What is akd on Mac?
By Junaid, maker of Taskglass · Last reviewed
Handles Apple Account sign-in and authentication for iCloud, the App Store and other services.
akd is the AuthKit daemon, which manages Apple Account authentication on your Mac: signing in, verifying your account, two-factor codes, and keeping sign-in tokens fresh for services like iCloud and the App Store. It's normally idle.
- Category
- Apple service
- Made by
- Apple
- Safe to quit:
- With care
Shown in Activity Monitor as akd
Why is akd using so much CPU or memory?
- Signing in to an Apple Account or verifying it
- An account problem causing repeated authentication attempts
- Changing your Apple Account password
What to do
- 1Check System Settings > [your name] for sign-in prompts or warnings
- 2Sign out and back in to your Apple Account if prompts keep appearing
- 3Restart your Mac
Safe to quit? With care.
macOS relaunches it; sign-ins may briefly fail.
Related processes
- accountsdStores your internet accounts (iCloud, Google, Microsoft and others) and shares them with apps.
- clouddSyncs app data with iCloud using CloudKit, for Apple apps and many third-party apps.
- Keychain Circle NotificationShows iCloud Keychain prompts, such as approving a new device or entering a device passcode.
Part of the Taskglass Process Library