Port 8443: What's Using It and Is It Safe to Kill?
Port 8443 is a common alternative HTTPS port for dev servers and admin consoles. Here's what listens on it and whether it's safe to close.
Port 8443 is the HTTPS counterpart to port 8080: a common alternative for encrypted web traffic that doesn’t require the admin privileges binding 443 needs. A listener on 8443 is almost always a local server or app.
What typically listens on port 8443
- Tomcat and Java apps: Tomcat’s default SSL connector uses 8443.
- Development HTTPS servers: Local setups serving TLS without root often pick 8443.
- Admin consoles: Many appliances and tools expose their HTTPS management interface here.
- Proxies: Local reverse proxies terminating TLS on a non-privileged port.
Because it’s in the registered range (1024-49151), any app can bind it without admin rights, which is the whole appeal.
Is it safe to kill?
In nearly all cases, yes. A process on 8443 is something running locally, not a macOS service. Killing it frees the port and stops that server. Confirm you aren’t ending a server you still need first.
Is it suspicious?
On a development machine, no. Like other 8000-range ports, it’s routine. It’s worth identifying only if you don’t recognize the owning process and don’t run local servers. The command below shows the name.
How to find what’s on port 8443 on macOS
lsof -i :8443
To free it:
kill -9 $(lsof -ti :8443)
Portie shows port 8443 with its owning app in its live list, and the $8.99 unlock lets you kill the process from the row without opening Terminal.