What is diagnosticd on Mac?
By Junaid, maker of Taskglass · Last reviewed
Feeds live log messages to tools like the Console app and the 'log stream' command.
diagnosticd is part of macOS's unified logging system. When the Console app, the log command or a developer tool is watching messages live, diagnosticd collects and delivers that stream. Apple notes that live viewing makes logging cost extra CPU. When nothing is watching, it sits mostly idle.
- Category
- macOS system
- Made by
- Apple
- Safe to quit:
- With care
Shown in Activity Monitor as diagnosticd
Why is diagnosticd using so much CPU or memory?
- The Console app open and streaming live messages
- A 'log stream' command, or a monitoring or security tool reading the live log
- Developer tools such as Xcode showing a running app's logs
What to do
- 1Close the Console app or stop any 'log stream' command
- 2Quit monitoring or developer tools that read logs, then check again
- 3Restart your Mac if it stays busy with nothing watching the logs
Safe to quit? With care.
It relaunches when needed; quitting it just interrupts any live log viewing.
Related processes
Part of the Taskglass Process Library