diff --git a/internal/user/sync.go b/internal/user/sync.go
index 7890f1d2..002f3ce6 100644
--- a/internal/user/sync.go
+++ b/internal/user/sync.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ package user
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/bradenaw/juniper/parallel"
 	"github.com/bradenaw/juniper/xslices"
 	"github.com/google/uuid"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"gitlab.protontech.ch/go/liteapi"
 	"golang.org/x/exp/maps"
 )
@@ -197,6 +199,13 @@ func syncMessages( //nolint:funlen
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get message IDs to sync: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	syncStartTime := time.Now()
+	defer func() {
+		syncFinishTime := time.Now()
+		logrus.Infof("Message sync completed in %v", syncFinishTime.Sub(syncStartTime))
+	}()
+	logrus.Infof("Starting message sync with syncWorkers=%v (numCpu=%v) for %v messages", syncWorkers, runtime.NumCPU(), len(messageIDs))
+
 	// Create the flushers, one per update channel.
 	flushers := make(map[string]*flusher, len(updateCh))
 
@@ -223,7 +232,7 @@ func syncMessages( //nolint:funlen
 	// Allow up to 4 batched wait requests.
 	flushUpdateCh := make(chan flushUpdate, 4)
 
-	errorCh := make(chan error, syncWorkers*2)
+	errorCh := make(chan error, syncWorkers)
 
 	// Goroutine in charge of downloading and building messages in maxBatchSize batches.
 	go func() {
@@ -236,7 +245,7 @@ func syncMessages( //nolint:funlen
 				return
 			}
 
-			result, err := parallel.MapContext(ctx, int(float32(syncWorkers)*1.5), batch, func(ctx context.Context, id string) (*buildRes, error) {
+			result, err := parallel.MapContext(ctx, syncWorkers, batch, func(ctx context.Context, id string) (*buildRes, error) {
 				msg, err := client.GetFullMessage(ctx, id)
 				if err != nil {
 					return nil, err
diff --git a/internal/vault/settings_test.go b/internal/vault/settings_test.go
index 972c5e9a..163a7e47 100644
--- a/internal/vault/settings_test.go
+++ b/internal/vault/settings_test.go
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 package vault_test
 
 import (
-	"runtime"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/Masterminds/semver/v3"
@@ -222,6 +221,7 @@ func TestVault_Settings_SyncWorkers(t *testing.T) {
 	// create a new test vault.
 	s := newVault(t)
 
-	require.Equal(t, runtime.NumCPU(), s.SyncWorkers())
-	require.Equal(t, runtime.NumCPU(), s.SyncAttPool())
+	syncWorkers := vault.GetDefaultSyncWorkerCount()
+	require.Equal(t, syncWorkers, s.SyncWorkers())
+	require.Equal(t, syncWorkers, s.SyncAttPool())
 }
diff --git a/internal/vault/types_settings.go b/internal/vault/types_settings.go
index 69be3869..252f9b35 100644
--- a/internal/vault/types_settings.go
+++ b/internal/vault/types_settings.go
@@ -49,7 +49,21 @@ type Settings struct {
 	SyncAttPool int
 }
 
+func GetDefaultSyncWorkerCount() int {
+	const minSyncWorkers = 16
+
+	syncWorkers := runtime.NumCPU() * 2
+
+	if syncWorkers < minSyncWorkers {
+		syncWorkers = minSyncWorkers
+	}
+
+	return syncWorkers
+}
+
 func newDefaultSettings(gluonDir string) Settings {
+	syncWorkers := GetDefaultSyncWorkerCount()
+
 	return Settings{
 		GluonDir: gluonDir,
 
@@ -71,7 +85,7 @@ func newDefaultSettings(gluonDir string) Settings {
 		FirstStart:    true,
 		FirstStartGUI: true,
 
-		SyncWorkers: runtime.NumCPU(),
-		SyncAttPool: runtime.NumCPU(),
+		SyncWorkers: syncWorkers,
+		SyncAttPool: syncWorkers,
 	}
 }