We're making changes to the Community, so you may have received some notifications - thanks for your patience and welcome back. Learn more here.

Forum Discussion

jpworkman's avatar
jpworkman
Helpful | Level 5
4 years ago

DropboxMacUpdate using 98-100% of CPU%

I am currently running macOS Big Sur 11.4 on a MacBook Pro (15-inch 2016) 2.9 GHz and 16GB memory.   I currently use the Dropbox desktop app and have my Smart Sync set to ON.  All of my files are 'Up to Date' and no syncing is occurring at the moment.

 

I have the Activity Monitor open and can see that everything is running normal until I launch Dropbox app, then while the Dropbox App itself stays below 1% CPU usage, the 'DropboxMacUpdate' goes to between 98-100% of CPU usage and just stays there.  My fan then kicks in and runs constantly and the computer slows way down and sometimes then freezes requiring a restart.  The Dropbox app continues to use significant battery as well.

 

Please help!

Desktop
Mac
Setting up the apps
  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    4 years ago
    I hope you're doing great jpworkman! 

    It seems you're using the Beta version of our app, which could be causing a higher usage of CPU.

    Go into your account settings on the Dropbox website and turn Early releases off.

    After that, install one of the stable builds of the Dropbox application.
  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    4 years ago
    Hey jpworkman, thanks for posting today! 

    Could you please look at this Help Center article to see what might be causing your CPU to malfunction?

    Let me know what you find. 
    • jpworkman's avatar
      jpworkman
      Helpful | Level 5
      4 years ago

      Lori,

       

      I have gone through that list and none of the 7 items apply or resolve the issue.

       

      As a note, I just tried fully rebooting again and did not open any applications except the Activity Monitor.  DB was not open or running.  The Activity Monitor showed everything normal.  Then I launch Dropbox, and within less than a minute the DropboxMacUpdate began using 98-99% of the % CPU.  No other applications were opened for this test, only the regular system operations, but nothing else changed their usage drastically either.

       

      Is there anything specific I can share to help figure out what the problem is?

      • Megan's avatar
        Megan
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        4 years ago
        Hey jpworkman, thanks for all the additional info! 

        Can you try fixing the permissions of your Dropbox folder as shown here? 

        Does this help?

About Apps and Installations

Have a question about a Dropbox app or installation? Reach out to the Dropbox Community and get solutions, help, and advice from members.

Need more support

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!