100%+ High CPU Usage from Runningboardd on macOS 12.0.1

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100%+ High CPU Usage from Runningboardd on macOS 12.0.1

I recently installed Monterey 12.0.1 after holing out from Big Sur for a little while. Everything operates correctly, more or less, but after using my normal set of work applications for an hour or so (Chrome, Slack, VPN, WhatsApp) my system grinds to a halt and all of the windows start to hang.

Each time this happens I check Activity Monitor and RunningBoardd has the CPU running at ~102%. I can start to notice the system slowing down when RunningBoard gets over 85%. I can force close it and everything instantly goes back to normal and running smoothly. Of course, the utility restarts itself in the background and I repeat the process an hour later.

The problem is that RunningBoardd is a system utility that pretty much monitors and manages all of the running apps in recent versions of macOS and it can't be turned off. This issue is also specific to 12.0.1 as this was not a problem on Big Sur or the developer beta versions of Monterey.

Any suggestions on how to prevent RunningBoardd from slowing me down every hour aside from my current solution of leaving Activity Monitor open and just having to force close it when it starts to slow? Is there anyone else having this issue? I haven't been able to find any examples of this happening to others on this hardware and software combination.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 12.0

Posted on Dec 6, 2021 11:42 AM

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Answer 1

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LorenJT Author

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Dec 8, 2021 2:06 PM in response to LorenJT

I don't know if there will be longterm effects from killing Runningboardd permanently, but this is how to do it in Terminal:

To prevent Runningboardd from restarting during your current session:

sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.runningboardd.plist

To prevent Runningboardd from launching permanently (i.e. after restart):

sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.runningboardd.plist

To resume loading Runningboard at lunch:

sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.runningboardd.plist

I hope this helps!

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Answer 2

Old Toad

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207,439 points

Dec 6, 2021 12:57 PM in response to LorenJT

LorenJT wrote:

Any suggestions on how to prevent RunningBoardd from slowing me down every hour aside from my current solution of leaving Activity Monitor open and just having to force close it when it starts to slow?

Why use it at all. It's all academic and not a production tool or similar.

Here's some food for thought: unless you're using a true VPN tunnel, such as between you and your employer's, school's or bank's servers, they are useless from a privacy standpoint. Read these two articles: Public VPN's are anything but private and Former Malware Distributor Kape Technologies Now Owns ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, Zenmate, and a Collection of VPN “Review” Websites.

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Answer 3

LorenJT Author

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Dec 6, 2021 4:35 PM in response to Old Toad

What do you mean that RunningBoardd is purely academic? I don’t know what that means.

As a system process that restarts itself after it’s force closed, I’m not sure how to keep it from restarting. Is there a terminal command to keep it from starting at all?

As far as the VPN goes, it’s corporate and full tunnel. Though I mention it only because it’s an app, of many, that could be causing an issue, though I can’t find any correlation to the apps that I’m using and whether or not my CPU gets bogged down. I’ve reviewed the logs and taken snapshots of the process but still can’t seem to identify any culprits.

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Answer 4

Old Toad

Level 10

207,439 points

Dec 7, 2021 9:42 AM in response to LorenJT

By academic I was referring to whether is is necessary for every day use of the Mac. If it's necessary for you to do your work then it's not superfluous.

Corporate tunnels are quite secure unlike public tunnels.

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Answer 5

LorenJT Author

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10 points

Dec 7, 2021 11:30 AM in response to Old Toad

Oh, I thought your comment was in relation to RunningBoardd, which is my issue, not my VPN. I guess I misunderstood.

To clarify, this issue is not VPN related. My VPN is just an incidental app that happens to be one of a few that are running and being supposedly monitored.

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Answer 6

LorenJT Author

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Dec 8, 2021 3:18 PM in response to LorenJT

I take it back! Do not disable Runningboardd. This will only cause bigger issues like not being able to open any apps at all, including terminal in order to load Runningboardd. There is no workaround to relaunch it either in recovery or safe mode. I’m currently reinstalling macOS.

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100%+ High CPU Usage from Runningboardd on macOS 12.0.1

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