidl,

It sounds like you're having trouble with Photos, and I want to help.

If Photos is using a lot of resources, it might be because it's downloading or uploading data to iCloud. If you leave Photos open and the issue doesn't stop after syncing and indexing complete, you might try to repair your Photos library:

How to use the Photos library repair tool - Apple Support

Good luck.

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities.

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Answer 2

Jan 26, 2020 10:57 AM in response to JensSeidl

I would get everything off of iCloud and backed up to possibly both an external drive and a better cloud solution. I use Dropbox Plus. This read is about downloading archives or copies of things in iCloud: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204055

I would quit using iCloud. This read is about downgrading your storage amount in iCloud: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207594 If possible,I would get everything down loaded and backed up before downgrading.

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Answer 3

JensSeidl Author

Level 1

14 points

Jan 27, 2020 7:50 AM in response to Chris_D13

Thanks Chris, I will give that a try!

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Answer 4

JensSeidl Author

Level 1

14 points

Jan 28, 2020 12:42 PM in response to Chris_D13

@Chris_D13, thank you very much - this seems to have resolved the issue! 12 hours since I implemented and still no signs of the previous problem. Great stuff!

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Answer 5

Feb 22, 2020 3:22 AM in response to Chris_D13

Thank you so much! The repair tool helped to bring down the cloudphotod cpu load... let's hope it will last :-)

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Answer 6

JensSeidl Author

Level 1

14 points

Feb 22, 2020 11:21 PM in response to matthias_mba

The issue hasn’t returned for me in the last three weeks or so since I implemented the fix, you have good reason to be optimistic!

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iCloud Photo Sync killing my MacBook (cloudphotod and nsurlsessionid processes)

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