macOS processes

What are findmydeviced and searchpartyd on Mac?

findmydeviced is the Find My Mac daemon. searchpartyd is another Find My daemon that Apple does not describe.

Process: findmydevicedProcess: searchpartydApplies to: macOS 15 Sequoia and later for the Saved to iCloud path. Seen on macOS 27.2.Checked: 29 October 2026

Where you see it

findmydeviced is in the list in Activity Monitor › Network, in nettop or in Kilobat.
A firewall or network monitor asks if findmydeviced can connect.
searchpartyd shows small traffic too.

What it is

The man page says: “findmydeviced is the daemon for Find My Mac.” It has no options.

The searchpartyd man page says only that it is a daemon. Apple documents nothing more.

Why it uses the network

Find My Mac. To show the Mac in Find My, the daemon reports to Apple.
searchpartyd. Apple does not document its network use. Measure it with the steps below.

Is it normal?

Yes, if Find My Mac is on. The traffic is small.

See how much it uses

Open Activity Monitor from Applications > Utilities. Click Network.
Type findmydeviced 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 findmydeviced -P
```
Do the same for searchpartyd.

Reduce or pause it safely

Keep Find My Mac on. It helps you find a lost or stolen Mac.
To turn it off, choose Apple menu > System Settings. Click your name, then iCloud.
Click See All, click Find My Mac, then click Turn Off. Apple says that this also removes Activation Lock.
Do not quit findmydeviced in Activity Monitor. It is part of macOS, and other features depend on it.

With Kilobat

Open the Kilobat app list and search for findmydeviced. Its row shows the live rate and the bytes it moved.
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 findmydeviced day
```
Through MCP, an AI agent gets the same history with get_app_bandwidth and the name findmydeviced.
The live view is free. History in the app needs Pro. Kilobat records history only while the app runs.

Questions

Does Find My need Location Services?

Yes. Apple's guide says that Find My Mac needs Location Services.

Sources

findmydeviced(8) and searchpartyd(8), man page installed with macOS 27.2
Apple Support: Turn off Find My on your devices and items
Apple Support: Control access to the location of your Mac
nettop(1), man page installed with macOS 27.2

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