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Has your Mac ever abruptly halted your work with the alarming message "Your system has run out of application memory"? This frustrating error can seem to strike out of nowhere, interrupting your workflow at the most inconvenient times.
While it may sound dire, the good news is that in most cases this is a fairly straightforward issue to troubleshoot and resolve. In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll dive into exactly what causes your Mac to run out of application memory and provide expert tips to get your machine humming along smoothly again.
Understanding the "Out of Application Memory" Error
First, let‘s clarify what this error message actually means. Contrary to what you might assume, your Mac alerting you that it has run out of "application memory" is not an indication that its hard drive or overall storage capacity is full. Rather, it means your machine has depleted its available random access memory (RAM).
RAM is the lightning-fast temporary working space your Mac uses to store data for applications that are currently running. By keeping this active data readily accessible in RAM, your computer can retrieve it much more quickly than if it had to search the hard drive for it each time.
Most current Mac models come equipped with 8GB or 16GB of RAM preinstalled:
| Model | Default RAM | Maximum RAM |
|---|---|---|
| MacBook Air | 8GB | 16GB |
| MacBook Pro | 8GB-16GB | 32GB |
| iMac | 8GB | 32GB-128GB |
| iMac Pro | 32GB | 256GB |
| Mac mini | 8GB | 64GB |
| Mac Pro | 32GB | 1.5TB |
While 8-16GB is sufficient for general daily use, professional creatives or power users may require 32GB or more to keep up with demanding workloads like 4K video editing, 3D rendering, or compiling large applications.
How Memory Leaks Lead to "Out of Memory" Errors
When an application on your Mac is running normally, it will periodically free up RAM that it no longer needs. But sometimes a bug or glitch in a program can cause it to consume more and more memory over time without releasing it – known as a memory leak.
As the greedy application continues to consume additional memory, your Mac‘s finite amount of RAM becomes increasingly depleted. If too much memory becomes monopolized, other processes on your Mac won‘t have access to the RAM they need to run, triggering the "Your system has run out of application memory" warning.
According to Apple Support, this can occur "when a specific app uses more memory than expected" or "when the system runs out of memory for applications to use."
Macs have a built-in fail-safe that‘s supposed to prevent this from bringing your whole system to a standstill by automatically purging inactive memory and implementing memory compression when RAM levels get critically low. But this doesn‘t always work perfectly, especially on older machines with less memory overhead.
Expert Troubleshooting Guide: How to Fix "Out of Application Memory" Errors
Now that you have a high-level understanding of what‘s happening behind the scenes when your Mac runs out of RAM, let‘s walk through some proven steps you can take to resolve the issue.
1. Force quit RAM-hogging applications
When you see the "Your system has run out of application memory" error message, your Mac helpfully provides some clues as to which applications may be the culprits. Any programs consuming a suspiciously high amount of RAM will be highlighted in red in the error dialog box.
Start by closing these red-flagged memory hogs first by clicking on the app and selecting Force Quit. If no applications are highlighted, quit any programs you‘re not actively using to free up as much RAM as possible, paying special attention to notoriously resource-intensive apps like web browsers, video players, or Adobe Creative Cloud.
Once you‘ve closed some applications, restart your Mac. Oftentimes this is all it takes to clear the RAM and return to normal operation. However, if the "out of application memory" error message persists, you‘ll want to investigate further.
2. Diagnose memory usage with Activity Monitor
Your Mac has a handy built-in utility called Activity Monitor that allows you to see a detailed breakdown of how its memory and processing power are being allocated in real time. You can launch it from Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor or using Spotlight search.
In the Activity Monitor window, click on the Memory tab in the upper right corner. Here you‘ll find various graphs and statistics showing your Mac‘s current memory usage and pressure level. Pay special attention to the Memory Pressure graph – if it‘s green, your Mac memory is being efficiently managed. Yellow indicates that memory resources are still available but running low, while red warns that RAM is critically depleted.
The Activity Monitor‘s main window displays all the processes currently running on your machine. Clicking the Memory column header will sort the list in descending order of RAM usage. Keep an eye out for any unfamiliar applications or processes that seem to be monopolizing a disproportionately large percentage of available RAM. Selecting a process will reveal additional details about the application‘s memory demands and allow you to easily force quit it.
3. Free up space on your Mac‘s hard drive
Even if your Mac‘s primary internal drive isn‘t completely full, having limited free space can exacerbate memory issues. macOS relies on having a certain amount of available hard drive capacity for virtual memory.
Virtual memory is essentially a clever technique that allows your Mac to temporarily offload some data in RAM onto the hard drive when memory runs low to free up space for more urgent tasks. But if your startup disk is nearly full, there won‘t be enough free space to act as virtual memory, compounding performance slowdowns and memory errors.
As a best practice, aim to keep around 10-20% of your total disk space free to leave an adequate buffer for virtual memory. You can quickly check your available storage by clicking the Apple icon > About This Mac > Storage.
