Help · Is it safe to delete?
What are mediaanalysisd and photoanalysisd?
These macOS processes analyse your photo library in the background, so you can search for things in photos and see People and Memories. On big libraries they can run for a long time.
Can you stop or delete them? No. They're part of macOS and Photos. Their work is what makes Photos search work.
Why they're busy
The photoanalysisd manual page says it handles background processing of photo libraries for Memories, People and scene or object search. 9to5Mac saw mediaanalysisd at 50 to 150% CPU on macOS 26.5 while analysing a photo library. People have also reported its cache growing very large, though Apple doesn't document where it is, so we don't suggest deleting it.
What to do
- Leave your Mac plugged in and awake overnight with Photos closed, so analysis can finish.
- After a macOS update or importing many photos, expect it to run again for a while.
- If storage is the problem, see moving your Photos library to an external drive.
Sources: macOS photoanalysisd manual page; 9to5Mac, 3 Jun 2026; Michael Tsai, 7 Jul 2025. Checked October 2026.
Find out what's safe to remove.
Pangalin Space Manager's free scan shows what's using your disk, folder by folder, and labels each item: safe to clean, can move, or needs review. macOS's own files are marked so you don't delete what your Mac needs.
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