What is imagent on a Mac? The Messages and FaceTime agent
What the imagent process does in macOS, why it can use CPU or memory, and whether you can stop it.
What is imagent?
imagent runs messaging for Messages and FaceTime in the background, sending and receiving messages and attachments.
Why is imagent using CPU or memory?
It is busy while Messages syncs history from iCloud or downloads attachments, which can be large.
Can I stop imagent?
Quitting Messages does not stop it fully. Let a sync finish, or turn off Messages in iCloud if you do not need history on the Mac.
Messages attachments taking up space covers the storage side.
Common questions
Is imagent safe on a Mac?
Yes. It is part of macOS. imagent runs messaging for Messages and FaceTime in the background, sending and receiving messages and attachments..
Can I quit imagent?
Quitting Messages does not stop it fully.