How to free up RAM on a Mac, and when not to

Do I need to free up RAM?

Only when memory pressure is yellow or red. How much RAM is in use doesn’t tell you, because macOS fills spare memory on purpose.

1. Open Activity Monitor. It’s in Applications > Utilities, or search for it with Spotlight.
2. Click Memory at the top of the window.
3. Look at the Memory Pressure graph at the bottom. Green: nothing to do. Yellow or red: your Mac is short of memory for what’s open, so carry on below.

Mac memory pressure: why high RAM use is often fine explains each number in this part of the window.

How do I free up RAM on a Mac?

These actions are ranked by how much memory they usually free.

1. Quit the app using the most memory

1. In Activity Monitor’s Memory tab, click the Memory column heading to sort the list, largest first.
2. Look at the top. If you don’t need that app right now, save your work in it and quit it from its own menu.
3. If it isn’t responding, select it, click the Stop button at the top of the window, then choose Quit. Choose Force Quit only if Quit doesn’t work, because unsaved work in that app is lost.
4. Watch the Memory Pressure graph for a minute. If it turns green again, that was enough.

2. Close browser tabs you’re done with

Each open tab keeps its page in memory, so a browser with many tabs open can use a lot of it. Close the tabs you aren’t using. Why is Chrome using so much memory on a Mac? shows how to find the heaviest tabs.

3. Restart your Mac

Restarting closes every app, so memory starts again with only macOS, your login items and what you open.

1. Choose Apple menu > Restart.
2. In the dialog that appears, deselect “Reopen windows when logging back in”, so the apps you had open don’t all come back.

4. Open fewer apps at login

Apps that open at login use memory from the moment you log in. To remove one, choose Apple menu > System Settings, click General, click Login Items & Extensions, select the app and click the Remove button (−). How to stop apps opening at startup on a Mac has the details.

Why doesn’t my memory go down after I quit apps?

macOS puts freed memory to work. Activity Monitor’s Cached Files shows files macOS keeps in unused memory to improve performance, and macOS hands that memory to apps when they need it. So memory can look full again soon after you quit an app, while memory pressure stays green. That’s normal.

Do RAM cleaner apps work on a Mac?

Not in the way they promise. Apple says that free or unused memory doesn’t necessarily improve a Mac’s performance. macOS already makes room on its own: Apple says that as a Mac nears its memory limit, inactive apps in memory are compressed, making more memory available to active apps.

An app that “frees” memory can only push out what macOS was keeping there, such as cached files, which macOS may then have to read from the disk again. If memory pressure is green, there’s nothing to gain. If it’s yellow or red, quitting the app you don’t need frees far more.

When don’t you need to free up RAM?

• Memory pressure is green, even with almost all of your RAM in use.
• A little swap is in use. Swap is space on the startup disk that macOS uses to move things in and out of memory. A small, steady amount is normal; What is swap on a Mac? explains when it isn’t.
• Your Mac feels fast. Free memory isn’t a goal in itself.

If memory pressure stays yellow or red with only the apps you need, freeing memory won’t keep up: your Mac needs more memory for that work. Is 8 GB or 16 GB of RAM enough for your Mac? helps you choose for your next Mac.

Questions people also ask

How do I clear RAM on a Mac without restarting?

Quit the apps using the most memory, from Activity Monitor’s Memory tab sorted by Memory, and close browser tabs you don’t need. Check that the Memory Pressure graph turns green.

Why is my Mac using so much memory?

macOS uses spare memory on purpose, for apps and for files you may open again. It’s only a problem when memory pressure is yellow or red.

Does closing tabs free up RAM?

Yes. Each open tab holds memory, so closing tabs you aren’t using frees some, often a lot in a browser with many tabs.

Is it bad if my Mac uses 90% of its RAM?

Not if memory pressure is green. Yellow or red at the same 90% means your Mac is short of memory for what’s open.