com.apple.mediaanalysisd files filling drive in macOS 15.1

I too have been having a similar problem. However, I am using M1 2020 Air.

Since I updated my software to Sequoia 15.2, the system data on my drive suddenly bloated to 110GB (previously, it did not exceed 25GB).

I tried cleaning my device using CleanMyMac, however, it temporarily reduced the space (to ~60GB). I hadn't used my laptop in more than 24 hours and when I picked it up - it was warm. As soon I logged in, it told me it was running out of space again. I checked CleanMyMac and could see that com.apple.mediaanalysisd is eating up 22.2GB and increasing.

What is this process? Is it a temporary indexing of my images? If so, does deleting it keep resetting the indexing and it would keep trying to run? My photos aren't even on my laptop so what on earth is it doing?

Library/Containers/com.apple.mediaanalysisd/Data/Library/Caches

This is almost 80GB and I have no disk space free to run applications.

rm -rf com.apple.mediaanalysisd/ resolved this for me

I am observing a similar anomalous problem with the mediaanalysisd process. I have an empty library of photos, but when I have a closed mac (I use aldente so it doesn't go to sleep) this process starts to load 1 core of the CPU completely for almost the whole period of the closed lid, in previous versions of OC this problem didn't happen at all, but support just said to erase SSD and reinstall macos =) (I don't think it will help)

I just want to know what process or event is causing this behavior, but support also couldn't tell me how to see it.

The problem spreads even in safe mode if you specify

sudo pmset -disablesleep 1

Below I attach a log file that was kept with a bash script (just recording the 5 most used processes every 10 seconds) all night long (only fit half)

mediaanalysisd and photoslibraryd are background processes which go through and analyze a new or updated Photos library when the Mac is otherwise idling. With large 500 GB libraries with 50 000 images and thousands of movies that might take a week or more. Set the Mac to never sleep (allow the screen to turn off, setting the library as system library might also help) and let the Mac be on day and night until those processes are done. Or move the library to an external APFS or MacOS extended disk.

I have the same problem. The process com.apple.mediaanalysisd (in

systemdata) is filling up my entire Mac mini SSD (140gb so far). Does

anyone know how i can stop this? I downloaded the CCleaner to clean up

some system data (including the com.apple.mediaanalysisd file) but a

week later the **** process starts filling out my entire SSD again.

I have around 20gb free space on my SSD and the ****

com.apple.mediaanalysisd taking up 140gb, and im getting warnings from

macos that my internal SSD is getting low on space.

I do have around 80.000 photos stored on a external 4TB SSD (with 2TB

free space). Is it possible to make the "com.apple.mediaanalysisd" to

use that SSD instead? or is there a way to turn is this process or make

is stop filling out my entire internal SSD?

im on the latest version of MacOS!

Here's what I did:

Using an M1 Air 2020 running Sequoia 15.2, I was getting "out of space" messages about my 256GB SSD internal.

I connected a 1TB external SSD and offloaded as much as I could, copying apps and things to the external SSD and replacing them with aliases. I tested each app for rudimentary functionality. Everything seemed to be working for a while.

I was still running out of space. I was down to 5GB.

Then I found com.apple.mediaanalysisd was occupying 74GB! I Googled the name and, after reading this thread, I copied com.apple.mediaanalysisd to my external, replaced it with an alias, and emptied the Trash. One folder containing subfolders to five levels would not go away, but I saw no data, so I rebooted and emptied the Trash again.

My internal SSD now has 88 GB available. I have noticed no abnormalities.

Is there any way to test for a possible loss in function?

--Gil

Same here. Mine's at 47GB today. It was 45GB yesterday.

If this continues, the Mac SSD will run out of space very soon. Need a solution for this ASAP.

It's a Miracle!

Apple have descended from the Ivory tower & fixed it!

Albeit days after an update to 15.3

It gets better!

They have even fixed (for a while I'd expect - but don't bet on it!) df & du to show more

accurate data about space usage. The person in Apple that actually did this deserves

accolades!

df...

Filesystem Size Used Avail Capacity Mounted on

/dev/disk3s1s1245G 11G 174G 7% /

/dev/disk3s5 245G 52G 174G 23% /System/Volumes/Data

/dev/disk8s1 1000G 769G 231G 77% /Volumes/MyHome

/dev/disk7s2 2000G 993G 1007G 50% /Volumes/MyMacMiniBackup

du -shx WhatImInterestedIn...

