macOS 26.0.1 mds_stores taking up CPU percentage

Ever since upgrading to Tahoe (now version 26.0.1), the process “mds_stores” has been consistently using more than 85% of the CPU on my MacBook Pro (2020). This has noticeably slowed down performance and caused the laptop to run hot, with the fans running almost constantly.

I contacted Apple Support, and they had me disable some background processes that start automatically at boot. The representative suggested giving it a few days for things to settle, but the issue hasn’t improved.

From what I’ve read, “mds_stores” is related to the system’s file indexing process. To address that, I left the laptop running for 24 hours without sleep, assuming it would be enough time for the re-indexing to complete—but that didn’t help either.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what else I can try?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]