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High CPU Usage after updating MacBook Pro to MacOS Monterey (12.3)

afrey25

I installed the latest MacOS update (Monterey 12.3) on my MacBook pro last night and now Dropbox is almost continuously syncing files and ****** my CPU usage. Fans are running almost constantly, and battery life has been dreadful as a result.

Anyone else experiencing this?

All my files are fully synced so I have no clue what files Dropbox keeps re-syncing and why over and over again. I've rebooted, turned Dropbox on and off. Pretty much everything I can think of other than deleting and reinstalling the desktop app.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

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BenDBX

Hi Everybody,

I spoke with our engineering team to confirm that this issue was resolved. I'm following up with this thread to confirm that high CPU usage is no longer a problem for any users. Ensure your MacOS and Dropbox are up to date, and please let us know if this is still affecting you. Thanks!

Regards,

Ben

All comments

BradR

Killed Dropbox. Killed iCloud drive. Killed Google Drive. Restarted.

Now I have DropboxFileProvider varying between 2% and 120% AND fileproviderd at 104%.

Megan

Hi @BradR, I'd be more than happy to help!

Can you clarify the version of the desktop app that you have installed on the device?

Let me know more, and we'll take it from there.

BradR

Hi Megan

I'm running v164.4.7914.

Thanks

Brad

BradR

I think I cleared this up. There were a lot of issues with Time Machine snapshots for some reason - put fileproviderd at 100%+ and Dropbox at "syncing". Ran a Time Machine backup... and both problems went away.

virkot

Same problem here. The process "dropboxfileprovider" is constantly using between 90-100% cpu. Now I regret updating dropbox. I'm on an M1 Macbook Pro and dropbox is the only app that is making my computer uncomfortably warm. Any solutions?

Megan

Hi @virkot, thanks for posting here today!

In regards to your high CPU usage on your device, have you tried contacting our Support, about this? I'd highly suggest that you open a ticket with them.

Feel free to send me back the ticket number reference, if you do end up contacting them.

Keep me posted!

gavineadie

After installing today's Ventura 13.3 (22E252) update, Dropbox (v171.3.6099) is behaving badly.

* "fileproviderd" is using 125% of my M1 MacBook Pro ..

* the processes "Dropbox Helper (Renderer)" and "Dropbox Helper (GPU)" are the 2nd and 4th in the CPU usage list (Spotlight is 3rd, as it often is reindexing after an install). All three of those have dropped to very little CPU usage after initially being very busy.

* all file system actions are very slow (saving a small, non-Dropbox related, text file, with BBEdit, took over half a minute)

* I rebooted my Mac to see if these were "first use after an install" problems, but they remain.

* The Dropbox menu dropdown panel still shows "starting" after 40 minutes.

If I'm the only person experiencing this behavior, then I'll work on it myself. But if it's systemic, I'll stop wasting my time, "leave beta", and wait for an update.

Now, after an hour, Dropbox is still "starting" .. BBEdit just took 40 seconds to save a 20-character file

I just checked an M2 Mini also updated to Ventura 13.3 (22E252), but with the old Dropbox, and it's behavior is normal.

If more information is needed, or I can help resolve this .. please ask me. I've been a Mac developer for 20+ years!

gavineadie

With Ventura 13.3, I have the same issue with "fileproviderd" using 125% CPU on an M1 MacBook Pro. I restarted the laptop about 75 minutes ago and the Dropbox menu panel still reports "starting". (Dropbox v171.3.6099)

Walter

Hi there @gavineadie, sorry to hear about this.

Could you send us a screenshot of the app's exact status as shown in your menu bar at the moment?

If you're running an antivirus on your computer, you can also try disabling it temporarily.

In any case, please keep us posted!

ryk

It would be helpful if Dropbox developers could investigate and report back to users the outcome. And if any problem has been identified and corrected. That way we know when it is safe to upgrade MacOS.

gavineadie

Screenshot 2023-03-28 at 11.38.34 PM.png

gavineadie

A change in behavior: Dropbox did stop "starting" and is now going back and forth between "up to date" and "syncing 1 file" every couple of seconds. I think I know why that is happening. The "old" Dropbox couldn't deal with filenames containing a "\" .. it reported errors on the menu item badge. A million years ago, Microsoft products generated such files, like: "Create Event from Message\cE".

But .. I'm going to back away from the concern that Dropbox is the cause of my problems because I've got worse trouble .. Finder won't launch, and I've no reason to suspect that Dropbox is involved. I'll be back with news after reinstalling Ventura from scratch.

gavineadie

NEVER MIND!

Disk Utility just coughed up (and fixed) dozens of errors on my SSD. I expect life to improve, though I wonder why my boot disk got so messed up ..

gavineadie

Summary: I backed off the "beta" and everything seems to be working correctly with the "old" Dropbox .. and "fileproviderd" is running 0% CPU.

"~/Library/CloudStorage" contains a folder named "Dropbox (3-29-23 2/30 PM)" which is about a quarter the size of my real Dropbox folder.

