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M.vanderTorn Author

Level 1

6 points

Massive memory leak in Safari since installation El Capitan

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013)

Processor: 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7

Memory: 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

OS X El Capitan 10.11 (15A284)

Safari 9.0 (11601.1.56)

Problem 1: Soon after starting Safari my MacBook Pro runs out of memory, even if I do not touch a key after starting Safari. In the memory tab of Activity display I can see Safari is to blame for this. Not a specific website, just Safari. No other programs cause this. Before installation of El Capitan I never had this Safari problem.

Problem 2: When I try to close Safari [cmd+Q], even before it runs out of memory, it freezes. I have to use a forced stop anytime. No other programs do this. Before installation of El Capitan I never had this Safari problem.

What I tried already: I deleted all internet plug-ins and all Safari plug-ins, not that I had a lot of those, but just to be sure they were not causing the memory leak. Nothing changed.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11), 2.7GHz Intel i7 - 16GB MHz DDR3

Posted on Oct 11, 2015 2:52 PM

22 replies

no0ora31

Level 1

4 points

Jul 23, 2016 3:06 AM in response to Linc Davis

I've been searching for a solution for two days myself.. Thanks a lot man! This helped much!

Dec 7, 2016 7:36 PM in response to M.vanderTorn

I've been experiencing massive memory leaks in many successive releases of Safari, both on my MacBook Pro and on my Mac Mini, not only in El Capitan but in Yosemite. As a programmer, I conclude that this is a Safari coding problem which Apple either is unable to solve or just hasn't gotten around to solving. [Speculation] Perhaps the Safari team is so busy chasing security issues that they don't have time for memory management issues.[/Speculation]

Dec 7, 2016 9:06 PM in response to M.vanderTorn

just uncheck preload top hit pages on safari settings restart safari n clear history

eolsson

Level 1

4 points

Dec 21, 2016 4:24 PM in response to Linc Davis

Hi Linc,

This fixed the problem immediately - thanks very much indeed. I use a few Safari-only functions for my work, so in my case it's not a good option to just switch to another browser indefinitely.

I second the motion for an explanation as to why this works, if you have one

If you ever find yourself in Washington, DC, drinks are on me.

Cheers,

Eric

Dec 21, 2016 8:34 PM in response to texazpitbull

Since I unchecked preload top hit pages on safari settings the memory leak problem occurs far less often. It may not be completely cured, but it's no longer an ever-present danger.

Thanks, texazpitbull!

Gio71

Level 1

4 points

Dec 25, 2016 2:19 AM in response to Linc Davis

Works great thanks a lot.

Yiole

Level 1

4 points

Jan 20, 2017 4:08 PM in response to Linc Davis

Thank you. I was having the problem on 10.12.2 (Sierra) and Safari 10.0.2. It is resolved.

Massive memory leak in Safari since installation El Capitan