Written by
Yvonne Feng
Summary: This article from iBoysoft explains what backupd is on your Mac and examines why backupd consumes a significant amount of memory resources on your system.
Are you familiar with backupd? You might notice it in Activity Monitor, and it can sometimes use high memory on your Mac. So, what is the purpose of backupd, and why does it run on your Mac? Let's explore the answer together.
What is the backupd process on a Mac?
Backupd is a background process in macOS designed specifically for Time Machine automatic backups. Its main goal is to minimize the impact on system performance so that backups run automatically without interrupting your normal activities.
Time Machine is widely regarded as the best solution for backing up a Mac, and many users rely on it to protect their system data.
Once enabled, backupd regularly monitor changes in the file system (usually every hour) and perform incremental backups—only copying files that have changed since the last backup. This method saves time and reduces the use of storage space.
When the backup target is a network drive, you may find a related process called backupd-helper in the Activity Monitor. Its role is to help establish a connection to the network drive, ensuring that backup tasks run smoothly.
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Why does backupd use so much memory?
Things were getting pretty sluggish. So I looked at Activity Monitor and noticed that process backupd was using 78 GB of memory!!! - Apple Community
Have you noticed backupd using a significant amount of your memory? A forum user reported that they found backupd consuming a large amount of memory in Activity Monitor and tried several solutions, but nothing worked. If you're experiencing a similar issue, keep reading!
When Time Machine is performing a backup, backupd allocates extra memory to cache data—especially when handling many files or frequent updates—which can cause a sudden spike in memory usage. Additionally, when various files are modified or added, backupd has to process more data, temporarily using even more memory.
Furthermore, macOS may have its bugs that prevent backupd from releasing memory properly after running for a long time, leading to memory leaks.
Here are some feasible solutions for you.
- Wait for the backup to finish: If a Time Machine backup is running, it's best to wait until it's complete since memory usage usually returns to normal after the backup ends.
- Restart your system: Restarting your Mac can clear caches and temporary data, freeing up memory.
Check the backup drive: Use Disk Utility to see if your backup drive has any issues. If necessary, consider reformatting or replacing the drive. - Update macOS: Make sure your system is updated to the latest version, as updates may include bug fixes and performance improvements for backupd.
- Go back to default settings: If you've changed the default settings for Time Machine or backupd (for example, by disabling throttling), it's recommended to revert to the default settings to avoid abnormal resource usage over time.
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