What is seld?

seld is a security process that protects the system volume on your Mac.

What is seld?

seld manages the sealed system volume. Starting with macOS Catalina, macOS lives on a read-only volume that is sealed with a cryptographic hash. seld helps keep and check that seal.

What is a sealed system volume?

macOS splits your storage into two volumes:

• System volume (read-only, sealed): holds macOS itself, including system files, built-in apps, and frameworks
• Data volume (read-write): holds your files, apps you have installed, and your settings

Every file on the system volume has a hash, and the whole volume has a seal that can be checked. This stops malware from changing system files, even with root access.

What does seld do?

• Checks the system volume seal is intact
• Updates the seal during macOS updates
• Works with the boot process to confirm the system has not been altered

Should you worry?

No. It is a core macOS security process that guards the operating system itself.

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