Port 7000: What's Using It and Is It Safe to Close?
Port 7000 is used by macOS AirPlay Receiver (and Cassandra). Here's what listens on it, whether it's safe to close, and how to check.
Port 7000 is the companion to port 5000 in the macOS AirPlay story. On modern macOS it’s used by AirPlay Receiver, and it occasionally collides with development tools that also default to 7000.
What typically listens on port 7000
- AirPlay Receiver (macOS Monterey and later): Apple’s AirPlay Receiver, part of the
ControlCenterprocess, uses 7000 along with 5000 to receive streams. This is on by default. - Apache Cassandra: The database uses 7000 for inter-node communication, so a local Cassandra setup can claim it.
- Other dev tools: A handful of services default here.
So on a typical Mac, 7000 in use is AirPlay, not a leftover server.
Is it safe to close?
It depends on the owner. If lsof shows ControlCenter, that’s AirPlay Receiver, a system process you shouldn’t force-quit. Turn the feature off instead:
System Settings > General > AirDrop & Handoff > AirPlay Receiver (off).
That frees 7000 and 5000 together. If the owner is Cassandra or another tool you installed, stopping that tool is fine.
Is it suspicious?
No. On macOS, 7000 in use is almost always AirPlay Receiver. Confirm the owner before doing anything; the command below shows it.
How to find what’s on port 7000 on macOS
lsof -i :7000
If it’s AirPlay, disable it in settings rather than killing the process. If it’s your own dev tool, kill it by PID:
kill $(lsof -ti :7000)
Portie shows port 7000 with the exact app that owns it, so you can tell instantly whether it’s AirPlay or a service you can safely stop.