identityservicesd high cpu + Messages stops syncing until I kill identityservicesd

This has been happening to me for about a year.


It has been happening on MULTIPLE macs, including my brand new m4 mac mini.


I do NOT restore a backup from time machine or another mac.


  • I simply sign in to imessage.
  • With in a few days my messages will stop syncing.
  • I then open Activity Monitor and notice that identityservicesd is running at very high CPU.
  • I Force Close identityservicesd, and imessage starts working again.
  • It usually starts freezing again within 15 minutes.


The only "solution" i have found is to kill messages. Delete ALL contents in ~/Library/identityservices. Restart.


This buys me a few days of peace.


.... but it will inevitably come back.


I have disabled icloud messages.


I have even removed ALL Address Book accounts.


Doesn't matter.


I called Apple... It was like explaining calculus to a hamster.


Can anyone give me some insight into what on earth might be happening?

Mac mini

Posted on Dec 9, 2024 9:25 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 27, 2024 2:37 PM

To any poor soul that is afflicted with this nonsense...


The "solution" I came up with is this:


I created an automation in Shortcuts on my IPHONE to SSH into my Mac and run a script to activate a MAC Shortcut that closes Messages, deletes the IdentityServices folder from my user's Library folder, and opens Messages back up. It runs every morning at 5AM (Shortcuts on Mac can't run automations at specified times for some insane reason).


I don't know what else this might break... but for the past several weeks, it has "solved" my other problem.


I noticed the ids.db in the IdentityServices folder was getting bigger and bigger each day... Once it got to around 1GB, the behavior specified above would begin. Deleting the folder, resets the DB size, and it never gets big enough to cause a problem.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 27, 2024 2:37 PM in response to LieutenantDaily

To any poor soul that is afflicted with this nonsense...


The "solution" I came up with is this:


I created an automation in Shortcuts on my IPHONE to SSH into my Mac and run a script to activate a MAC Shortcut that closes Messages, deletes the IdentityServices folder from my user's Library folder, and opens Messages back up. It runs every morning at 5AM (Shortcuts on Mac can't run automations at specified times for some insane reason).


I don't know what else this might break... but for the past several weeks, it has "solved" my other problem.


I noticed the ids.db in the IdentityServices folder was getting bigger and bigger each day... Once it got to around 1GB, the behavior specified above would begin. Deleting the folder, resets the DB size, and it never gets big enough to cause a problem.

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identityservicesd high cpu + Messages stops syncing until I kill identityservicesd

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