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Accountsd: How to Fix High CPU Usage on Mac

I had this issue too. It looks like it stopped on its own after a while. May be after I signed out of my gmail accounts in Internet Accounts in the settings.

Also, temporary way to stop it from happening was to make sure internet connection is on.
 
niji said:
this problem of an overactive cpu is interesting but tiring to the people who experience it.

what the macrumors article does NOT do a good about at al (as usual) l, is to mention that if your machine has a symptom of "high CPU", the problem could be completely something else.

here is the same issue, but caused by a different file run amok.

this solution DOES work. and i bet this "high CPU usage" remedy fixes more machines than the macrumors one.
this was needed to do on my 2018 MacBook Air running Catalina. it worked.

it involves TrustedPeersHelper
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250775689
Click to expand...
Glad it worked for you. But I didn't have to do any of what your referenced article said and I looked and my trustedpeershelper is at 0,0 cpu usage. Maybe it will help somebody but my problem was fixed a different way.
 
I have a 2017 MBP on Catalina with no issues ever but the only programs/apps I use are Chrome, Mail, Calendar, iMovie, Garage Band, Spotify, and the Office Suite.
 
Apple has turned into one big gigantic mess...and exceptionally greedy to boot too.
But their image is to come on tv act all smiley and innocent and like they're the good guys and that's enough for a lot of people.
 
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Got this error and was stuck for 2 days. The iTunes logout finally worked for me
 
Mojave are so true modern Snow Leopard.

Nicely behave, OSX which doesn't sucks.
Apple should support 'til 10.14.8, for newer AMD GPU support and security patches.

Currently only Mojave I can rely as "stable workstation MacOS".
 
I've the solution to the problem.

I've restet the Mac's SMC reset the NVRAM, sign out iCloud, start in safe mode, rebuild the catalog and none of this has work for me.

The problem starts in the second you start Safari. Just start your mac, and don't run under any circumstance Safari. Use Chrome, Firefox, of whatever browser until Apple will fix this.

Just take care to do not use a browser in witch you've start your iCloud account.
 
Huh, I had this happen to me. I just let it do its thing for a while and everything has been fine since.

Obviously not everyone has been able to do this...
 
Installing MacOS Catalina 10.15.7 Combo Update (https://support.apple.com/kb/DL2052?locale=es_ES) solved the problem

Regards



MacRumors said:


Following the release of macOS Catalina version 10.15.7, an increasing number of users have experienced an issue with a system process named "accountsd" showing very high CPU usage in Activity Monitor, causing their Mac to slow down.

One user in the Apple Support Communities shared a screenshot of "accountsd" with CPU usage above 400%, rendering their 2018 MacBook Pro "useless."

accountsd-activity-monitor.jpg

While this issue has popped up occasionally over the years, there has been a noticeable uptick in complaints across the Apple Support Communities, MacRumors Forums, Twitter, Reddit, Stack Exchange, and elsewhere since the release of macOS Catalina version 10.15.7, with users attempting to troubleshoot the issue.

What is accountsd?

Accountsd is a daemon, part of the Accounts framework. Apple's developer documentation says this framework helps users access and manage their external accounts from within apps, without requiring them to enter login credentials.How to fix accountsd CPU usage?
Affected users have offered a wide range of potential solutions, but your mileage may vary.

Some users have managed to solve the issue by signing out of their Apple ID account under System Preferences > Apple ID > Overview > Sign Out, restarting their Mac, and then signing back in to the account, but this has not worked for everyone.

Some users have solved the issue by resetting their Mac's SMC and/or NVRAM.

One user on Stack Exchange believes the issue relates to a bug with file indexing on the Mac. Their solution involves resetting the indexing by navigating to System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy and adding (+) your storage drive ("Macintosh HD" by default) to the "Prevent Spotlight from searching these locations" list. Then, remove (-) the drive from the list, and the Mac will begin reindexing. The indexing process can temporarily slow down your Mac, so these steps are recommended to be completed overnight.

As for more advanced troubleshooting, some users have had success with navigating to "~/Library/Accounts" and renaming the file "Accounts4.sqlite" to "Accounts4.sqlite.testbackup" or using more complex Terminal commands, but proceed with caution, as these solutions could impact your iCloud accounts or syncing.

Apple has yet to acknowledge this issue. Should a software update be released with a fix, we will update this article accordingly.

Article Link: Accountsd: How to Fix High CPU Usage on Mac
Click to expand...
 
Same problem her, on a 2017 iMac, with 4,2 GHz QC i7 & 64Gb 2400Mhz DDR4 RAM. Can't even type normally. Keeps occurring, even after restart in safe mode. Apple has a real problem here, needs to solve it quickly!
 
And this is what we mean when we say Apple is Doomed "turning into Dell". Meanwhile the beancounters all they care about is how high did the the stock reach.
 
My $ 0.02:
Similar experience on MacBook Pro 15" 2019 model.
After 10.15.7 (delta) update, accountsd process took up 400 - 500% CPU time.

First tried 10.15.7 combo updater, but that did not work.

Signing out of Apple ID (wait for a few minutes..) restart Mac, signing back in Apple ID fixed this.
 
I have tried all the fixes and nothing works other than temporary. last time I removed the accounts database and logged back in to my iCloud account I didn’t add my Google account again and that helped putting off the issue for a couplenof days but this morning when I started my iMac it was back. Currently using 418% witha CPU temp of 98˚C and the fans at full speed.

So now I have to remove my accounts add add them back every few days or Lightroom and Final Cut Pro X are unusable. I hope they fix this soon.
 
The only thing that "helps" is signing out of iCloud and wait for 10 minutes or restart so the system can settle down.
Once I log in again the CPU starts spiking again.
 
For me it was fixed by force-quitting the 'commerce'-process. Tried everything else before, nothing worked. Commerce also had a large upstream in my little snitch.
 
AbSoluTc said:
So basically what the article says is this:

  • SOME people (around 40, out of MILLIONS) have this issue
  • Nobody knows what causes it
  • Nobody knows specifically what resolves it
  • Apple doesn't acknowledge it

Sound about right?
Click to expand...

I have experienced this a lot since updating - and know several people that experience the same. So this is not just a “small amount of users” I think. This kicks in almost immediately after opening macOS Mail - and I have also seen spotlight stuck on “indexing” several times. There is definitely something wrong with that update, that’s why thy pulled it? I guess you can’t acknowledge it more clearly.
 
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