Jay

Hi @gavineadie, have you tried rebooting your device to see if this helps with the folder still located in the CloudStorage location?

gavineadie

No Jay, I just deleted it. Since "~/Dropbox" was created and fully filled from an online copy by reinstalled "old" Dropbox, I assumed "CloudStorage/Dropbox" was an irrelevant artifact of the "new" Dropbox.

t0ny

I have the exactly same experience on my MacBook Pro M2 after upgrading to macOS 13.3 yesterday.

Dropbox is v171.3.6135, beta.

fileproviderd process is at 110% CPU
Most of the apps that use the content from Dropbox folder are just beachballing for an indefinite amount of time
First noticed it yesterday while trying to attach some files to an email from Firefox (and later Safari): trying to open a file browser to choose a file hangs and never completes. Now trying to work with some music project files I have in Dropbox and my music software also hangs for 10 minutes already. Never happened before.
Finder seems to work just fine
Dropbox status is jumping between "Syncing" and "Syncing 1 file"

Let me know if I can provide any more info.

Megan

Hi @t0ny, thanks for posting here!

Keep in mind that following a migration to the new Dropbox for macOS, your files need to be re-synced. Depending on the amount of files you have in your Dropbox, this may take some time to complete.

There are some things you can check to ensure that the migration and the re-sync is still progressing and not stuck.

Click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar at the top of your screen.
Take note of the time and the number of files that are currently syncing—this will be displayed at the bottom of the window that appears.
Wait a while then repeat step 2. If the number of files that are syncing has reduced, then it may be worth waiting a little longer to see if the syncing completes.

If the number of files has not reduced it might be worth checking out the troubleshooting steps outlined in this article . Note that we do not recommend re-installing the application if the migration is still in progress.

You can leave your computer running for a while. with nothing else running, in order to give some time for the migration to complete.

Keep me posted on any updates you might have!

cquintero1

I have the exact same issue. Frustrating that it's taking them so long for a fix

BenDBX

Hi Everybody,

Regards,

Ben

gio18

Yes, it is. Dropbox is still "syncing 1 file" forever. I can work properly only on another User on my Apple M1 Pro that is not logged in Dropbox.

Processes rtcreportingd and fileproviderd are still using above 100% of CPU on my original User. I am running v181.4.5678 and Ventura 13.5.1.

All open-and-save panels get often stuck with all apps (finder, word, excel, preview...) and the only way to have files opened and/or saved is to ****** those two processes (tcreportingd and fileproviderd) that, indeed, get back to over 100% in seconds. My Dropbox folder is very large (approx 500 GBs)

Nancy

I’m sorry to hear you’re still having trouble with this, @gio18.

There was recently a newer desktop app build released. Can you please update your Dropbox app and let me know if it makes any difference at all?

If not, we’ll check this further.

dragonxuser1

I am having the same issue. Started when upgrading from OS Monterey to Ventura. M1 mac. The status toggles between "updating files" and "updating 1 file". Ive let it update over 24 hours to no effect. I understand some file system updating needs to occur. Is there a point where letting the computer run no longer is helpful? Id prefer to not let my computer fry indefinitely if the system is hung up or just spinning its wheel.

Hannah

Hey @dragonxuser1, sorry to hear about this.

Have you restarted Dropbox or your computer ever since this started occurring?

dragonxuser1

The backup seemed to never recover and It routinely crashed Finder in mac. Even when restarting computer itself and yes i restarted dropbox a number of times. Would either say connecting components or synching 1 file. But all the while any attempt to use finder would lead to a full system lock up via finder freeze up. The only option ultimately was to do a complete computer wipe and reinstall. But at least my files are backed up by dropbox.... Definitely a frustrating and very time-consuming experience. I would have appreciated a warning there could be issues when the dropbox app recommended changing over to this new file structure.

LaraRebooted

It's absolutely still a problem. I'm running 182.4.6427 on my MacBook Air on Monterey 12.6.8, and the program has been blowing out my fan 24/7. It relentelessly starts syncing and resyncing files that are unchanged, for no good reason, constantly. I'm about ready to throw it out and reconsider iCloud if I can't get this fixed soon. So far the only workable fix I've found is turning Dropbox off, which really defeats the purpose of having it.

Walter

Hey @LaraRebooted, sorry to hear about this.

Have you taken a look at this Help Center article which outlines some possible reasons why this might be happening?

Arkadiy K.

Still high CPU issues on the latest version. What's even more alarming is that I can't now fully ****** Dropbox - the DropboxFileProvider process stays alive and keeps on consuming resources.

Jay

Hi @Arkadiy K., have you tried reinstalling the app, without uninstalling it first, by using this link and then rebooting your device?

LaraRebooted

Yes, and none of them apply. Your program continuously restarts syncing items that have undergone absolutely no changes since it last synced them. It will then say it's all caught up... and a few minutes later, after I've done nothing except maybe browsed the Internet or talked to friends on Discord -- activities that generate NO CHANGES to my ****** drive -- it will start claiming that it is syncing hundreds of files, and running up my CPU. This is what we all keep telling you guys. The only thing I can think of to do on my end, if you are unwilling to actually FIX the BUG, is replace Dropbox with another cloud service.