If you're a Mac user and have ever opened Activity Monitor to figure out why your Mac might be running slowly, you've probably noticed some processes like cloudd, cloudphotod, photolibraryd, and nsurlsessiond using a lot of CPU, energy, or memory. So what exactly are these background processes?

For the quick answer: cloudd, cloudphotod, photolibraryd, and nsurlsessiond are standard background processes in macOS for users who use iCloud, iCloud Photos, and other cloud-based features. These processes often run after installing a new system update or rebooting your Mac. They also appear during iCloud syncing, when iCloud Photos is enabled, if a shared iCloud Photo Library is updating, or during any other iCloud-related sync activity.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these macOS processes to understand their purpose, why they’re active, and whether they should raise any concerns.

cloudd process in macOS: What it is and why it runs

The cloudd process handles iCloud syncing and management, including iCloud Drive, iCloud settings, and other iCloud-related tasks.

You'll usually notice cloudd consuming more CPU resources after a system software update, following a reboot, or when another one of your devices has made significant changes to iCloud files that are now being synced across all devices.

Seeing cloudd running — even with high resource usage — isn’t a problem. It's temporary and will reduce its resource consumption once the syncing completes. Forcing it to quit could interrupt the syncing process and lead to incomplete data transfers.

photolibraryd process in macOS: What it is and why it runs

photolibraryd is part of the Photos app on macOS. If you have a large collection of photos and videos, this process will likely show up. It performs background tasks related to your Photos library, such as indexing media, scanning metadata for search and organization, facial recognition, object detection (for keyword searches like “dog” or “car”), and similar operations.

This process typically activates after a macOS update, when importing a large number of new photos or videos, during iCloud photo syncing from another device, or after restarting your Mac following a period of inactivity.

photolibraryd is normal and may consume significant CPU, memory, and energy while indexing your media library. Let it finish its task. The larger your library, the more resources it uses. Force quitting it can cause issues with searching and organizing photos later.

cloudphotod in macOS: What it is, Why it runs

Similar to cloudd and photolibraryd, cloudphotod relates to iCloud and your photo library. Specifically, it manages iCloud Photo Library syncing and related processing. This includes uploading and downloading new photos and videos and ensuring your photo library stays consistent across all your Apple devices.

You’ll often see cloudphotod running after a system update, when editing or deleting many photos in iCloud, when enabling iCloud Photos on a new Mac, or when syncing photos after a long offline period.

cloudphotod can consume a lot of CPU, memory, and energy, and it may also use significant internet bandwidth during syncing. Again, let it complete its task. Interrupting it could result in inconsistent photo syncing across your devices.

nsurlsessiond on Mac: What it is and why it runs

nsurlsessiond is another background process that enables your Mac to communicate with iCloud and various Apple services, such as syncing Notes, Mail, Messages, Safari bookmarks, tabs, App Store updates, and more.

You’ll typically see nsurlsessiond using high CPU after a restart, a system update, or when reconnecting a Mac that’s been offline for a while. Just allow the process to complete so that all your apps and services remain in sync.

Can I stop cloudd, cloudphotod, photolibraryd, and nsurlsessiond from running on Mac?

Technically, you can prevent these processes by disabling iCloud completely on your Mac. However, doing so removes access to many core macOS features tied to iCloud. Even then, photolibraryd and nsurlsessiond might still run if you use the Photos app, Messages, or the App Store.

While you can force quit these processes or unload their kext files, it's not advisable if you rely on iCloud in any way. Doing so may disrupt syncing and functionality across your devices.

Best way to handle cloudd, cloudphotod, photolibraryd, and nsurlsessiond on macOS

If you notice these processes using a lot of system resources, the best course of action is to do nothing. Let them complete their tasks.

One effective method is to leave your Mac plugged in and running overnight. This gives these background processes time to finish without affecting your daily workflow.

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Do you have any thoughts or experiences with cloudd, cloudphotod, photolibraryd, nsurlsessiond, or other iCloud-related processes? Share your insights in the comments below.

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