Baloo indexing high CPU and memory usage when idle

[CarrotDLaw]

Hi there. baloo_file_extractor uses 3.0 GB of memory when it is idle as shown below:

Sometimes it can use up to 5 GB of RAM and over 10% of CPU.

This was never met and makes the computer very laggy and slow. Can anyone help? Thanks a lot!

[Mirdarthos]

Hi @CarrotDLaw,

Baloo can be slow and a resource hog, yes.

I suggest you change your settings in System Settings → Workspace → Search → File Search to not include file contents or hidden files/folders.

Like mine:

Then delete the index and rebuild it. So stop and disable baloo:

balooctl stop
balooctl disable

Then remove the current index:

rm -fr .local/share/baloo

Enable baloo again:

balooctl enable

Make doubly sure the index is empty:

balooctl purge

And re-index it all:

balooctl check

If you want to check the status of baloo, use:

balooctl status

For example:

$ balooctl status
Baloo File Indexer is running
Indexer state: Idle
Total files indexed: 36 527
Files waiting for content indexing: 0
Files failed to index: 0
Current size of index is 17,35 MiB

Hope this helps!

Edit:

On the same settings screen of System Settings there is also the option to include/exclude specific directories. I have my music and my Cloud drive mounts listed there.

[CarrotDLaw]

Thanks for your help! Now, I think I meet another problem. I disabled baloo and removed the current index, but it seems to continue using high CPU and RAM. If I want to completely disable baloo, what should I do?

[Mirdarthos]

It’ll continue to do so after you’ve done it all because it needs to reindex everything. So it’ll be better after a while.

If, however, you want to completely disable it permanently, you can do the follwing:

balooctl stop
balooctl disable

Or, that’s how I understand it anyway.

Edit:
But leaving it enabled has its good sides. So just be patient a bit.

[CarrotDLaw]

Yes! From balooctl status, it is disabled and not running. But from the system monitor, it is still using a lot of RAM and my computer is still laggy. I don’t know how to tackle this.

[Mirdarthos]

Reboot and see if it persists. Report back.

Also see Baloo - KDE Community Wiki

Also Baloo - ArchWiki

---

From that article:

Disabling the indexer

To disable the Baloo file indexer:

balooctl suspend
balooctl disable

The indexer will be disabled on next login.

Alternatively, disable Enable File Search in System settings under Search > File search.

To permanently delete the index database, run:

balooctl purge

[CarrotDLaw]

Thank you so much! Everything works fine now. Sorry for not reading the wiki before asking.

[Mirdarthos]

You are very welcome!

Always check the wiki first. It is extremely helpful! And you might see something that’s never crossed your mind before.