If you‘re running low on space, try:
- Uninstalling old applications and deleting files you no longer need
- Copying large media libraries to an external drive
- Storing files in iCloud or another cloud-based storage solution
- Upgrading to a larger capacity internal SSD
There are also numerous disk cleanup utilities for Mac, like CleanMyMac X, DaisyDisk, and CCleaner that can help you visualize your disk usage and easily remove unneeded files to free up gigabytes of space.
4. Keep your software up to date
Using outdated versions of macOS or running older application versions can sometimes trigger unexpected memory management issues. To keep your system running smoothly and protected against known memory leak bugs, it‘s critical to keep both the operating system and your most-used apps updated.
You can easily check for macOS updates by launching System Preferences and clicking on Software Update. If any updates are available, click Update Now and let the installation process run – just make sure your Mac is plugged in to a power source.
It‘s a good habit to also open the App Store application periodically and check the Updates tab to ensure you have the latest versions of any apps you‘ve downloaded from Apple. For programs you‘ve installed from other sources, check their preferences or settings menu for an option to manually check for updates.
5. Reset the SMC
In some cases, memory errors can arise due to glitches with the System Management Controller (SMC) – a chip that governs many of your Mac‘s hardware functions, including power management and memory allocation.
Resetting the SMC can be an effective troubleshooting step to resolve RAM-related issues. The process will vary slightly depending on whether your Mac has a T2 security chip:
If your Mac has a T2 chip (most models from 2018 onward):
- Shut down your Mac
- Press and hold the power button for at least 10 seconds, then release it
- Wait a few seconds, then press the power button again to start your Mac
For Macs without the T2 chip:
- Shut down your Mac
- Unplug the power cord and press & hold the power button for 5 seconds
- Plug the power cord back in while continuing to hold the power button for another 5 seconds
- Release the power button and wait a few seconds before turning on your Mac normally
6. Scan for malware
Though less common than on PCs, malware can infect Macs and cause all manner of performance issues – including out of memory errors. Crypto-mining malware in particular is notorious for taxing system resources by hijacking the processor and monopolizing RAM to mine cryptocurrencies in the background.
Some telltale signs your Mac may have a malware infection:
- A sudden, persistent slowdown in performance
- Frequent application crashes or freezes
- Intrusive pop-up ads or windows appearing outside a web browser
- Unknown applications or browser extensions you didn‘t manually install
If you suspect malware could be the culprit, you can quickly perform a free scan with Malwarebytes to check for and remove any malicious files. For enhanced protection, consider investing in a premium antivirus and security suite designed for Mac, such as Intego Mac Premium Bundle, Bitdefender, or Norton 360.
Tips to Optimize Your Mac‘s Memory and Prevent Future Errors
Implementing the fixes above should banish any "out of application memory" warnings in the short term, but making a habit of the following best practices will help ensure your Mac isn‘t regularly running short on RAM:
- Keep an eye on Activity Monitor: Make it a habit to open Activity Monitor periodically and check under the Memory tab for any processes using more than their fair share of resources.
- Close idle applications: Avoid leaving unused applications running in the background, as they‘ll continue to use up valuable RAM even when you‘re not actively engaging with them.
- Reboot regularly: Shutting down your Mac every few days will clear out temporary files and free up memory that applications may not have released on their own.
- Perform routine software updates: Enable automatic updates for macOS and individual apps to protect against unpatched security flaws or bugs that could cause memory leaks.
- Keep free hard drive space: Aim to maintain at least 10-20% of your startup disk‘s total capacity as free space to avoid starving your Mac of virtual memory.
- Watch out for bloated browser extensions: Limit extensions and plugins in Safari, Chrome, or Firefox to only those you actually use. Uninstall any that consume excessive RAM.
- Reset NVRAM/PRAM: Like the SMC, non-volatile random-access memory helps control hardware functions. Resetting it can sometimes fix memory-related issues.
- Tame Login Items: Prevent unnecessary applications from auto-launching and hijacking memory at startup by paring down your Login Items in System Preferences.
If you consistently tax your Mac with a high volume of memory-hungry applications, it may be worthwhile to upgrade beyond the stock RAM configuration. Though recent Mac models have the memory soldered to the logic board, making it impossible for users to add themselves, you can configure many new models with 16GB, 32GB, or more if you build-to-order through Apple or an authorized reseller.
Key Takeaways
While an intimidating "Your system has run out of application memory" error message can certainly put a damper on your productivity, it‘s rarely a sign of a critical problem with your Mac. To recap, you can resolve low memory warnings by:
- Force quitting resource-intensive applications and restarting
- Analyzing RAM usage with Activity Monitor to identify memory hogs
- Freeing up hard drive space to ensure adequate virtual memory
- Keeping macOS and your applications updated to patch memory leaks
- Scanning for and removing malware or viruses
With a bit of proactive maintenance and monitoring, you can help prevent your Mac from exhausting its memory and enjoy uninterrupted, smooth sailing!