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What is bluetoothd on a Mac, and how to reset it when Bluetooth misbehaves

bluetoothd runs every Bluetooth connection. It used 0.2% CPU and 12 MB on our Mac. Why it spikes, and how to restart it without restarting the Mac.

4 min read

What is bluetoothd?

bluetoothd is the Bluetooth daemon. Every connection, from a keyboard to AirPods, and the Bluetooth side of AirDrop and Handoff, goes through it. It lives at /usr/sbin/bluetoothd and runs as root. On our Mac it used 0.2% CPU and 12 MB.

How do I restart Bluetooth from Terminal?

sudo pkill bluetoothd

macOS starts it again within seconds and devices reconnect. Your Bluetooth keyboard and mouse drop for that moment, so run it with a wired or built in keyboard to hand. It fixes most stuck connections without a restart.

Why is bluetoothd using CPU?

  • Many devices connected or nearby, scanning constantly.
  • Audio streaming to headphones, especially switching between music and call modes.
  • A device that keeps disconnecting and reconnecting.
  • Interference from USB 3 devices or hubs close to the Mac.

Remove devices you no longer use in System Settings, Bluetooth. Fewer paired devices means less work.

See it live

Free Mac's System tab ranks every process by processor use and energy impact, once a second, and marks the ones macOS will not let you quit as protected. See also sharingd and rapportd.

Related: chronod and tccd.

Common questions

What is bluetoothd on a Mac?

The macOS Bluetooth daemon. It runs every Bluetooth connection, as root.

How do I restart bluetoothd?

Run sudo pkill bluetoothd. macOS restarts it within seconds and devices reconnect.

Why is bluetoothd using CPU?

Many devices, audio streaming, a device reconnecting in a loop, or interference from nearby USB 3 devices.

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