(OS X) Dropbox consuming a lot of CPU whenever any file or folder is changed anywhere

[Dave H.]

On my OS X 10.9.5 system I'm seeing Dropbox consume CPU whenever anything on the file system changes, regardless of whether the changed files or folders are in the Dropbox synced folders. The CPU usage is proportionate to the rate of file system changes.

When I'm running an installer that takes a long time and has high disk activity (e.g. installing a documenation update in XCode), then the Dropbox CPU usage goes through the roof and I see the Dropbox sync status change from 'up to date' to 'indexing'. For less sustained activities with less intensive file system changes, I see Dropbox just popup briefly in the list of top CPU consumers -- but it shouldn't be showing up at all (or certainly not at double digit CPU use and not for the duration of the file system activity.

My guess is that Dropbox is simply listening for file system events and reacting to each one as if it might be change in a synced file or folder. It should be ignoring fsevents that are for items outside the Dropbox folders -- but it seems not to be the case. 😞 😞

I'm on 3.0.3, but have been seeing this problem since the 2.* days.

--
Dave Hein

[Dave H.]

Google Drive seems better, but there is one glitch, at least on OS X -- if I turn off my Mac's WiFi (to save battery or avoid unsecured hotspots), the Google Drive pegs one CPU. I always have to remember to quit Google Drive before turning off WiFi or my battery gets drained pretty darn quick. (Yep, I reported to this to Google.)

[Mark B.87]

John H.

thanks for reminding me about Google Drive. I played with my corporate Office365 account bit today and still found OneDrive to be unusable. I'll look into Google Drive again. I did buy more space recently for photos on iCould. I just wish Dropbox would work without brining my Macbook to its knees.

Dave H.,

great tip on using Google Drive with OS X. I'll need to pay attention to my Wifi and Dropbox's use of resources. Basically, I just want "set it and forget it" access to my files online - in addition to my backups in CrashPlan and Time Machine. 

Thanks,

Mark

[dustin h.5]

I5 2.8 Mhrz
12Gb Ram
Win 7 & Mac Os

Changing my computers power profile plans doesn't help.
Drop box is using up at least 50% of my cpu load and setting my CPU clock to max even when I set it to powersaver!!

Going to have to stop using drop box if this continues.

[Kevin P.30]

I love how long this thread's been going on with no official response since Demetrios back in december of last year.

I've noticed that if I quit Dropbox as soon as I login to my machine (OS X 10.10.3, 16gb Ram, Core i7), I'm able to start using my system almost immediately, whereas when I let Dropbox sync the whole thing is laggy for a good 10 minutes.

This is a more-than-capable work machine, so I'm not sure how inefficient DB's code is for this sort of thing to prevent me from getting my work done in the morning.

[Somen S.]

The truth is Dropbox does not give a damn about problems faced by power-users with large file base to start with. They thrive on people uploading pictures 1 - 10 at a time and keep milking them for premium membership. Their deafening silence in this issue is a sign of lack of willingness to put our need in their roadmap since we are already paid members- Newsflash Dropbox you have started SUCKING !!!!

[Patrick M.42]

Seems like a lot of people on OSX here, but I'm having the same issue on Windows. 

I have approx. 66k files (I am using it to synchronize my Atom config folder, so lots of very small config and code files).

Every now and then a few files get changed (say 10 in total, perhaps 7kb each), and Dropbox starts ramping up my i7 CPU for hours, the fan nearly achieving lift-off from the table, finishing its sync eventually after 2 hours in my most recent experience.

I don't understand how syncing a handful of files, a few kb in size, can cause such mayham on a system.

I'm inclined to go back to Google Drive over this. It was very efficient in its usage of resources and synced files more readily and intuitively. I have no clue what the Dropbox client is trying to do most of the time. Clearly not just syncing my files.

Anybody know of any movement on this front from other sources maybe?

[Andrew C.5]

Exactly the same problem for me, file copies elsewhere in file structure and up goes Dropbox to 100% cpu. A problem with long transfers, and presumably in the background all the time. Maybe it's a good sign that this weak behaviour seems so antiquated now.

[Patrick M.42]

So I re-installed Google Drive instead, which had a couple of GB on it. And it synced completely within 20mins.

Dropbox, meanwhile, hasn't finished syncing a few MB since yesterday afternoon, all the while trying via the fan to get my laptop airbourne.

[Ruslan M.]

Same here, over 180% if CPU usage, most energy impacting app. it takes hours to update my file list. This is ridiculous!

[Xavi E.1]

Same problem here, it's always been like this... When Dropbox starts going 100% CPU while doing some work I just quit it and open it again when I'm AFK.

Macbook Air, OSX 10.10.5 (Yosemite)