What is watchdogd on Mac?
By Junaid, maker of Taskglass · Last reviewed
Checks that macOS stays healthy and responsive, and recovers it if the system gets stuck.
watchdogd makes sure the system keeps making progress. If it detects that macOS is badly stuck, it takes corrective action and, as a last resort, can restart the system to get it working again. Despite the name, it's a protective part of macOS, not spyware. It's normally idle.
- Category
- macOS system
- Made by
- Apple
- Safe to quit:
- No
Shown in Activity Monitor as watchdogd
Why is watchdogd using so much CPU or memory?
- The system is under heavy strain or parts of it are unresponsive
- Recovering from a hang
What to do
- 1Check which apps are using lots of CPU or memory and quit them
- 2Install the latest macOS update
- 3Restart your Mac
Safe to quit? No.
Don't quit it: it protects macOS from getting permanently stuck.
Related processes
Part of the Taskglass Process Library