Accountsd Mac cpu is high

Replying to myself, as it seems back to normal:

• Combo update --> ok for 8 hours then back
• deactivate keychain - did nothing
• deactivate keychain -repair permissions (Onyx) --> Ok for CPU but message in the prefs that I needed to reconnect to my Apple Account even though I already did so... This also popped up the CPU and accountsd for a while

It appeared that the 2 factors authentication actually asked me to reconnect to my account from my iPhone ('it just works' hum...).

I also had accountsd consuming all CPU. I upgraded OS from 10.15.6 to 10.15.7 and the problem remained.

What helped was to shut the computer down completely and then turning it on again (not just restarting it).

1. Apple menu > "shut down"
2. restart

hope this helps

process back to normal for now 24 hours hope it’s now definitely fixed, what I finally tried is :

1. remove my GMAIL account from Apple Mail app.
2. reboot .
3. when backup process stay normal usage ....
4. Configured m’y GMAIL account to Outlook .

seems stable now for more than 24 hours ...

NB on top of accountsd, Mail & Intego virus barrier was also using too many CPU.

since i « removed » GMAIl from Apple Mail and configured to Outlook , all the three listed process back to a normal CPU usage . Cross the fingers and hope definitely solved ...

OK, so this worked for me.

1. Go to "~/Library/Accounts"
2. Rename Accounts4.sqlite to Accounts4.sqlite.backup

CPU immediately went back to normal. Didn't need to logout out of Apple ID, or restart. Just that file rename did it. Thread here - https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/j05c8e/user_reports_show_that_macos_10157_clogs_up_the/

Jean-Philippe's method that makes use of the third party app OnyX worked for me. Thank you!

I can confirm that the issue is probably due to some cache files that should have been automatically removed with the 10.15.7 update. Agree also on the "*** Apple?"

In summary:

• update to macOS 10.15.7
• install OnyX and perform a maintenance job using Jean-Philippe's settings

After the automatic reboot the Mac should be back to normal behavior.

OK, just a quick thing (A POSSIBLE WORKAROUND - could someone confirm it?)

I had the same problem with accountsd hogging the CPU, on 10.15.7.

Tried all the solutions I could Google but nothing helped.

What seems to helped in the end was:

• logout from Apple ID (if you can)
• reset
• Go to Apple ID (on the web) and remove the machine from the service
• reset
• add my Apple ID again (I was asked tons of passwords)
• reset

For now the accountsd process is silent and the Apple ID status in my settings is all green.

After combo update and deleting keychains didn't work on my iMac, I tried this workflow - and it worked:

1. uncheck all iCloud Services and log out of Apple ID (keep all data, when asked)
2. remove ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.accountsd
3. rename ~/Library/Accounts to ~/Library/Acccounts_old (this forces the System to create a new folder and db after reboot)
4. reboot Mac
5. Log in to Apple ID and reactivate every service step by step, keep an eye on the activity monitor
6. reinstall all other internet accounts

My accountsd is now <100%

I've had the problem on two different macs in the last 72 hours, it's been fixed (so far) with the steps I posted previously.

1. Open terminal
2. cd ~/Library/Accounts
3.  mv Accounts4.sqlite Accounts4.sqlite.backup
4. Wait 30-60 seconds....this will cause a new Accounts4.sqlite file to be generated and you should see CPU return to normal
5. cp Accounts4.sqlite.backup Accounts4.sqlite

I didn't need to restart, nor reset PVRAM etc. This has (so far) fixed it for me on two macs (an iMac and a Mac Mini).

Note, if you have more than one user account on the mac then you need to repeat these steps when logged into each account.

Yesterday, killing the process once was enough to solve the problem for the day.

And today, it comes back each time I open Safari. Not sure why...

I'm only using Chorme at the moment.

Based on my research and what worked for me, here's the process I would follow:

1. In iCloud preferences, untick keychain and mail
2. Turn off the computer completely and turn it back on
3. You might try to log out of your Apple account completely and restart the computer
4. Close all apps
5. Kill the "commerce" process
6. Wait to see if "accountsd" goes back to normal.
7. Open the apps you need to use one by one to see if one of them is making the issue come back

Hope that helps someone :)

But that is just a temporary fix, expect the issue to come back the next day or after a moment :/

Logical steps to prove that you are wrong:

1. I used Onyx's Maintenance tasks - after which the applications automatically reboots the Mac.
2. The problem didn't come back - even after several reboots.

So it is not the reboot which solved the problem (because in my case and in many others it came actually back after every reboot) but Onyx.

And to those who have logged out of their iCloud account: log back in and uncheck the "Find My" option in the iCloud settings. That very often solves the problem also. If not, stay logged in into iCloud, and use Onyx's Maintenance tasks.

1. Log in into iCloud and uncheck the "Find My" option in its settings.
2. Use Onyx's Maintenance tasks to clean up the caches and some of the basic applications.

That way you don't lose anything, except a few minutes of running Onyx and rebooting. I have rebooted my iMac several times after this and accountsd behaves nicely again. You could even try and check the "Find My" option again after running Onyx. I left mine off - there's already too much Big Brother happening around the world.

I had the same issue. The proposals here on this "helpdesk" don`t have fix the problem definitively.

I have resolve this issue in this way:

1. Secure your data.
2. Format C: (remember me to the windows word ;-)
3. Make a clean install of MacOSx.
4. Don`t use Apple Mail (I use MSOutlook)

From that time (about 2 Weeks) the problem don´t return again...

Maybe this is the only way at the moment....

PS: If many of us don`t use the Apple mail app, maybe Apple will react to fix the problem...

Same here after upgrading to 10.15.7 on my Mac Mini 2018 nothing works. accountsd is permanently using over 500% CPU and Safari is dead. Same here nothing works.

Also I have noticed that the keyboard shurtcuts don't work at that time.

Hello all,

I ran into the same issue as all of you.

I found an easier way than reinstall the update via the combo or some of the other manipulations that I have seen.

There is a tool that I've been using for years, and that I actually always recommend and use after an update or even a major upgrade.

It's called ONYX. It helps perform some maintenance tasks such as clearing caches, rebuilding indexes, etc. The only "catch" is that you have to download the proper version of ONYX, depending on your version of MacOS. In this case, we are all having the issue with Catalina so that's a no brainer:

https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/index.html

As I had hoped, after running it and the reboot, everything came back into place. The issue is clearly due to some cache or whatever not being cleaned/reset after the 10.15.7 update.

EDIT: before running it, to help MacOS be a little more at ease CPU-wise, I did follow what some of you did by killing the "Commerce" process, accountsd went from 300% CPU usage to 50%, which is still too high; but at least it gave some CPU time for ONYX --> the scripts and maintenances it launches do require quite a bit of CPU available. Under normal circumstances, the "cleaning" can take up to 10 minutes, so don't freak out.

Here are the settings I used on my side: (in french, but you'll get the english version with the link I provided)

(I don't know if those are default settings or not nowadays, ONYX remembers your past choices and I have been using it since 2008; and since 2013 on this Macbook Air)

It seems like the smoother way to fix our issue.

That being said, *** Apple?

Have a great day,

Jean-Philippe.

Edit: tried installing the "Combo update" and after 30 minutes and reboot ... here it comes again :-( (more the 600% cpu and laptop unusable).

Killing the commerce process solves for about ... 4/5 minutes. APPLE!!!!! I NEED A SOLUTION 'CAUSE I HAVE TO WORK TOMORROW MORNING WITH THIS **** LAPTOP !!! As I'm sure many of us ...