See high CPU usage from the “kernel_task” process on the Mac? Learn how to solve this problem.
When the computer starts to run slowly. If you’ve closed everything you can and everything on your Mac still feels particularly stuck, this is likely a sign that kernel_task is causing high CPU usage.
On the Mac, kernel_task is the name of various low-level functions that allow the rest of the computer to work. That means identifying culprits may be difficult.
We’ve seen a lot of this, so we have some tips to help you get out of this problem.
Diagnose slow MAC
If your Mac looks slow and hot, or sounds like it’s about to take off because of the high fan speed, you need to turn on the Activity Monitor and find out why. This is essentially the Windows Task Manager for MacOS.
You can use Spotlight to turn on the activity monitor: just click Cmd + Space and start typing “activity”, and it pops up. You can also find it under Applications > Utilities, and you may want to pin it to the Dock for faster access in the event of a major problem.
The reason for the slowness of the computer should be visible in the CPU TAB. Simply click on the % CPU column header to organize running processes by processor usage. Anything that uses a lot of processing power will appear at the top; These will move around as your computer performs various tasks in the background.
High CPU usage is usually just a problem when you don’t expect it. If you’re running a game, watching a video in a browser, or editing a video, it’s reasonable to expect your machine to consume resources. If a single Safari TAB or Mac process is used more than its fair share, it usually means something is wrong.
Why is kernel_task the culprit?
You can terminate most processes by clicking on them, then clicking X in the upper left corner of the screen. Unfortunately, you cannot do this for one particular process: KERNEL_TASK. The reason for this is that kernel_task is actually part of MacOS.
This is not so much a single process as a series of processes under a label. As you work, MacOS performs various tasks in the background. These include sending and receiving data over the network, writing and reading data to disk, and indexing new folders or disks for Spotlight searches.
This process typically uses a large amount of available RAM on the Memory TAB. While the amount of RAM in use will rise and fall as needed, high CPU usage can bring your entire system to a standstill and even cause a system crash.
So, how do you prevent kernel_task from adversely affecting Mac performance?
A simple solution to the kernel_task problem
In many cases, simply restarting the Mac will fix the problem immediately. However, this is not a permanent long-term solution if you have been running into the problem for a while. This is only a short-term solution that should provide immediate results.
Whatever caused the CPU usage spike could come back. Therefore, if you encounter repeated events, you may also want to try to reset the System Management Controller (SMC). This is easy to do and can solve various MacOS issues.
Instructions for resetting SMC are slightly different depending on the Mac model you are using. Because it can solve so many problems, we have a complete guide detailing how to reset a Mac’s SMC. It also includes resetting your PAM, which is another part of the Mac that can cause multiple problems.
Other solutions to the high CPU usage of kernel_task
The most obvious fix for any operating-system-related problem is probably to update to the latest version of MacOS. Simply launch System Preferences, click Software Update, and run any outstanding Apple Software updates.
Another common reason for the high CPU usage of the Kernel_task process is Adobe Flash. Gone are the days when Flash was essential for Web browsing, but you may still need it to access a specific Web application or Web site.
Instead of having Flash installed all the time, you can use a browser like Google Chrome, which offers Flash (though it is optional). Chances are, you don’t need Flash at all, so you can safely remove it. In addition, since Adobe will no longer support Flash as of December 31, 2020, you will not be able to receive important security updates.
Removing it is vital – at least for security reasons. To remove Flash, run Adobe Flash Player Installation Manager and click Uninstall.
Take an in-depth look at the Mac’s high kernel_task CPU utilization
Some have had success removing kernel extensions, which are code modules capable of performing low-level tasks. Also known as “Kexts,” the vast majority of these extensions are installed by Apple as part of the core MacOS environment. Some software installs third-party extensions as drivers or to control the hardware
A quick way to check if a third-party KEXT is causing your kernel_task problem is to reboot your machine into safe mode. To do this, reboot the machine and hold down the Shift key while booting. Security mode only loads the required kernel extensions, so if there is no problem in this environment, then there is a problem with the third-party KEXT.
To learn more about this, restart the system and start Terminal as usual. Then, run the following command:
kextstat
This shows which kernel extensions are currently loaded. All Apple extensions will look like this:
com.apple.[etc]
Also, the third-party driver will contain the developer name, as shown below:
com.paragon-software.filesystems
Also like this:
ch.tripmode.TripModeNKE
The best way to remove these is to uninstall the related software. For some applications, this simply means moving the application file to the wastepaper basket, and then entering your administrator password to allow changes.
Others might include the PKG unloader file that you need to run. For the rest, go to System Preferences and look for any third-party preferences panels.
Starting with OS X El Capitan, Apple has introduced a new security feature that breaks many third-party modifications. System Integrity Protection, or SIP, prevents applications from injecting code into Apple’s own applications, as well as writing parts of drives that Apple considers important to system security.
This improves system stability, so you should not see this problem in modern versions of MacOS.
Still have high CPU usage? What happens when all else fails
The final solution here is a bit risky: remove Apple’s own kernel extensions. This is not recommended. However, if you have tried everything else and still see Kernel_task causing excessive CPU usage, you may want to try this solution.
Developer and blogger Viktor Petersson has written extensively about Kernel_task and its related issues. In his case, it was most likely caused by an unreliable sound card. Petersson’s initial post focused on Mac OS X Yosemite, though he has since followed up with updates to higher versions of the Mac OS.
We haven’t tested this fix, and we can’t say if it’s right for you. If you are interested in giving it a try, do the following:
Create a backup of your Mac using Time Machine or another backup solution.
Turn off system integrity protection by starting into recovery mode and running the following command from the terminal:
csrutil disable
Do what Victor did. First find the model number of the Mac using the following command:
system_profiler -detailLevel mini | grep “Model Identifier:”
Run the following command:
cd /System/Library/Extensions/IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin.kext/Contents/Resources
Move and back up the files associated with your model. For example, if your identifier is MacBookPro8,2, you will run:
sudo mv MacBookPro8_2.plist MacBookPro8_2.bak
Restarting into recovery mode and enabling system integrity protection again with the following command:
csrutil enable
Again, this is the final solution. Try it only if you are trying to do anything because kernel_task is making the Mac unusable. This is not a short-term solution – it persists even after reinstalling the operating system.
Even so, you’ll need to repeat this process after every major software update or operating system upgrade, because Apple will recover the files you moved.
Fix the Mac Kernel_task Bug
Often, upgrading to a new version of MacOS brings new features and functionality, but it also introduces bugs. This is especially true with older models of hardware that are starting to push their limits.
However, if you only start seeing Kernel_task issues on your Mac after the update, this could be the culprit. Hopefully one of these tips will help you solve the problem and improve the performance of your Mac.