What is Probably a background daemon?
By Junaid, maker of Taskglass · Last reviewed
Likely a background daemon; macOS service names often end in 'd'. Check its location to be sure.
By Unix tradition, background services (daemons) often have names ending in 'd', like launchd or cloudd, and macOS has hundreds of them. This is only a naming convention, so it's not a guarantee: some ordinary tools also end in 'd'. If the file lives in /System, /usr/libexec or /usr/sbin, it's part of macOS and protected by the system; elsewhere, it belongs to software you installed.
- Category
- macOS system
- Safe to quit:
- With care
Applies to processes matching a known naming pattern.
Why is Probably a background daemon using so much CPU or memory?
- It's doing scheduled background work (syncing, indexing, maintenance)
- Something it depends on is failing and it keeps retrying
What to do
- 1Check the file path: /System, /usr/libexec and /usr/sbin are macOS locations
- 2Wait a few minutes; many daemons work in short bursts
- 3If it belongs to an app, update or quit that app
- 4Restart your Mac if it stays busy
Safe to quit? With care.
macOS daemons usually relaunch automatically; quitting rarely helps and can interrupt a feature.
Part of the Taskglass Process Library