What is CCXProcess on Mac and how to remove it

Most of us don’t think about what’s going on in the background on our Macs because we don’t need to. As someone once said, ‘It just works.’ However, behind the scenes, there are hundreds of processes launching, running, and quitting so that your Mac can do everything you need it to do. The only time we give any thought to these processes is when something goes wrong like our Mac crashing or running very slowly. And that’s the case with CCXProcess. If your Mac is running as it should, you don’t need to think about it. If not, CCXProcess may be the culprit. In this article, we’ll explain what CCXProcess is, why it might be slowing down your Mac, and what you can do about it.

What is CCXProcess?

CCXProcess is, as you might be able to guess from its name, a component of Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite of applications. Specifically, CCXProcess is responsible for “handling communication between Creative Cloud desktop app and other Creative Cloud products and services,” according to Adobe. Put more simply, it enables synchronization of files, fonts, libraries, and configuration settings between your Mac and Creative Cloud. Some Mac users have noticed that when it runs, their Mac slows down and heats up while its fans speed up. That suggests that a fault with the process is causing it to grab lots of CPU cycles and hog resources. Fortunately, that fault has now been fixed in an update to Creative Cloud, but if you’re running an older version, you may still experience issues.

How to fix problems caused by CCXProcess

The first thing you should do is update Creative Cloud. That should be all you need to do to fix the issues you’re having.

1. Open the Creative Cloud app from your Applications folder.
2. Click the three lines at the left of the menu bar and choose Help.
3. Select Check for Updates.
4. If there is an update available, follow the instructions on the screen to download and install it.

If that doesn’t work, there are a couple of other things you can try. Some Creative Cloud users have found that uninstalling ad blockers, specifically Ad Guard, works and stops CCXProcess hogging CPU cycles.

1. If you installed AdGuard from the App Store, you can click the Launchpad icon in the Dock, click and hold on any app, then click the ‘x’ next to AdGuard.
2. If you didn’t install it from the App Store, go to your Applications folder, drag the app icon to the Trash, and empty the Trash.
3. You should also check for leftover files by clicking on the Go menu in Finder, choosing Go to Folder, and typing ‘~/Library’ to search for any files in the folders there that have ‘AdGuard’ (or the name of the app you’re uninstalling) in them and drag them to the Trash.

Some ad blockers take the form of browser extensions. If uninstalling Ad Guard doesn’t work, try disabling those. Here’s how to do that in Safari.

1. Open Safari and click on the Safari menu.
2. Choose Settings, then Extensions.
3. Deselect the box next to any extensions you want to disable.
4. To uninstall an extension completely, select it in the sidebar and click Uninstall in the main window.

How to protect your privacy

Conflicting with other processes isn’t the only issue browser extensions can cause. They can also be used to compromise your privacy by collecting data about your web browsing and sending it to a server. And it’s not just extensions; cookies and cache files can also compromise your privacy. Anyone who accesses your Mac can use your Recent Items list, browser history, downloads list, and search history to gather data about you. In addition to that, your Mac maintains a list of Wi-Fi networks you connect to, including public Wi-Fi networks, so that it can connect to them automatically in the future. Unfortunately, some of them are unsecure, presenting another risk to your privacy. Dealing with all these issues manually would be time-consuming. Thankfully, there is a solution — CleanMyMac X’s Privacy module can identify all of the above and remove them for you with a click. Or you can review what it has found and decide what to remove for yourself. Download the app for free here.

Can I just disable or remove CCXProcess?

You could quit CCXProcess by opening Activity Monitor from Applications > Utilities, searching for it, and then clicking the ‘x’ in the toolbar. However, it would just launch again when it was needed, and your problem wouldn’t be solved. There’s no way to disable it permanently or to remove it without uninstalling Creative Cloud completely, And if you want to be able to synchronize your Creative Cloud documents, check for updates, or just run Photoshop, you need to have it installed.

What about stopping it launching at startup?

You can prevent Creative Cloud from launching at startup. Doing that, of course, would mean none of its processes, including syncing and checking for updates, will run. You would need to remember to launch it manually when you need it. But it may be a short-term solution.

1. Click on the Apple menu and choose System Settings.
2. Select General, then Login Items.
3. If Creative Cloud is listed under Open at Login, select it and click ‘-’ to remove it.
4. You can also turn off Creative Cloud under Allow in Background. However, you will need to run it manually to update or sync.
5. Quit System Settings.

Check for malware

If you’re still having problems after updating Creative Cloud and you’ve tried everything above, make sure your Mac hasn’t succumbed to a malware attack. You can do that using a specialist antimalware tool, or you can use CleanMyMac X’s Malware Removal module. It scans your Mac and compares what it finds with a database of known malware. If it finds a match, it alerts you and allows you to remove it.

CCXProcess is a component of Adobe Creative Cloud that shouldn’t cause any problems if you update Creative Cloud. However, if you suspect it’s causing your Mac to run slowly, follow the steps above to fix it.