What is WebKit Networking on Mac?
By Junaid, maker of Taskglass · Last reviewed
Handles network traffic for Safari and other apps that use WebKit to show web content.
The WebKit Networking process loads web pages, images and data from the internet and manages cookies and caches for Safari and other WebKit-based apps. Separating networking from page content improves security. Activity here reflects how much the open pages are downloading.
- Category
- Apple app
- Made by
- Apple
- Safe to quit:
- With care
Shown in Activity Monitor as com.apple.WebKit.Networking, Safari Networking
Why is WebKit Networking using so much CPU or memory?
- Pages streaming video or downloading large files
- Many tabs refreshing or loading at once
- Websites polling constantly in the background
What to do
- 1Close tabs that stream or auto-refresh
- 2Check Safari's Downloads list
- 3Quit and reopen Safari or the app using it
Safe to quit? With care.
It relaunches automatically, but pages and downloads in progress may fail.
Related processes
- WebKit Web Content (Safari Web Content)Runs one or more web pages in a separate process for Safari and other apps that show web content.
- SafariApple's web browser. Web pages themselves run in separate WebKit processes.
- nsurlsessiondDoes background downloads and uploads for apps, even after you close them.
Part of the Taskglass Process Library