"Adobe Crash Processor" hogging system memory

[jeremypbushnell]

Hi there. I'm using a Mac, running 13.7.5. I use a variety of Adobe apps, predominantly Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat, but also occasionally InDesign and Audition.

Every day, or sometimes multiple times a day, Adobe Crash Processor launches, and proceeds to gobble up several GB of system memory. 

It does not seem contingent on my actually using any Adobe app (aside from Creative Cloud running in the background). This might go without saying, but: when I do use the apps they aren't crashing, so I don't see any reason why the crash processor should be activating in the first place.

I can terminate the process with Activity Monitor, but it inevitably recurs. I've tried rebooting the computer and updating the apps to the latest versions, but this doesn't seem to have any effect. I could upgrade my OS to Sonoma or Sequoia, but if anyone has another solution that might forestall an entire OS upgrade I'd like to try that first.

Any help anyone has would be appreciated! I've seen a few other threads across the internet with people having this problem, but none of them seem to eventually get to a solution 😕

Final note: Adobe wouldn't let me post this without a topic, but the only topics it allowed me to choose from were "File sync," "Collaboration,"  "Libaries," or "Cloud storage web assets," none of which are even slightly close.

[kglad]

does starting an adobe app cause it to reload?

[jeremypbushnell]

I've been battering away at this problem since April and I think I've finally gotten a workable fix. Under System Settings > Login Items & Extensions, tggle "Allow in the background" to OFF for Creative Cloud, then reboot. 

If you need to re-launch the Creative Cloud app, Adobe Crash Processor will come back (even if you quit the Creative Cloud app), but it will get blocked again on your next reboot.

[kglad]

@jeremypbushnell 

thank you for that solution.

[jeremypbushnell]

Hm, I may have spoken too soon. Still investigating as I get into a new week's workflow.

[kglad]

uh oh. well, keep us updated.

[jeremypbushnell]

Surprisingly, no! In regular mode, I can get the Crash Processor to stay off as long as I keep the "Allow in the background" toggle set to OFF for the Creative Cloud app. If I open that app specifically to handle Creative Cloud matters, Crash Processor reloads (and can't be shut off), and I have to reboot again, but that's a small inconvenience.

[MiltStevens]

As I posted earlier in the thread, I had the exact same problem (also on Ventura on Mac) and it significantly comprised my ability to work on the computer. I'm sharing the workaround that worked for me - but am not endorsing for others. When Crash Processor popped up in Activity Monitor I selected it, then clicked the Inspect Selected Process (the i in a circle button.) Click on the Open Files and Ports tab to show the path to the Crash Processor, then navigate to it and trash it. Restart. You may need to do this several times as the Crash Processor resides in several places. This presumably hobbles the ablity to deal with crashes, but then I didn't have any crashes. (I also believe the issue is in the Creative Cloud Crash Processor and other Crash Processors, such as Photoshop still run.)

[jeremypbushnell]

Did it end up reinstalling at some point? I tried this at an early stage in the process (though only once, not multiple times). My mid-July fix of shutting off the CC "Allow in the background" items does not seem to have solved the problem long-term.

[MiltStevens]

If you trash the files and restart, it will stick. However, upon further examination Creative Cloud may not function - so no updates. At any point, you can "repair" Creative Cloud and get updates, etc. but then the Crash Processor will come back and you would need to repeat the process. For me, Crash Processor running was a show stopper for my Mac, so I happily made the choice I did.

[Tarun Saini]

Hi @jeremypbushnell @MiltStevens,

Could you please let us know the version of the operating system you're on? We're here to help, just need some info. 

Please ensure the Creative Cloud Desktop app is up to date.

Regards,

Tarun

[MiltStevens]

Hi. I appreciate your attention. I am running the latest Adobe versions of all apps and Creative Cloud on an Intel iMac running OS 13.7.6. In addition to huge memory usage from Crash Processor (which is unquittable), symptoms for me included system-wide slowdowns (including Adobe app updates that would take hours until Crash Processor was quit) and extraneous text inserted while typing.

[Tarun Saini]

Hi @MiltStevens,

Please check your inbox. I've sent you a DM.

Regards,

Tarun

[Rick W.]

Just reporting that I have been experiencing the same problem, with Adobe Crash Processor consuming an average of 34% of CPU over the past couple of days. I'm running Ventura 13.7.6 on an Intel Mac. I first noticed the problem after getting messages about Creative Cloud needing "Repair", which I clicked, and then needing to "Relaunch" CC after an apparent "not responding" in the process. But it didn't relaunch, so I launched the CC app manually. It seemed to launch OK, but the whole process repeated the next day. Today I rebooted, but Photoshop was taking a minute or two to save editing changes instead of the normal seconds. I was going to reboot again, but now I'm being told that I can't shut down without interrupting the install of Adobe Acrobat 25.001.20577, which now appears to be hung "running package scripts" at ~99% complete (and I don't even have use of Acrobat with my license), or it "may damage my computer." Since it did progress from being stuck at ~85%, I'm just gonna walk away for an hour or two and check on things after dinner.

