Safari consuming to much memory

dlealval Said:

"Safari consuming to much memory: Thanks for your response, I just posted a suggestion. I have now five URL's open, some of them are consuming close to 1GB, is it normal?, even this page is consuming 0.75GB, is this reasonable that a text page like with a simple form is consuming more than Excel?"

-------

You are welcome. Great job on your part providing feedback!

What to Try:

• New Admin User:

For troubleshooting purposes, create a new Administrator user, login to it, and see if you get this issue. If so, then it is likely an issue with the macOS (I which case you'd have to reinstall the macOS). If not, then it is likely something misconfigured in your current user. So, try a new user, seeing if you get this error.

• Boot into Safe Mode:

[Hold Down: the shift key upon boot] until you get to the login screen. One there, log in, wait 30 seconds, open up Activity Monitor, and then see if you still see this issue. In Safe Mode, login items do not open, and damaged files (caches) are set aside and fixed. So, restart the Mac, and see if there still is an error when logging in under the same user giving you this issue.

dlealval Said:

Q1: "Safari consuming to much memory: [....]Currently when the world is moving to cloud we are going to use intensively a web browser and this level of consumpion is not helping. [...]

A1: Safari and RAM:

RAM (Random Access Memory) is for Multitasking. So, lots is being used, and the More Ram the better. So, close any open applications that are open that are not of use at this moment. IF Safari is taking up lots of data, then it is probably being access from another application, or you are streaming multimedia (i.e. YouTube or Zoom).

---

Q2: "Thanks in advance for any help, but please Apple work on this Safari is a critical tool specially now that everthing is moving to the cloud and your need a navitagor to work with such applications."

A2: Provide Apple with Feedback:

Do your Part: These are user-to-user forums. We are not Apple. So, provide Apple with feedback on this. Apple wont get back to you directly, but the more they hear of this, the more they will know what is going on, and what needs to be fixed. For note:

To Provide Feedback:

1. Go Here: Feedback - Safari - Apple
2. Select: "Enhancement Request" for the "Feedback Type"
3. Proceed form there as necessary

Actually, dlealval, I’m not sure how much we can trust the so-called “Memory” values, given for processes, within Activity Monitor, on Big Sur.

I don’t still have a Catalina system on which to test, but, as I recall, the values on Catalina seemed to “add up” better, there.

I run with the following memory related columns viewable: Memory, VM Compressed (Compressed Memory), Real Memory (RSIZE), Real Private Memory (RPRVT), Real Shared Memory (RSHRD), and Purgeable Memory.

On Catalina, it always seemed (but I could have simply missed cases where this wasn’t true) that Memory minus VM Compressed yielded Real Memory (RSIZE), which, in turn, equaled Real Private Memory (RPRVT) plus Real Shared Memory (RSHRD). Purgeable Memory always seemed to be a portion of Real Private Memory (RPRVT). (It wouldn’t make much sense for it to involve Real Shared Memory.)

If, in addition to the Memory tab, in Activity Monitor, you Inspect a given process, you’ll find the following Memory related counters, on the inspector’s Memory tab: Real Memory Size, Virtual Memory Size, Shared Memory Size, and Private Memory Size.

These counters with the same/similar names as the Column names, always seem to agree: Real Memory Size equals Real Memory (RSIZE), Shared Memory Size equals Real Shared Memory (RSHRD), and Private Memory Size equals Real Private Memory (RPRVT).

However, Virtual Memory Size is often much larger than the size shown in the Memory column! In fact, it can be so large that it cannot be physically accounted for even using all Real and “Swap” space, even if one uses a reasonable two to one (2:1) compression ratio for Compressed and Swap spaces!

However, this does not mean that this counter has no meaning, because Virtual Memory can include memory within the Virtual Memory space that includes the programming code of the App (this is “swapped” from the App’s files), as well as other, currently unused Virtual Memory space.

(I thought I recalled the Catalina “Virtual Memory Size” equaling the “Memory” column size, but I could be misremembering.)

It sure would be helpful to have further information on such matters, so we can know better how to interpret these various numbers.

dlealval Said:

"Safari consuming to much memory: [...]The Windows Server is the process consuming more memory, I don’t know what this process is about. so, It looks like the issue is more related with my user”

———-

About WindowServer:

Go Here: What is WindowServer Process on Mac - How to Prevent it from Taking High CPU Usage - MAC OS BLOG

According to that site, WindowServer is about the GUI(Graphical User Interface). So, visit that site, to find out how to decrease it. That process can overheat your Mac, and slow it down, both to extensive amounts.

Note: This has Nothing to Do with MS Windows:

You are getting WindowServer confused with the Windows Server Operating System. This has nothing to do with Microsoft Windows, but rather the GUI of macOS.

Halliday Said:

"be skeptical of its recommendations."

-------

Note: My reply applies to the Trial & Error Admin User - so, it's to be used for troubleshooting purposes.

1. Reduce Transparency

2. Turn On/Off Automatic Graphics Switching

3. Hide the Dock

4. Disable Automatic Rearrange of Spaces

5. Turn Off Separate Spaces for Displays

While I usually respect your advice, TheLittles, I don’t think much of that article you linked to.

I highly recommend users to take that article with a good dose of “salt”: be skeptical of its recommendations.

dlealval Said:

"Safari consuming to much memory: Thanks for your recommendation, I did all that, and now it consumes less memory. Still gmail and WindowServer consume the most, but less than 1Gb, it brought my attention that they high number of ports WindowServer uses. Is it normal?"

-------

Quantity of Ports:

Yes - 4 digits seems normal, as apps designed to work with GUIs typically take up many ports - so that is what is going on here. It's trying to make optimum use of the OS, with reluctant overhaul.