macOS processes

What are appstoreagent and appstored on Mac?

appstoreagent and appstored support the App Store. App downloads and app updates show under them, not under the App Store app.

Process: appstoreagentProcess: appstoredProcess: storedownloaddApplies to: All current macOS versions. Seen on macOS 27.2.Checked: 29 October 2026

Where you see it

appstoreagent is in the list in Activity Monitor › Network, in nettop or in Kilobat.
A firewall or network monitor asks if appstoreagent can connect.
appstored moves a lot of data while the App Store app is closed.

What it is

The man pages call appstoreagent the “App Store support agent” and appstored the “App Store support daemon”. Both are in the AppStoreDaemon framework of macOS.

Kilobat also counts storedownloadd as an App Store download service. Apple does not document storedownloadd in a man page.

Why it uses the network

App updates. With automatic updates on, the App Store updates apps on its own.
App downloads. Apps that you get or download again from the App Store.
Store checks. The App Store also checks your purchases and updates.

Is it normal?

Yes. Bursts of traffic when apps update are usual. Large apps can be several gigabytes.

See how much it uses

Open Activity Monitor from Applications > Utilities. Click Network.
Type appstored in the search field. The Sent Bytes and Rcvd Bytes columns show what it moved.
In Terminal, watch only this process. Press d to show the change per second, and q to quit.
```
nettop -p appstored -P
```
Do the same for appstoreagent and storedownloadd.

Reduce or pause it safely

Open the App Store. Choose App Store > Settings.
Turn off Automatic Updates. The App Store then shows updates, and you install them when you choose.
To update an app now, click Updates in the sidebar of the App Store.
Do not quit appstored in Activity Monitor. It is part of macOS, and other features depend on it.

With Kilobat

Open the Kilobat app list and search for appstored. Its row shows the live rate and the bytes it moved.
Kilobat puts this service in the System downloads group, with one line about what it does. Expand the group to see each service.
With the network filter on, click the service. The panel names the apps that the downloads were for, for example “For Music”.
Without the filter, macOS shows only the service. Then Kilobat cannot say which app a download was for.
In Terminal, see the same live list. Press / and type the name to search.
```
kilobat status --watch
```
Show its traffic over one day. Names match kilobat report --summary.
```
kilobat bandwidth appstored day
```
Through MCP, an AI agent gets the same history with get_app_bandwidth and the name appstored.
With Pro and the network filter, Kilobat pauses this updater on metered networks. The app keeps working. See Stop updates from using hotspot data.
```
kilobat updaters
```
The live view is free. History in the app needs Pro. Kilobat records history only while the app runs.

Questions

Do apps from the App Store update with Software Update?

No. App Store apps update in the App Store. macOS updates use Software Update.

Why does a download continue after I close the App Store?

The download runs in appstored, not in the App Store app. It continues until it is complete or you pause it.

Sources

appstoreagent(8) and appstored(8), man page installed with macOS 27.2
Apple Support: How to manually update apps from the App Store
Apple Support: Use Apple products on enterprise networks
nettop(1), man page installed with macOS 27.2
Kilobat docs: System downloads

Sources checked on 29 October 2026. Man pages are the ones installed with macOS; open one with man <name> in Terminal.