OneDrive causes extended fileproviderd CPU activity, hurts battery life

Anonymous
2021-11-16T19:19:22+00:00

UPDATE possible solution: Try OneDrive's bundled reset script https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/reset-onedrive-34701e00-bf7b-42db-b960-84905399050c 

Wasn't sure where to post this since there's no OneDrive topic.

I’m using OneDrive insider preview 21.225.1031.0005 on macOS 12.0.1, M1 MacBook Pro. Even when I am not interacting with any files in the OneDrive folder, OneDrive regularly has several seconds of 200+% CPU usage. Immediately after, fileproviderd has long periods of 90% CPU use. This is lousy for battery life. I found at least one mention on Twitter of the same thing. The OneDrive CPU activity is likely not new, but I presume fileproviderd is new with the new OS.

I have 15,000 files synced with 12,000 set to “always keep on this device”. (My account has one very large folder that is excluded from syncing.) I watched a couple times and saw that OneDrive app activity triggered about 2 minutes of fileproviderd activity. Since the OneDrive app often has activity even when I’m not doing anything, this means fileproviderd runs *a lot*.

When this happens, Console shows hundreds of lines like these (in big groups of similar lines; these samples did not come next to each other): 

default 09:31:09.436927-0800 fileproviderd ✍️  FP snapshot mutation: update<s:16420 p:16357 n:"a{59}m.jpg" doc sz:9456 m:rwx%<0> ct:1569351878.0 mt:1569351879.0 v:sver:{blob142} cver:{blob139} nsattr:<cap:rwdpf-e- ul:uploaded deco:<com.microsoft.OneDrive.FileProviderBadges.Pinned.Shared> userInfo:<21 keys>>> diffs:structure why:item changed

info 09:31:09.443150-0800 fileproviderd ✍️  reconciliation update:     <fs:✅  docID(6521) content:watch sver:fileID(46661205)/b{38}m.jpg cver:46662408@2:sz:165242> <-> <fp:✅  16288 content:watch sver:{blob142} cver:{blob139}> doc sched:utility#1637083869.443043 rank:1637083696518411264

info 09:31:09.615397-0800 fileproviderd ┏333ca  �� trigger: <private>

info 09:31:10.044795-0800 fileproviderd item changed <FPItem 0x1209be840:16603 f:"b{82}m.jpg" p:16582 sz:131 KB cap:rwet bt:1569351583 mt:1569351584 mode:rwx-- uti:public.jpeg ul:uploaded dl:fault>, rules: []

They all seem to refer to nonsense file name strings like a{59}m.jpg and b{82}m.jpg. Those names do not exist in my OneDrive.

I would most like to know if this is a Microsoft problem or whether I should open an Apple bug report.

Microsoft 365 Insider | Install, activate, and update | MacOS

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

53 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2022-07-28T14:29:26+00:00

    I came across App Tamer on another forum - and it has solved the problem largely for now. Once you start App Tamer - the culprit processes take a couple of minutes to appear as CPU hogs - you can then limit their CPU usage to 'under x %' - I have gone with 15% and the laptop is back to being usable now.

    While that helps, it does not solve the underlying problem with the OneDrive app.

    This is in the morning after reboot it last night before going to bed. How is it that OneDrive File Provider and fileproviderd are constantly using CPU throughout the whole night? (Yes, the initial sync was done weeks ago.)

    Was this answer helpful?

    6 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2022-06-09T09:54:35+00:00

    Same issue here - fileproviderd is a 100% CPU time and slows my entire system down. Anyone found a solution to this?

    Was this answer helpful?

    6 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2022-08-30T03:06:41+00:00

    The problem is not solely from OneDrive: macOS Monterey is the accomplice. Monterey now requires OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive etc. to use the "File Provider" for streaming. OneDrive must have been not accustomed to this transition, with bugs all around.

    Even after completely deleting OneDrive, "fileproviderd" will still appear like a ghost, eating up all cpu resources. My solution is:

    1. open terminal, type: 
      fileproviderctl check

    In my case, I can see "FPCK for OneDrive-..." with two ❌, and "FPCK for Google Drive-..." with two green ✔️. So the problem must be from OneDrive, not Google Drive.

    1. then type: 
      fileproviderctl domain list

    In my case, I see OneDrive, Google Drive, and iCloud Drive are listed.

    1. finally, type: 
      fileproviderctl domain remove OneDrive

    After a while, terminal shows me that the domain of OneDrive is deleted.

    And FINALLY, the STUPID "fileproviderd" caused by OneDrive calms down.

    Was this answer helpful?

    5 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2022-06-25T20:10:10+00:00

    Till now no fix from Microsoft? such a **** software.

    I killed onedrive app and also fileproviderd process too, however fileproviderd process again keep coming back and eats up 100% CPU. My fan is on.

    Was this answer helpful?

    5 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2022-04-14T11:00:17+00:00

    This keeps being an issue even though after a reboot it settles eventually and stops using resources, it just now performed an update of OneDrive and - whilst the update takes about 30 seconds - a restart of the two OneDrive processes makes my Mac unusable for a number of minutes.

    And even though OneDrive says 'your files are synced', it keeps on using a lot of resources:

    Was this answer helpful?

    4 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments