Limit memory for Safari?

Question

Is there a way to limit memory usage of Safari?This morning I found my system unresponsive because one Safari process had used all available memory and disk space (for swap). The screen was locked, mouse movements only started registering after about a minute and the keyboard was unresponsive as well. I waited for several minutes to no avail.I logged in remotely using ssh on the ipad and noticed that a Safari process was using around 40GB of memory; which is pretty much all of the 8GB of internal memory and the about 35GB of free disk space I normally have. In the end I had to hard reboot the machine, as even sudo shutdown -r now didn&#x27;t shut it down...To the point, that was an insane amount of memory usage and realistically anything over 2GB would be an indication of a problem on a page already. Can I somehow limit Safari processes to, say, 2GB of memory?PS: I tried killing the Safari process with the kill command, both with and without sudo, but the process stayed. Is there some other method of killing it from the command line?PS2: Apparently there is some javascript world-clock out there that&#x27;s included in some pages I visit that causes this. I haven&#x27;t been able to pinpoint the exact source of the problem.

John Lockwood · Answer

All web browsers even on Windows I find to leak memory like the proverbial sieve. The more windows or tabs you have open and the longer you leave it running the more memory is used and &#x27;leaked&#x27;.I am not aware of a means of defining a limit for a specific individual program in terms of memory use.To kill Safari via a terminal session using the kill command you would first need to find its PID (Process ID), this would involve running the ps command, to help you out I have included a grep command to filter it to the single process you are looking for.ps -x | grep "Safari.app"This will actually list two results, one the actual Safari process, the other the above command itself which of course contains Safari.app in the command. You should then be able to do sudo kill -9 1234by substituting the correct PID number.However there is another perhaps easier solution which is not to use the kill command but instead to use the related killall command as follows.sudo killall -c Safari

Dalroi123 · Answer

Some leakage wouldn&#x27;t bother me, but this particular case can easily be witnessed in Activity Monitor when it takes off (which appears to be kind of random); the process normally uses about 100MB, but doubles or triples in memory usage with every refresh (every 5s) of Activity Monitor!I&#x27;m basically trying to bandaid this behaviour by stopping Safari in its tracks when this does happen. Better to have Safari break than the entire system. I&#x27;m still hoping for some way to do that...It also appears that (AFAIK, unlike several other UNIX-based OS&#x27;s) OS X doesn&#x27;t limit user process resources so that kernel/core/system processes can always continue, even when resources are low. Otherwise the system would probably not have locked up like it did - although ssh still worked (and with good responsiveness even)! Curious...I did try variations on the commands you suggested while logged in through ssh this morning, but they didn&#x27;t work. I suppose the system had already gotten in a wedged state due to lack of resources, or at least Safari had become unkillable. Anyway, thanks for confirming that those commands should have worked.BTW, I noticed while testing just now that you don&#x27;t need sudo to kill Safari. That makes sense when you&#x27;re logged in under the same account, they are your processes after all.

cdhw · Answer

What you describe is not normal behaviour for Safari itself. If it&#x27;s not confined to a single website, it is likely you have a third-party extension that is causing the problem. If you want some suggestions as to possible culprits post an EtreCheck report:     https://etrecheck.com/here so we can see what you&#x27;ve got installed.C.

