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

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  1. 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.

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-08-30T13:39:48+00:00

    But after the

    fileproviderctl domain remove OneDrive

    you can not/do not use OneDrive anymore, right?

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-08-30T13:49:14+00:00

    Not doubting your findings here, but I am still on Catalina 10.15.7 and OneDrive is destroying my CPU. I bought AppTamer at the suggestion of another reply and it's the only thing that has saved me - I have OneDrive capped at 15% CPU usage, and without it OneDrive is over 200% all day long.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-08-30T13:52:28+00:00

    But after the

    fileproviderctl domain remove OneDrive

    you can not/do not use OneDrive anymore, right?

    Yeah, I think so. I deleted OneDrive and have no plans of coming back, at least in the foreseeable future given the buggy app and the nonresponsiveness of Microsoft.

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-08-30T17:51:56+00:00

    After syncing with OneDrive the process still runs at 100% cpu time for me so when Im finished syncing the files I need it is sufficient to kill the fileprovider process.

    To do this I find the pid of the process either with "ps aux" in the terminal(it should show up at the top" or in activity monitor

    Then I type "kill -s QUIT <pid>" in the terminal and it shuts up until I need to use OneDrive again.

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