Mds_stores process memory leak with MacOS Sequoia

If still need be…

Open Terminal and run each of these one at a time

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user

sudo will ask you for an Admin password that won't be echoed.

Carefully type your admin password when asked & hit enter.

sudo /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -seed -lint -r -f -v -dump -domain local -domain system -domain user -domain network

killall Dock

sudo mdutil -E /

sudo mdutil -i on /

Rebuilding a drive index can take a long time, so be prepared to wait whether you do it through the System Preference panel or the command line.

Nico_0 wrote:

Hi, yesterday evening I updated my Mac to macOS sequoia 15.1.1. Since then my computer started to use an insane amount of ram for the indexing process of spotlight. Rebooting, turning off the pc or even killing the process doesn't seem to work.

The process always starts with few ram, and reaches up to 90GB allocated in a copule of hours. Then the OS kills the process, and after a while it restarts from zero.

Is there a solution for this?

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/08859feb-8cfc-4d4e-a2d9-59177183e636

Have you shut down and restarted more than once since your update...

if so you can try Logging out and back in again...

>Log out

no resolve—

try SafeBoot to sort anomalies Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

Login and test. Reboot as normal and test. Caches get rebuilt automatically.

ref: macOS 15.1.1

Typically, after updating or upgrading macOS, there are a number of background process that will take place, including MDS. These should "settle down" within a few hours and things should return to "normal" going forward.

If macOS is "killing" the process, it is due to protecting the Mac's CPU from overheating. Once cooled, the process will continue until completed ... or unless you stop it.

In case you are not familiar with MDS, it relates to the Spotlight app on your Mac. With a new update, Spotlight needs to re-index and this is what is causing MDS to run "full speed."

I'm also on 15.1.1 and having the same issue starting yesterday. Only mine goes to around 120+ gigs memory usage before restarting at 100mb. It's fine in safe mode. As soon as I log in and activity monitor comes up it's already at 200mb and keeps climbing. Doesn't take hours to reach 120gig either, probably 20 minutes. system is unusable then. M4 MacMini with 64 gigs. At 48gigs memory pressure goes into the yellow. And swap starts growing like crazy. Gone as high as 520gigs.

And ya, CPU use is around 90-95% for mds_store the entire time.

I have turned off spotlight search indexing via terminal, but it doesn't matter. I've unselected everything in spotlight settings, search results. I can't move any folder into search privacy as it throws an "unknown error".

If I force quit mds_stores it just comes back and keeps on going. Tried everything but wiping and doing a clean install, even deleting most apps I've installed.

Hmm, it should of finished long ago.generally a few hours for my 1.5TB used SSD.

So I am assuming that once this indexing is complete the MDS process won't show up again. Until the next update, that is?