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jessatd75 Author

Level 1

30 points

macOS Sequoia Massive memory leak

So this seems to be an issue with all the recent macOS versions, the windowserver process just seems to eat more and more ram. Now when im running a single safari window with 5 tabs, mail, messages, notes, and onenote, the windowserver process i guess needs 5gb of ram to do its job. I rebooted, it started at 250mb, as soon as i start opening things it skyrockets. It seems to eat about 1gb per app window open. Closing the apps does not lower the processes ram usage. It will continue to grow with every app i open. I did a fresh reinstall of the OS, reinstalled all 3rd party apps by hand, of which i only use a few, and the issue persists. These numbers hold true on my m3 MBA with 16gb ram and my partners m1 base MBA. This is ridiculous Apple

Posted on Sep 19, 2024 4:38 PM

Top-ranking reply

Graig1122

Level 1

31 points

Posted on Oct 6, 2024 9:51 PM

I found the Reason！

When the mouse passes over the top window special effect every time, Windowser would be larger and larger and won't be erased.

View in context

65 replies

jessatd75 Author

Level 1

30 points

Sep 23, 2024 11:50 AM in response to jessatd75

Uptime less than an hour. The only app that was open was messages. I did have a few normal apps open for all of 10 minutes then I checked the memory and lo and behold. This is after multiple complete reinstalls, no third party apps, and like I said, less than an hour since last reboot...

John Galt

Level 10

146,624 points

Oct 6, 2024 3:33 AM in response to BDAqua

Isn't it amazing what's possible when people follow instructions?

Barney-15E

Level 10

116,842 points

Sep 19, 2024 4:57 PM in response to jessatd75

Have you ever installed any security, cleaning, or other maintenance apps? That is the most likely cause.

I have been running Sequoia on an M1 Mini and an M2 MacBook Pro for quite a while and don’t have your “memory leak.”

cytan

Level 1

16 points

Oct 6, 2024 12:21 AM in response to BDAqua

Hi BDAqua,

It's been 23 hours since the last reboot and my MacBook Pro hasn't crashed since. I think removing those two plists fixed my problem! It's just so weird that these two plists would cause the WindowServer to crash.

Thanks!

cytan

Oct 13, 2024 5:12 AM in response to jessatd75

I'm no expert so this pennyworth might not be worth a penny but it is how I understand it:

Random Access Memory is memory instantly available for open programmes to use so having 8gb RAM and not using it all could be said to be a waste. I don't think that using it fills up the machine's "installed memory" where your photos and documents and apps are stored and, when you switch an app off, the RAM it was using becomes available for other tasks. The newer apps use more RAM because they do more but when they are not used they don't occupy the RAM memory space. I paid £400 extra to double the RAM on this M1 machine to 16gb and the money will have been wasted if it is not needed. If we notice a performance problem due to high RAM usage it might be time to upgrade to a more modern machine. Multi-tasking with a lot of open apps is a great idea but can our brains really cope with all that?

horacelu

Level 1

14 points

Oct 14, 2024 6:27 PM in response to dragontorc

No offense, but I’m using 2021 m1max with 64gb ram and 2t storage.

And windowserver process takes 13+gb memory after I quit all applications and services. When I put it away for one night, no memory was released. Also, no external display connected.

Before posting here, I’ve done several experiments and identify this issue is associated with iPhone mirroring.

Oct 18, 2024 9:10 AM in response to jpcourteau

I've now identified that GroundNews extension might be to blame *about:processes* in Firefox for reference. I was running version 3.1 on Firefox 131.0.3 on Sequoia 15.0.1. The developer said they are working on an updated version for this issue.

Alancito

Level 7

28,319 points

Oct 8, 2024 2:01 AM in response to horacelu

horacelu wrote: "Hope apple guys could see this post..."

horacelu ~ Unlikely; use this form:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

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cytan

Level 1

16 points

Oct 4, 2024 6:47 PM in response to jessatd75

EtreCheck report

Attached is my EtreCheck Report of my INTEL MacBook Pro circa 2019 2.4 GHz 8 Core Intel i9, 64GB of memory running Sequoia 15.0.1. This Mac has been running really unstably, can only stay up for a few hours. ever since it was upgraded to Sequoia from Sonoma.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks!

cytan

den.thed

Level 10

82,594 points

Sep 22, 2024 6:57 PM in response to Mac Jim ID

+1 I suggested using EtreCheckPro back on the 19th.

cytan

Level 1

16 points

Oct 5, 2024 5:29 AM in response to BDAqua

Thanks! I deleted those files and have run for the last 4 hours without crashing yet. I'll have to leave it overnight to be sure that those two files were the source of the problem. Stay tuned ...

BDAqua

Level 10

245,495 points

Oct 6, 2024 2:33 AM in response to cytan

Great to hear my friend, do take care!:)

Oct 6, 2024 4:45 PM in response to jessatd75

Same here

Apple Needs to fix iPhone mirroring windowserver memory issue!

Oct 14, 2024 10:55 AM in response to ahenk

I am astounded by the size of your Mail programme. Mine is:

I delete most communications except Family and Friends and my health, insurance, taxes and other personal business.

Are you the BBC or Microsoft or a spam factory? I am awed by the immense hoard of mail you have.

Perhaps you could move your historic, archival, emails to an external hard disk if you feel unable to bin them and that might free up more space for current work.

daniel.w

Level 1

11 points

Nov 14, 2024 12:44 AM in response to jessatd75

Seem to have the same issue but with Safari specifically. Four tabs open, 35.39 GB of application memory used 😳

macOS Sequoia Massive memory leak