Dalroi123 · Answer

To clarify "kind of random": It is kind of random in time for at least one specific web site, not random in which web site I visit. The act of refreshing the website often (say 1 out of 3 refreshes) starts the memory churning away. Oddly, the website has a refresh button as well that uses AJAX to update the most relevant content, which does not cause this, so it&#x27;s probably related to one of the asides (either the Disqus forum or the world clock, both external scripts).When it&#x27;s starting to run away: Copying the URL, closing the tab, opening a new tab and finally pasting the URL usually fixes the behaviour. Sometimes this happens after a while all by itself (like last night), presumably because something on the web site executes a reload.I don&#x27;t see much of interest in the EtreCheck report, but here it is:EtreCheck version: 2.9.12 (265)Report generated 2016-05-10 16:18:51Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.comRuntime 2:58Performance: ExcellentClick the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.Click the [Check files] link for help with unknown files.Problem: BeachballingDescription:Safari runs out of memoryHardware Information: ⓘ    Mac mini (Late 2012)     [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty &amp; Service]    Mac mini - model: Macmini6,1    1 2,5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core    8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]        BANK 0/DIMM0            4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok        BANK 1/DIMM0            4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok    Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/nVideo Information: ⓘ    Intel HD Graphics 4000        Cinema HD 1920 x 1200System Software: ⓘ    OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 (15E65) - Time since boot: about 7 hoursDisk Information: ⓘ    APPLE HDD HTS545050A7E362 disk0 : (500,11 GB) (Rotational)        EFI (disk0s1) &lt;not mounted&gt; : 210 MB         Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 499.25 GB (35.16 GB free)        Recovery HD (disk0s3) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [Recovery]: 650 MB USB Information: ⓘ    Apple, Inc. IR Receiver     Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub         Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller     Logitech USB Receiver     Apple Computer, Inc. Apple Cinema HD Display     Razer Razer Orbweaver     Apple Inc. iPhone     CM Storm Quickfire Pro Ultimate 6 key     Seagate Expansion Desk 4 TB        EFI (disk1s1) &lt;not mounted&gt; : 315 MB         TimeMachine (disk1s2) /Volumes/TimeMachine : 1.00 TB (6.32 GB free)        Storage (disk1s3) /Volumes/Storage : 3.00 TB (2.21 TB free)    MediaTek Inc MT1806      Apple Inc. iPad Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ    Apple Inc. thunderbolt_busGatekeeper: ⓘ    Mac App Store and identified developersUnknown Files: ⓘ    /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.macports.gkrellm.plist    One unknown file found. [Check files]Kernel Extensions: ⓘ        /Library/Application Support/VirtualBox    [loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (5.0.16 - 2016-03-22) [Support]    [loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (5.0.16 - 2016-03-22) [Support]    [loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (5.0.16 - 2016-03-22) [Support]    [loaded]    org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (5.0.16 - 2016-03-22) [Support]        /Users/xxx/Downloads (original)/LCC Installer.app    [not loaded]    com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver (3.5.1 - SDK 10.0 - 2011-11-04) [Support]System Launch Agents: ⓘ    [not loaded]    9 Apple tasks    [loaded]    147 Apple tasks    [running]    82 Apple tasksSystem Launch Daemons: ⓘ    [not loaded]    40 Apple tasks    [loaded]    157 Apple tasks    [running]    93 Apple tasksLaunch Agents: ⓘ    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2013-06-07) [Support]    [running]    net.culater.SIMBL.Agent.plist (2009-10-26) [Support]    [not loaded]    org.freedesktop.dbus-session.plist [Support]    [loaded]    org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist (2014-08-11) [Support]Launch Daemons: ⓘ    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-04-05) [Support]    [loaded]    com.equinux.VPNTracker7.agent.plist (2013-12-18) [Support]    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2013-06-07) [Support]    [loaded]    org.firebird.gds.plist (2015-04-26) [Support]    [not loaded]    org.freedesktop.dbus-system.plist [Support]    [loaded]    org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist (2014-08-11) [Support]    [not loaded]    org.macports.gkrellm.plist [Support]    [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.startup.plist (2016-03-22) [Support]User Launch Agents: ⓘ    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-03-02) [Support]    [not loaded]    org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist (2016-03-22) [Support]User Login Items: ⓘ    iTunesHelper    Application  (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)Other Apps: ⓘ    [running]    org.vim.MacVim.56352    [loaded]    391 Apple tasks    [running]    209 Apple tasksInternet Plug-ins: ⓘ    iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (2009-03-13)    FlashPlayer-10.6: 21.0.0.213 - SDK 10.6 (2016-04-09) [Support]    net.juniper.DSSafariExtensions: Unknown (2014-03-13) [Support]    QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-04-21)    Flash Player: 21.0.0.213 - SDK 10.6 (2016-04-09) Outdated! Update    Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-04-22)    Silverlight: 3.0.40818.0 (2009-08-18) [Support]    JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 91 build 14 (2016-05-04) Check versionSafari Extensions: ⓘ    HD quality for YouTube™ - James Fray - http://add0n.com/youtube-hd.html (2015-03-31)    ClickToFlash - Marc Hoyois - http://hoyois.github.com/safariextensions/clicktoplugin/ (2015-11-28)    Save to Pocket - Read It Later, Inc. - http://getpocket.com/ (2015-11-05)    TinEye - TinEye - https://tineye.com (2015-11-28)    Ghostery - GHOSTERY, Inc. - https://www.ghostery.com/ (2016-03-13)3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ    Flash Player (2016-04-05) [Support]    Java (2016-05-04) [Support]    MenuMeters (2014-05-06) [Support]Time Machine: ⓘ    Skip System Files: NO    Mobile backups: OFF    Auto backup: YES    Volumes being backed up:        Macintosh HD: Disk size: 499.25 GB Disk used: 464.08 GB    Destinations:        TimeMachine [Local]         Total size: 1.00 TB         Total number of backups: 115         Oldest backup: 07/11/14 0:50         Last backup: 10/05/16 15:51         Size of backup disk: Too small            Backup size 1.00 TB &lt; (Disk used 464.08 GB X 3)Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ         8%    WindowServer         7%    kernel_task         6%    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(18)         1%    Transmission         1%    com.apple.WebKit.NetworkingTop Processes by Memory: ⓘ    1.09 GB    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(18)    901 MB    kernel_task    451 MB    softwareupdated    221 MB    mdworker(12)    197 MB    SafariVirtual Memory Information: ⓘ    1.56 GB    Free RAM     6.44 GB    Used RAM (3.10 GB Cached)    0 B    Swap Used Diagnostics Information: ⓘ    May 10, 2016, 08:38:44 AM    Self test - passed

Jay Craft · Answer

Similar things happening to me as well.  I just had a runaway Safari process for a wikipedia page.  And as I know (or at least think I do) Wikipedia doesn&#x27;t exactly plaster weird banner ads or flash videos on their pages.I think ~10 GB is a bit much for a page of text.  But as you said, for me it happens seemingly randomly with different pages.  I keep expecting whatever bug to be fixed in new versions of OS X and/or Safari but no luck.I do share Ghostery with your Safari extensions (the only other I&#x27;m using is LastPass).