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thinhpham

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 27, 2014
29
4
Hi all,

I've recently realized that the kernel_task process (I don't know what it is) is having huge numbers in disk usage, over 10 gigs of bytes written!

Screen Shot 2017-01-19 at 11.58.51 PM.png


The question is: What is this? Is that bad? And how to fix?

Thank you,
 

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,489
16,217
California
Totally normal and nothing is wrong. kernel_task is a core part of the OS that is sort of like the traffic police for many different processes. So apps that write to the disk do it through kernel_task.

Here is mine from a moment ago.

Screen Shot 2017-01-19 at 11.19.11 AM.png
 

thinhpham

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 27, 2014
29
4
Totally normal and nothing is wrong. kernel_task is a core part of the OS that is sort of like the traffic police for many different processes. So apps that write to the disk do it through kernel_task.

Here is mine from a moment ago.

View attachment 684470

So where does it write the data to? The startup disk or whatever disk drive is being used? I found this significant number while downloading video files from the internet but saved to an external drive.
 

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,489
16,217
California
So where does it write the data to? The startup disk or whatever disk drive is being used? I found this significant number while downloading video files from the internet but saved to an external drive.
Any disk writes get logged there, either internal or external.
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,279
13,378
OP:

Do you use Spotify, by any chance?

I recall reading that it can write many gb per day, for no particular reason at all.
 
OP:

Do you use Spotify, by any chance?

I recall reading that it can write many GB per day, for no particular reason at all.

Hi, how do you think, it's ok with 5 days uptime. In my computer kernel_task can write up to 1tb per week. And yes, I use Spotify, but they were fixed the bug.

Upd: I found out the reason. Lack of RAM. I have 8gb, but it is not enough for stable work. MAC OS use swap and write a lot of data to him.
 

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Last edited:

lauramc

macrumors newbie
May 22, 2018
1
1
Hi all,

I've recently realized that the kernel_task process (I don't know what it is) is having huge numbers in disk usage, over 10 gigs of bytes written!

View attachment 684460

The question is: What is this? Is that bad? And how to fix?

Thank you,
[doublepost=1527003674][/doublepost]I tried all the things for months to fix the issue. The solution that finally worked for me was clearing the system/app cache. I moved all the files/folders to another folder and rebooted.
https://macpaw.com/how-to/clear-cache-on-mac
 
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IDon'tKnow

macrumors newbie
Feb 24, 2021
2
0
Totally normal and nothing is wrong. kernel_task is a core part of the OS that is sort of like the traffic police for many different processes. So apps that write to the disk do it through kernel_task.

Here is mine from a moment ago.

View attachment 684470
Hy,

I think I got a big problem. My bytes written by kernel_task is 95.36GB and is still growing bigger. My bytes read is 10.01GB. If I see what you guys got I think mine is not normal. I have a Macbook Pro Retina 15-inch 2015. I had to set my macbook on fabric mode because he couldn't do an update to big sur. Now he is on big sur and my mac can't handle Adobe Photoshop. And before i got problems my mac runed without a problem Adobe After Effects etc. So I thought, maybe something is very wrong. What could I do?
 

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chrfr

macrumors G5
Jul 11, 2009
13,729
7,306
Hy,

I think I got a big problem. My bytes written by kernel_task is 95.36GB and is still growing bigger. My bytes read is 10.01GB. If I see what you guys got I think mine is not normal. I have a Macbook Pro Retina 15-inch 2015. I had to set my macbook on fabric mode because he couldn't do an update to big sur. Now he is on big sur and my mac can't handle Adobe Photoshop. And before i got problems my mac runed without a problem Adobe After Effects etc. So I thought, maybe something is very wrong. What could I do?
I don't know what fabric mode is but you may find more useful information by looking at the CPU and Memory tabs in Activity Monitor. You will see high kernel_task usage if the computer is overheating or if the battery in the computer has failed. Kernel_task exists to keep the computer cool or to prevent it from drawing too much power.
 

IDon'tKnow

macrumors newbie
Feb 24, 2021
2
0
I don't know what fabric mode is but you may find more useful information by looking at the CPU and Memory tabs in Activity Monitor. You will see high kernel_task usage if the computer is overheating or if the battery in the computer has failed. Kernel_task exists to keep the computer cool or to prevent it from drawing too much power.
Sorry I meant factory mode but couldn't get the right word. Yes I know. The problem is that I go to school to be graphic designer. And normally my pc runs photoshop etc very good, Premier pro and after effect can run slow or freeze but since that incident with my macbook. Photoshop is running very slow. I can see my frames when I replace a layer. It's very slow and that is my big concern. Normally this macbook should run everything normal. But as I said since the problem i got and installed Big Sur. My macbook is so slow so I thought I'm gonna look to CPU and RAM usage but that was all fine
 

Enjoylife1788

macrumors 6502a
Aug 22, 2011
827
111
I have a similar problem with MAC OS 12.1 on M1 Macbook Air. I don't know what needs to be done to resolve it.
 
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