[Rick W.]

OK, so to continue, after 2 hours the Adobe Acrobat installer had not budged, so I had to force quit to reboot. Upon rebooting and logging in, Adobe Crash Processor immediately popped up in Activity Monitor (24% CPU). Then Creative Cloud started to launch and took a a minute or two before prompting that applications were taking too long to load and suggesting that I relaunch or click the "Help" link. I did the latter and read the page about various solutions to this problem, but by the time I went back to CC it had finished loading. At this point I decided to try turning off CC's run-in-background setting (per jeremypbushnell), and then I rebooted. This time, NO Adobe Crash Processor in Activity Monitor! Then, I launched Photoshop, and Adobe Crash Processor came right back, even before Photoshop finished launching, and is now at 33% CPU.

At this point I think ACP's problem has nothing to do with CC, since I still haven't launched CC since rebooting. Unless Adobe comes up with a fix soon, I will have to resort to MiltStevens' search-and-destroy tactics.

Adobe, please!

[Rick W.]

After studying this issue for two more days, here's what I've learned about Adobe Crash Processor (ACP):

1. It's a small app embedded in most (all?) of Adobe's CC apps, and some CC utilities, and even in free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

2. It automatically launches along with chosen Adobe app (say, Photohop), and immediately becomes the highest consistent CPU hog, typically consuming 33-34%CPU.

3. When you quit the chosen Adobe app, ACP looks around for another open Adobe app to pass the torch to, and if it finds one it will kill its own process and start the other app's ACP, which then becomes the CPU hog. If no other app is open, it decides to stay open itself indefinitely, continuing to consume a high CPU usage. (I suspect that this is not intended and ACP has a problem killing itself when it should.) The only way to kill it is by logging out or using Activity Monitor (or Terminal).

4. I have successfully removed the ACP from the Adobe apps I use--PS, LrC, and Acrobat Reader (as well as utilities Creative Cloud, CC Helper, and CC Experience)--without any noticeable problems. In fact, the apps now seem to launch and perform slightly faster. Of course, after an update I have do it again (I just updated to PS 26.9.0 and after confirming the problem hasn't been fixed I deleted its ACP).

5. I have noticed on two occasions that Adobe Crash Handler (ACH) has jumped into the breach and become a CPU hog itself, consuming a consistent 21-29%CPU. ACH seems to be a sibling to ACP and lives in the same frameworks folder. The incidents may be related to the missing ACP--perhaps ACH can't deal with the problem without it. The only way to kill the ACH process seems to be rebooting, not just logging out. So far I haven't messed with ACH since it hasn't been a consistent problem.

I realize that these ACP issues may be limited to a relatively small group of old Intel Mac/Ventura users, like those in this thread. I just upgraded to Ventura 13.7.7 today and the problem still exists. I'm hoping that Adobe still thinks we're worthy of some help. It's also possible that the problem is even narrower in scope, having to do with some corrupted common cache or something. If so, just tell us what to clear out. The Open Files and Ports of the persistent ACP process mostly consists of the ACP app and CRCommon log db's--could a corrupt db be the problem? Here's the Open Files and Ports list:

/
/Applications/Adobe Acrobat Reader.app/Contents/Frameworks/AdobeCrashReporter.framework/Versions/A/Adobe Crash Processor.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Crash Processor
/Library/Preferences/Logging/.plist-cache.jGtYKTz0
/usr/share/icu/icudt70l.dat
/private/var/db/timezone/tz/2025b.1.0/icutz/icutz44l.dat
/dev/null
/dev/null
/dev/null
/Users/rjw/Library/Logs/Adobe/AdobeCRCommon/Logs/.AdobeCrashHandlerAppLock
/Users/rjw/Library/Logs/Adobe/AdobeCRCommon/Logs/CRCommon.db
/Users/rjw/Library/Logs/Adobe/AdobeCRCommon/Logs/CC_Creative Cloud_6.7_6.7.0.278.db
/Users/rjw/Library/Logs/Adobe/AdobeCRCommon/Logs/CC_Creative Cloud Helper_6.7.0_6.7.0.278.db
/Users/rjw/Library/Logs/Adobe/AdobeCRCommon/Logs/CC_Adobe Desktop Service_6.7.0_6.7.0.278.db
/Users/rjw/Library/Logs/Adobe/AdobeCRCommon/Logs/CC_Adobe Photoshop 2025_26.8.1_20250624.r.8.db
/Users/rjw/Library/Logs/Adobe/AdobeCRCommon/Logs/CC_Creative Cloud Content Manager.node_6.6.6_4.db
/Users/rjw/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports

Any help would be appreciated 🙂

[DaMoroshka!]

You said you've successfully disabled the crash processor, can you please tell us how you achieved that? With me if I delete it from disk I get error loading other adobe apps. And the problem with crash processor is not limited to older intel macs. I am using M2Max macbook pro and the pesky process still is getting into my teeth - it keeps running, keeps writing something to disk, even when I am not using any Adobe apps. I usually kill it with Activity monitor app, but later it re-occurs. We need a solution to kill it permanently.