What is spindump on Mac, and why is it using CPU?

What spindump does

Apple's Activity Monitor guide describes Spindump as creating a report for unresponsive apps that were terminated using Force Quit. The built-in man spindump documentation explains the underlying tool: it samples call stacks to describe what processes and threads were doing over an interval.

A call stack records the chain of functions involved in work or a wait. It can help a developer understand where an app stopped responding. It isn't a list of files you should delete, and the presence of a report doesn't identify a failed hardware part by itself.

Spindump is therefore different from an ordinary app you intentionally keep open, and different from a kernel-panic report after a system restart. For the latter, use the unexpected-restart guide.

The system service and executable

On our M2 Max documentation Mac, macOS 27.0.1, read-only checks on 23 October 2026 found the installed executable at:

/usr/sbin/spindump

The installed launch record was /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.spindump.plist, registered in the system service domain. The service was not running during this check; we did not deliberately hang an app or generate a report to start it.

System-launched spindump work normally uses the system/root context. A manually invoked tool can have a different context, so check Activity Monitor › User for the actual process you see. Its CPU percentage, duration and running account were not measured in this documentation check.

The local manual says automatically generated reports can be stored in /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/. Manual invocations can choose other locations. That path is a documented report location, not an instruction to clear every diagnostic file.

Why it can use CPU

Collecting and processing a diagnostic sample is work. Seeing spindump briefly near an app hang is consistent with its documented role. It doesn't mean spindump caused the original hang or that its name indicates malware.

There is no universal “normal CPU percentage” or safe duration established by the sources used here. The useful pattern is whether it finishes, recurs with the same app, or remains associated with a Mac that stays unresponsive.

Keep the timing and trigger together. A repeated report after opening one project gives the app developer a clearer investigation than a screenshot of one busy process without context.

Check the app and process in Activity Monitor

On macOS 15 Sequoia, 26 Tahoe or 27 Golden Gate, open Finder › Applications › Utilities › Activity Monitor. In CPU, use View › All Processes so system-owned work isn't hidden by My Processes.

1. Find spindump and the app that stopped responding. Note which event happened first.
2. Read the User column; use View › Columns to show needed columns.
3. Observe whether the diagnostic activity ends once the hang is over.
4. Save the app name, version, task and approximate time if it recurs.

For other names in the list, see processes you'll see and what they mean. A whole Mac that is slow can have a different bottleneck; use the wider diagnosis rather than assuming the newest process at the top is the root cause.

Investigate a repeated application hang

Save work when possible, quit the affected app normally and reopen it. If it cannot quit, use the normal Force Quit workflow with the understanding that unsaved work can be lost. The frozen-Mac guide explains when to move from an app problem to a whole-system restart.

Check the app's supported macOS version, updates, required plug-ins and the particular file or task. Test one optional add-on at a time when the developer's instructions support that approach. A current app with an outdated plug-in is a different situation from a simple document app that hangs on one file.

Install supported updates and complete a requested restart. If the hang persists, provide the developer with reproducible steps and the appropriate report. Don't repeatedly force quit the same failing workflow while relying on unsaved work.

Use reports deliberately

Activity Monitor's More menu offers diagnostic actions including Sample Process, Spindump and System Diagnostics. Apple distinguishes them: Sample Process takes a short sample of a selected process, while the other reports cover different information.

You don't need to repeatedly create large diagnostic reports merely because a process name looks unfamiliar. If Apple Support or the app developer asks for one, follow their requested method and share it through their intended support channel.

Review a report before publishing it. Diagnostic material can contain process names, identifiers, paths and details of the working environment. A report useful to support isn't automatically suitable for a public forum.

Don't delete or permanently disable spindump

Removing its executable or unloading the service in a loop doesn't fix the app that keeps hanging. It can remove evidence needed to diagnose that app. There is no reason to turn off System Integrity Protection to edit this diagnostic component.

If the system remains unresponsive after the affected apps are closed and a normal restart, seek Apple help with the observed pattern. If the Mac cannot be controlled, use the forced-restart instructions as a recovery step, then investigate recurrence.

Tend's system-process boundary

Tend's free app list includes processes running in your account. A root-owned spindump isn't listed by name there; system work remains part of the overall macOS share. Tend can show the user app's CPU, memory and estimated watts before a hang, but its period totals aren't a spindump report or a full trace of the freeze.

Questions

Related guides

Sources

Sources checked 23 October 2026. These are documented steps and specifications; no repair, installation or performance test was run for this guide.

• Apple, Run system diagnostics in Activity Monitor
• Apple, Process views and columns
• Apple, Quit a process in Activity Monitor
• Apple, Force an app to quit
• macOS, man spindump and the installed system launch record, read-only checks on 23 October 2026; no diagnostic report generated.

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