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Dropbox on macOS is using too much RAM while just sitting idle
I checked how much RAM I was using at the moment. The only open apps I have are Safari, HandBrake, Bbedit and Word. Neither of those is using any file hosted on dropbox nor is any app uploading or downloading anything. The only dropbox open process is the one sitting idle in the menu bar.
This is completely unacceptable as any other cloud service app uses at most 55MBs (as of now Google Drive process is using 55.2 MBs and OneDrive, managing two different accounts, is currently using 45MBs).
I'm using an updated macOS version (14.2) on a 2020 M1 MacBook Air. Dropbox app version is 188.4.6302.
20 Replies
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- Megan
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hey there, giobertelli, let's jump right into this!
Do you use the new File Provider version for Dropbox where your Dropbox folder is located in ~/Library/CloudStorage?
If you locate your Dropbox folder, and then select Get Info, how many files do you see in said folder?
I'd also suggest you take a look at this Help Center article.
Let me know more, and we'll take it from there!
Thanks for the help page, but I had already checked it.
I'm nowhere near that 300000 file amount, also because I'm on a free account.
About the Dropbox folder in ~/Library/CloudStorage:
298.409.100 bytes (298,7 MB on disk), 136 items
Current Dropbox RAM usage: 363,6 MBs... It's currently the highest RAM user on my PC at the moment.
- Walter
Hey giobertelli - sorry to jump in here, but did you reboot your computer since you first noticed this?
- Hello, I’ve rebooted the Mac and it still using more than 300MBs of RAM
- Nancy
Hi from me as well, giobertelli! Out of curiosity, did you see an increased CPU usage by Dropbox, after your desktop app was updated to Dropbox for macOS on File Provider (when your local Dropbox folder was moved under ~/Library/CloudStorage basically)?
Can you also clarify what’s the current syncing status of your Dropbox app?
Hello, no I've not noticed any CPU usage problem. In Activity Monitor it's currently using 0,2% of CPU, with a CPU time of 14,83 (I rebooted around an hour ago). RAM usage is still more than 300 MBs as it was in the last days. Don't know about the files being moved Library/CloudStorage as I've restarted using macOS after a few years on Windows only a month ago, so when I installed Dropbox files were already in Library/CloudStorage AFAIK.
Since I logged in a month ago and I only have a Basic account the files are currently saved on my hard disk space and have been synced a month ago. So the app is supposedly using that much RAM by just sitting idle.
Btw, please reconsider the Basic plan as being a local only service on desktop instead of giving access to files on demand! What's the purpose of having a cloud space if I have to keep files on my hard drive? 😅
- Walter
Hey giobertelli - sorry to jump in here, but could you try the latest version of the app from this page and let us know if the issue persists after rebooting your device and quitting and relaunching the desktop app?
Hello. I've updated the app. Unfortunately it's still using around 300 MBs of RAM even on version 189.4.8395
- Hannah
What's the current sync status of the app, when you hover over the Dropbox icon, giobertelli?
Do you see any difference when all your other apps are closed?
- It is simply a Dropbox icon. It is not syncing (or at least it doesn’t say so in the panel), also because the only synced data is around 200MB that I synced last month
