Q: Any one else have the com.apple.IconServicesAgent going nuts-problem?

Forcing the com.apple.IconServicesAgent to quit worked like a charm. It's been about two hours since that and no heat no fan. I don't know if it's an important process or application or whatever, but I'm quite happy. Thanks.

I had this same problem. I'll have to see if it come back, but so far so good. I did a bit of Googleing and found this:

http://osxdaily.com/2013/11/13/fix-finder-slow-high-cpu-use-mac-os-x/

It seems to have fixed the problem and it didn't require to much "know how" when it comes to computer stuff. Give it a try and see if it helps!

Sometimes I had difficulty to open Downloads Folder.

OSXt needs some seconds to show the contents

I use XtraFinder and you?

walesmd methods work for me.

EXACTLY THE SAME PROBLEMS HERE - I have a brand new MBP 15" 2.3 GHz - BEST and MOST EXPENSIVE MODEL - it was bought just a week ago and I am extremely disappointed by its performance. Fans are going crazy, everything is slow and unresponsive, folders doesn't show files, blanks places in dock etc.

APPLE FIX MAVERICKS immediately !!!!

try my previous post:

I had the same problem after delivery of a new iMac and installing Maverck.  We finally figured out it was a program that was not compatable with Maverick.  Mine turned out to be Snagit, but you might want to try this:

Go to System Preferences

Users and Groups, click on the padlock icon on the lower left and unlock using your administrator password.

Login Items

Then check all of the boxes for the applications.  (This doesn't delete them just doesn't open them at login) After they are check click on the [ - ]  button on the lower left.  Then relock the padlock icon.

Restart your computer.

If that works, you can try to go through the process again adding one program at a time to find out what program was giving you the problem.

Good Luck

Thanks - but problem is that i have NOTHING in Login Items - there was ONLY that stupid Apple Service Agent or something like that by default - i clicked the "-" and also forced om.apple.IconServicesAgent to quit via Activity Monitor - it seems ok for now....but I suppose this is a real glitch and Apple should fix it soon.

ive got it too - had machine fro a few months, no probs, just installed ther Server, now its gone hot, with 3 cores running at 98% - starting to kill off apps now...

walesmd solution worked for me.  It was going crazy - it has no reoccurred since I went through the process he detailed.

walesmd's solution partly worked for me—the cpu use by com.apple.IconServicesAgent is no longer excessive. but it is still using 300MB and more of RAM, even after restart.

if it's relevant, I have these repeated messages in Console.app:

com.apple.IconServicesAgent[746]: Icon filename entry missing from bundle info dictionary for bundle at URL: file:///System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/WebKit2.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.Development.xpc/

and these possibly related repeated messages:

Finder[327]: CreateWithFileInfo failed to create URL with FSRef, falling back to blank icon.
com.apple.WebKit.Networking[377]: CFNetwork SSLHandshake failed (-9806)

Well, walesmd's solution only worked temporarily for me.

I found this on github: "When "com.apple.IconServicesAgent" exhausts CPU resources on Mac OSX mavericks (10.9), you can try following workaround.":  https://gist.github.com/sgr/7835954"

It's just one line of code:

mkdir ${TMPDIR}/com.apple.IconServices

This recreates the com.apple.IconServices directory, which apparently gets itself deleted from time to time. I typed that in Terminal while IconServicesAgent was using 99% CPU and it immediately dropped it to .2%

For me, I needed only reset QuickLook as walesmd suggested to clear up the constant disk access and CPU issues with IconServicesAgent. Still have memory  issues, but that may be related to how Mavericks handles memory now. Unfortunately. Not all of us have a blazing fast SSD.

1. Reset QuickLook generators and disk cache:
   qlmanage -r && qlmanage -r cache
2. Reboot

It should be pointed out that another basic solution is to turn off icons for Finder windows.

For me the issues with IconServicesAgent occur as dissapearance of the icons in finder or Dock, freeze of any operation with copy or save. My Mac Pro(early 2009) and iMac(early 2009) have been dead after that and revived by reinstallation.

In fact I can solve the problem by typing  "mkdir ${TMPDIR}/com.apple.IconServices" in terminal.

But almost every time after power on, wake from sleep and even at another case, the problem reoccurs. For prompt reaction, I have to make a automator program to mkdir, kill the process and dock.

     $ mkdir ${TMPDIR}/com.apple.IconServices

     $ kill -9 `ps auxw | grep com.apple.IconServicesAgent | egrep -v grep | egrep -v rotatelogs2 | grep com.apple.IconServicesAgent | awk '{print $2}'`

     $ killall Dock

It's very annoying and I say that Maverics doesn't deserve a Mac OS update.

I ardently expect Apple will do something soon.

I just spent two days resolving this issue with Apple Support. I tried everything right from booting in safe mode to erasing my HD and re-installing Mavericks clean. I reset the system management controller (SMC) and NVRAM, repaired disk permissions, etc, etc, etc.

Everytime I logged back in, com.apple.IconServicesAgent jumped to the top of the activity monitor and used up 3/4 of my RAM. Soon after that the computer would heat up and the fans would come on full speed.

What eventually worked was uninstalling a program I had installed called iStat Menus. It was for monitoring internal temperatures and CPU performance. I used the included uninstaller to completely remove it and I downloaded Memory Clean from the App Store https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/memory-clean/id451444120?mt=12

As soon as I did those two things, the process disappeared from my activity monitor and my Macbook is back to running like it did before I upgraded to Mavericks.

It's strange because I booted in Safe Mode (which should have disabled any 3rd party software) and the problem was still there. If you have 3rd party software on your mac, such as VLC, antivirus programs, etc. try uninstalling them, cleaning your memory with Memory Clean, repair disk permissions. It's a lot easier than spending an hour re-installing Mavericks.