Mac is great and powerful platform among computer users. It offers very user friendly interface and any one can easily adopt to it. Though Mac is most secured, powerful and user-friendly platform, There are certain issues which irritate users while using Mac. Among those, Mds_Stores and its high CPU consumption issue is the most prominent one. In this article, We will explain what is mds_stores? and how to fix mds_stores consuming high CPU issue?
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WHAT IS MDS_STORES?
MDS stands for MetaData Server. Mds_stores is process for Apple’s Spotlight feature. Spotlight is the extensive search feature for Mac devices. This in-built feature allows us to search for any file or folder on hard disk by its name. Spotlight indexes all the file’s and folder’s directories though mds_stores process. So, this process is very essential for spotlight to function efficiently.
One can access Spotlight simply by pressing Command + Space bar simultaneously. You can observe Spotlight’s icon on top right corner of the screen. If the spotlight is indexing files on main hard drive, It will dot at the center of magnifying glass.
If you tap on magnifying glass, It will show you all details like how much percentage of indexation is completed and how much time it will take to complete the remaining indexation process.
QUESTIONS RELATED TO MDS_STORES
1. What is mdworker? Is there any relation between mdworker and mds_stores?
mdworker and mds_stores both are part of spotlight search function. One is front end process and another one is back end process. But both are essentially part Spotlight. So, Answer is Yes. They inter-related to one another.
2. How long does Spotlight and mds_sores takes to complete indexing?
We can’t give a generalized statement on how long it takes to complete the process as it depends on various factors at various levels. Here are the some of core factors influencing indexing time.
- Frequency of changing file on Hard drive.
- Size of Hard Disk.
- Time from last indexing.
- Amount of data being indexed.
- Resources of your Mac device (Like RAM, Processor capacity, etc).
These are only core factors. There many factors influencing the indexation time. So, If you mac device has sufficient resources (Sufficient RAM and average processor), It will won’t take more that 45 minutes.
3. Is it possible to disable Spotlight indexing?
Yes. Its very much possible. But, if you disable Spotlight indexing process, You won’t be able to use Spotlight search function until you re-enable and re-index the hard drive.
This information is just to let you know about mds_stores, Spotlight, their relationship, and their functionality. Now we will go ahead and look into actual issues associated with mds _ stores process.
mds_stores PROCESS CONSUMING HIGH CPU USAGE ON MAC
Some times, It may so happen that Your Mac might be performing very low and fans of your Mac device are running at high speeds. This situation happens when one of the process on your mac consuming high CPU resources. In this scenario we want to know which program is causing the issue and stop it. Well, how to know which program is consuming high CPU resources on mac? Simply open activity monitor on Mac device. It will show you all programs running along with resources usage.
In many cases, The issue turned out to be mds_stores consuming high CPU resource usage. It will consume up to 100% of CPU resources and causing mac device to slow down. Sometimes it will freeze and crash the system.
Is there a solution to fix mds_stores consuming high CPU usage issue? There are basically two working methods to fix the issue.
HOW TO FIX mds_stores CONSUMING HIGH CPU USAGE?
For any issue issue related to computers, First and foremost step we need to do is, Restarting. In my experience, 60% of the PC problems (regarding software) will be fixed automatically when we restart the computer. So, go ahead and restart your Mac device to fix mds_stores consuming high CPU usage issue. If restarting won’t resolve the issue, try two working methods given below.
1. REMOVING SOME PATHS FROM SPOTLIGHT’S INDEXING
There are certain directories in our computer constantly changing the content of it. We may be adding some files to existing folder or deleting some files. If there is change is any directory, Spotlight will eventually go ahead search for new changes. It won’t index changes directly from modified directory instead Spotlight start indexing enter drive again. It will become headache when spotlight start running for small changes. So, the ideas here is, We will expect some directories (Frequently updated list) from Spotlight indexing list.
Follow the simple instructions given below to exempt some directories from Spotlight indexing. It will eventually fix mds_stores consuming high CPU resource issue on Mac automatically.
- Delete the entire Spotlight existing database. Go to Applications>>Utilities. Open Terminal. Copy the command given below and Paste in Terminal and Hit Enter.
sudo rm -rf /.Spotlight-V100/*
- Restart the device. Let re-indexing takes place. As told before, re-indexing will take lot of time.
- To remove directories which change their content frequently from indexing, Go to System Preference, click on Privacy tab and Drag-and-drop the directory.
- Restart the device one again.
Now we exempted a particular directory from Spotlight indexing list. As there won’t be much changed in hard drive, mds_stores will eventually consume less resources. This should fix mds_stores consuming high CPU usage on Mac.
2. DISABLE SPOTLIGHT
If you are a frequent user of Spotlight, Its better to disable it. Please remember, Once we disable it, We won’t be able to this search feature until we re-enable the Spotlight and re-index the directories. Disabling spotlight will stop Spotlight and which will automatically resolve mds_stores consuming high CPU resource issue.
Follow the instruction given below to disable Spotlight.
- Open Terminal on your Mac. You can find it in Applications>>Utilities. Copy the command given below and paste it on Terminal window and Hit Enter.
sudo mdutil -a -i off
- Now Restart the device. Spotlight is disabled successfully.
If you want to enable it at any time, Copy the command given below and paste in on Terminal and hit Enter.
sudo mdutil -a -i on
Though Spotlight is a very useful features, It will some times cause mds_stores consuming high CPU usage issue on Mac devices. The two methods given above will fix the issue. If you have any issues, Please comment below.
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