What Is Imagent on Mac

Imagent is a background macOS process that listens for incoming FaceTime and iMessage invitations, even when the apps are closed. It resides within the IMCore framework and manages instant messaging features. Fortunately, you can stop it by logging out of FaceTime and iMessage to free up system resources and significantly boost speed.

Definition of imagent on Mac

Imagent Mac process is a core background daemon that facilitates Apple’s communication services by listening for incoming FaceTime calls and syncing iMessage data across your devices. It remains active even when messaging apps are closed, so you never miss a notification. If it begins consuming excessive CPU, logging out of FaceTime and iMessage, or force-quitting the process can immediately restore your Mac's performance and responsiveness while cooling down your hardware effectively.

Why imagent use so much memory or CPU on Mac?

Imagent usually starts hogging resources when message syncing gets stuck or if there's a conflict with your iCloud login. We've seen this happen quite often after a macOS update, where the process gets trapped in a loop trying to process old FaceTime invitations or iMessage data. Our tests show that these spikes are often temporary, but they can cause significant lag and high fan noise until the process is manually refreshed or the accounts are re-linked.

A note from our experts: 

 

Looking for a quick way to boost your MacBook’s performance? Since MacKeeper is a leading solution in Mac optimization and cybersecurity, we’ve verified that its Memory Cleaner is the ideal tool for terminating resource-hungry background daemons like Imagent that drain your RAM. It is a fast and reliable utility that optimizes memory in real time, ensuring you’ll have a smoother, faster Mac experience without worrying about software conflicts.

 

To get expert help with MacKeeper’s Memory Cleaner:

1. Download MacKeeper and open the app on your device.
2. Select Memory Cleaner from the left-hand sidebar and click Open.
3. Review your Memory usage and the Apps & Processes list to see if Imagent is consuming excessive resources.
4. To reclaim your RAM and speed up your system, simply press Clean Memory.

How to fix Imagent uses so much memory or CPU on Mac?

If you notice your fans spinning loudly, we've found that resetting the Imagent process is usually the quickest fix for high CPU or memory usage. This background daemon often gets stuck in a loop during iCloud syncing or after a system update. Based on our tests, you can resolve these performance issues by refreshing your messaging accounts or manually terminating the process in Activity Monitor to restore your Mac's speed.

1. Log out and back into Messages

In our experience, Imagent issues are often tied to account authentication errors within the Messages app. If you’re struggling with system lag, learning how to open Activity Monitor on a Mac is the most effective way to identify if Imagent is the specific daemon hogging your CPU.

Use these instructions to reset your login:

1. Open the Messages app and navigate to the top menu bar to find Settings.
2. Go to the iMessage tab and click the Sign Out button to disconnect your Apple ID.
3. Confirm by clicking Sign Out again when the prompt appears on your screen.

2. Disable and enable FaceTime

Since Imagent is the primary agent for FaceTime invitations, we suggest refreshing your FaceTime settings if the CPU usage remains high. Our experts recommend checking the MacBook Control Center for connectivity issues or cycling the app service to clear the queue.

Here’s a quick guide to do it:

1. Launch the FaceTime application from your Applications folder.
2. Go to the menu bar at the top and select FaceTime > Settings.
3. In the General tab, look for your Apple Account, and click Sign Out.

3. Force quit the process via Activity Monitor

When a process is totally unresponsive, we find that a manual "kill" command is the most direct way to reclaim your resources.

If you want to know how to see what is running on your Mac to check for other leaks, apply these steps:

1. Open Activity Monitor and use the CPU or Memory tabs to sort active tasks.
2. Use the search bar in the top-right corner to type "imagent" and isolate the process.
3. Highlight the Imagent entry and click the X button at the top of the window.
4. Select Force Quit to immediately stop the process and free up your system's RAM.

4. Update your macOS software

We always recommend keeping your system up to date, as Apple frequently releases patches for known memory leaks.

If you’re unsure how to open Activity Monitor on Mac to verify the fix afterward, perform the following:

1. Press Command + Space to open Spotlight and type "Software Update". This is how you take advantage of the search on a Mac feature.
2. Click Software Update in the General tab to check for available macOS updates.
3. Install any pending updates and restart your Mac once the installation is complete.

Conclusion

Imagent is a background daemon facilitating FaceTime and iMessage sync, but it can occasionally trigger high CPU usage that slows you down. To resolve this, MacKeeper offers memory optimization through the Memory Cleaner feature. With its help, you can instantly clear out resource-heavy processes in a more advanced and easier way than using the Activity Monitor, which can miss some background processes.