--- title: "findmydeviced and searchpartyd: what they are, and whether to block them · Kilobat" url: "https://kilobat.app/processes/findmydeviced" description: "findmydeviced is the Find My Mac daemon, and searchpartyd is another Find My daemon. What their traffic is, and what breaks if you block them." --- Security and accounts # What is findmydeviced? `findmydeviced` is the Find My Mac daemon. `searchpartyd` is another Find My daemon; its man page says only that it is a daemon. Apple Platform Security describes how Find My works. Process: `findmydeviced` · Also seen as: `searchpartyd` · Made by Apple · Applies to: macOS 14 Sonoma and later. Checked on macOS 27.2. · Checked: 1 November 2026 ## Short answer Part of macOS. findmydeviced runs Find My Mac. searchpartyd is another Find My daemon that Apple doesn't describe in its man page. Block with care Blocking them can stop Find My from locating this Mac. Keep Find My on if you want to find a lost or stolen Mac. Path `/usr/libexec/findmydeviced` `/usr/libexec/searchpartyd` launchd label `com.apple.icloud.findmydeviced` `com.apple.icloud.searchpartyd` Signing identifier `com.apple.icloud.findmydeviced` `com.apple.icloud.searchpartyd` ## 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, with no configuration options. Both run from `/usr/libexec` with launchd labels under `com.apple.icloud`. Apple Platform Security says that an online device reports its location to the owner through iCloud. Find My also works offline. A missing device sends Bluetooth signals that nearby Apple devices relay to iCloud, end-to-end encrypted. ## Why it uses the network - **Find My Mac.** To show the Mac in Find My, the Mac reports to Apple through iCloud. - **Offline finding.** Apple says that any Mac with offline finding on can act as a finder device. It reports an approximate, encrypted location of nearby missing devices to iCloud. ## How much is normal With Find My Mac on, the traffic is small. Apple says that the traffic from finder devices carries no authentication information. Apple doesn't know who found a device or whose device was found. Apple doesn't document `searchpartyd`'s own network use. Measure it with the steps below. ## When it uses a lot, and why - **Not documented as heavy.** Apple documents no large transfers for Find My. Location reports and relays are small. ## Is it safe to block? Block with care Blocking them can stop Find My from locating this Mac. Keep Find My on if you want to find a lost or stolen Mac. What breaks if you block it - Find My may not show this Mac's location, so a lost or stolen Mac is harder to find. - This Mac may stop helping to find other people's missing devices. - Apple doesn't document all of `searchpartyd`'s work, so other Find My features may be affected. Blocking means a firewall rule that refuses its connections. Don’t quit or disable a macOS process to save data: macOS starts it again, and other features depend on it. ## Reduce its use 1. Keep Find My Mac on. It helps you find a lost or stolen Mac. 2. To turn it off, choose Apple menu › System Settings. Click your name, then iCloud. 3. Click See All, click Find My Mac, then click Turn Off. Apple says that this also removes Activation Lock. 4. Don't quit these daemons in Activity Monitor. macOS starts them again. ## See how much it uses 1. Open Activity Monitor from Applications › Utilities. Click Network. 2. Type `findmydeviced` in the search field. The Sent Bytes and Rcvd Bytes columns show what it moved since it started. 3. In Terminal, watch only this process. Press d to show the change per second, and q to quit. ``` nettop -p 'findmydeviced' -P ``` ## With Kilobat 1. In the Kilobat app list, search for `findmydeviced`. Its row shows the live rate and what it moved today. 2. In Connections, click the ⓘ button on one of its rows. The popover shows this page’s short answer, without going online. 3. In Terminal, ask the same question. Add `--json` for scripts and agents. ``` kilobat explain 'findmydeviced' ``` 4. Show its traffic over one day. ``` kilobat bandwidth 'findmydeviced' day ``` 5. Through MCP, an AI agent asks `explain_connection` with the process name. It gets the same facts. The live view and the explanations are free. History in the app needs Kilobat Pro. Blocking needs Pro and the network filter: see the [network filter](https://kilobat.app/docs/blocking#filtering), [Protection](https://kilobat.app/docs/blocking#protection) and the [hotspot data saver](https://kilobat.app/save-hotspot-data). ## What isn’t documented The `searchpartyd` man page doesn't say what it does. Apple Platform Security describes Find My, but doesn't name the daemons. ## Questions **Does Find My need Location Services?** Yes. Apple's guide says that Find My Mac needs Location Services. **Can someone track me through offline finding?** Apple says that the broadcast key changes about every 15 minutes, so a device can't be followed by a fixed identifier. ## Sources - findmydeviced(8) and searchpartyd(8), man pages installed with macOS 27.2 - launchd property lists com.apple.icloud.findmydeviced and com.apple.icloud.searchpartyd, macOS 27.2 - [Apple Platform Security: Find My security](https://support.apple.com/guide/security/find-my-security-sec6cbc80fd0/web) - [Apple Support: Turn off Find My on your devices and items](https://support.apple.com/guide/icloud/remove-devices-and-items-from-find-my-mmdc23b125f6/icloud) - [Apple Support: Control access to the location of your Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/allow-apps-to-see-the-location-of-your-mac-mh35873/mac) Checked on 1 November 2026. ## Related - [locationd](https://kilobat.app/processes/locationd): Part of macOS. It runs Location Services, finding where the Mac is for the apps you allowed. - [akd](https://kilobat.app/processes/akd): Part of macOS, not documented by Apple. It is the AuthKit daemon, and its launchd services cover Apple Account sign-in and Sign in with Apple.