how to stop backgroundshortcutprocess

• Do you have any HP printer drivers installed?
• Does a restart eliminate the beach balling on the next log in?
• Does the same thing happen in Safe Mode? Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

I can confirm on my Mac, I do not have that process running and checked again after logging in. Since you already have EtreCheck, maybe post the report using the Additional Text option when posting.

How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community

Your Etrecheck report shows:

2025-10-18 Bitdefender Virus Scanner (3.18)

2025-10-18 Privacy Cleaner Pro (2.0.2)

I would uninstall (completely remove) both of these and reboot to see if there is any improvement. They can be reinstalled if removing them doesn't help.

You are correct the process is an Apple process and not a third party process, I just don't have it currently running on my computer either from an EtreCheck report showing high usage or when looking in Activity Monitor and searching for the process.

I have seen reports where others have that same process running in the 96-100% range, but there has not been anything found that would point to a cause. I also tried comparing your EtreCheck report, which is clean of the "junk" files normally seen, and there was nothing consistent across all of them.

• Most other users did have a Fusion Drive, but there were even some newer Macs that only had SSD drives.
• One other user had Pixelmator Pro, but most did not.
• It was seen not only on Sequoia, but also Tahoe. Did not see it on any earlier versions of the OS.

I asked about the use of the HP printer only from a post on the HP site about an error dialog showing a WKBackgroundShortcutRunner error dialog that appeared to be resolved by removing/updating the drivers. Of course the WK refers to the WorkflowKit where the process resides in the System folder, but that is not the case for you and no other causal link would lead me to believe the printer is the cause.

The one thing I am not sure about is if that process is the cause of the beach balling or if they are just 2 things happening at the same time. It still does not explain why some users are seeing high CPU use and others are not. I could only come up with a couple of other tests to investigate further:

• Add a new (Test) user and see if the same thing happens when logging into that user.

Add a user or group on Mac - Apple Support

• And of course the worst case scenario of a Factory Reset. You obviously would want a backup and start with the clean system to test, then add software and devices one at a time in an attempt to pinpoint. You would want to be able to use the backup to restore at any time. I don't have any reason to believe this is the answer and purely an attempt to try every option possible.

Ok, nothing stands out to me in the report. I notice the Fusion Drive and beach balling is common when those begin to fail, but the drive performance in the EtreCheck report does not look that bad. I noticed you also used DriveDx, was there an indication that you may have had a failing drive, or was this used just as a diagnostic tool to check the performance?

I also cannot find any link for the BackgroundShortcutRunner process to be running when first logged in causing your beach balling. It does not appear you have any apps set to Open at Login at Settings > General > Login & Extensions > Open at Login, so I ruled that out as a reason for beach balling at login too.

Sorry I could not be more helpful, maybe with the information that you provided, someone else will be able to chime in here with a similar experience.