23G /Volumes/MyHome/me/Library/Containers/com.apple.mediaanalysisd

9.0G /Volumes/MyHome/me/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

Those are not unreasonable numbers - at least I'm happy with them for now!

Please convey my congratulations to the person in Apple that fixed these problems

that should never have happened & we look forward to better communication with

Apple & improvement in their technical support...

Who have 2 options for all problems,

Reboot

Log off removing all iCloud sync, then log back in.

Sorry there's a third now, total reinstall!

They really do not work!

Good programming does!

Analysis of all cache files is required - please get the software engineers (another name for

programmers) on to it, it's called appropriate maintenance!

Do not assume that 3rd party stuff & community user advice will solve bad programming

practice!

Thanks for listening (at last)

BTW the...

You’ve exceeded the posting limits. Please try again in a few minutes.

error message is really frustrating when you answer 2 threads in quick succession!

mohysfb wrote:

I tried cleaning my device using CleanMyMac

CleanMyMac is infamous for corrupting macOS. 3rd party virus apps do the same.

"I have tested the trial version s of the earlier CleamMyMac versions twice, and every time it damaged my Photos Library, when I let it clean a simple test library. It removed original image files of edited versions as unnecessary working copies, and it linked quite a few edited versions to the wrong originals. The damaged library could not be repaired and needed to be restored from a backup."

How to prompt Photos in MacOS Sequoia to … - Apple Community

I doubt it is supposed to be that huge.

Have you run Disk Utility's Disk First Aid on all connected drives?

In Disk Utility>View, select Show all Devices, highlight the top left entry.

Run Disk First Aid on all items in the left panel, from top down.

Are you running any VPN, Anti-Virus, or Cleaning apps?

We need to see what all is running, a report from this will not display any personal info...

Using EtreCheck - Apple Community

EtreCheck is a FREE simple little diagnostic tool to display the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help people help you with your Mac. It will not display any personal info. Give it Full Disk Access.

https://www.etrecheck.com/

Give etrecheck Full Disk Access before running.

Of note 15.3 fixed some 15.2 problems.

Sadly my home disk is still full after upgrade to 15.3

/dev/disk8s1 1000G 1000G 3506k 100% /Volumes/MyMountedSSD

% du -shx /Volumes/MyMountedSSD/MyUserName/Library/Containers/com.apple.mediaanalysisd

239G /Volumes/MyMountedSSD/MyUserName//Library/Containers/com.apple.mediaanalysisd

I have a hunch that these bundle files are the photos that are being uploaded to iCloud if you have the Optimize setting enabled. I could be very wrong, but I did not seem to have this issue until I changed that setting.

Now, even more odd, is that when I go to Settings > Storage, my Photos app claims it takes up 6.47gb with 342GB remaining free space.

When I go to Disk Utility, I have 33GB of free space. So that means theres about 309GB of floating storage being used up somewhere right?

I check my iCloud storage and lo and behold, Photos is taking up 304GB

I am trying to edit a video, so I began importing some videos from an SSD. 50gb required and it says I only have 30GB of available space.

My guess:

Apple is converting the original files to the bundles and uploading to icloud, doing so earmarks the photos app to appear smaller than the space it's actually taking. I am ASSUMING that the bundles are being uploaded in the background, however activity monitor is showing 0 packets sent or received for mediaanalysisid.

Can anyone confirm if they have the same discrepancies going on?

LO AND BEHOLD!

Today, after updating to 15.3 and working on the machine (I don't set it to never sleep, but I work on it during the day), com.apple.mediaanalysisd is down to 8 GB!

I do not know if 15.3 solved this issue, or if the process to do whatever it is doing took so long …

Curious that your aliased folder is not updating. Perhaps it's not being used at all when it's not at the "correct" location.

I did something similar and symlinked the com.mediaanalysisd/Data dir to /dev/null. I thought the link would just get replaced with a proper directory, but now, nine hours later, it's still there and none of my disk space is wasted! :D

I do also wonder about the side effects. My Photos.app at least appears to be working. Previously Photos and a couple of other apps have actually been randomly quitting during the night. I've theorized that it might have been due to disk space getting low, so let's see if this behaviour stops now.

Here's what I did in early January.

I connected a 1TB external SSD and copied com.apple.mediaanalysisd to my external, replaced it with an alias, and emptied the Trash.

It seems to be working. com.apple.mediaanalysisd is now 75GB, but it's on an external drive so it isn't hurting anything.