6 Best Ways to Fix Safari High Memory Usage on Mac
Although Safari is one of the fastest and most efficient web browsers on Mac, it is not free from problems. Sometimes Safari keeps crashing on Mac, fails to find the server and consumes abnormal memory usage. Such behavior increases the temperature of the Mac and slows down the system. Here are the best ways to fix Safari high memory usage on Mac.
Safari’s high memory usage also causes glitches and errors in other applications. Since your Mac applications have less RAM, you need help with day-to-day operations. First, we’ll show you how to confirm Safari’s high memory usage and follow the troubleshooting steps to fix the problem.
Use Activity Monitor to Confirm High Memory Usage
Before making any changes to Safari browser on Mac, you need to confirm the malicious behavior of the default browser. We will be using the built-in Activity Monitor in macOS. Follow the steps below.
Step 1: Press Command + Space shortcut to open Spotlight search.
2nd step: Type Activity Monitor and press Return.
Step 3: Go to the Memory tab.
Step 4: You can check memory pressure, total physical memory, used memory, cached files and swapped memory.
Step 5: Check Safari under the process name and see how much memory it is consuming.
Usually, 2GB to 3GB memory usage is normal behavior from a desktop browser. If you notice that Safari is taking up 8GB-9GB of RAM, that’s an alarming situation and you need to fix it to keep your Mac running smoothly.
1. Close Irrelevant Tabs
Safari doesn’t come with anything like Sleep Tabs (Microsoft Edge) or Memory Saver (Google Chrome) to put irrelevant tabs to sleep and conserve memory. The browser keeps all tabs active in the background all the time. You should frequently close unnecessary tabs to avoid high memory usage on Mac.
Step 1: Open Safari on Mac.
2nd step: Take a look at all open tabs at the top.
Step 3: Tap the “x” mark next to the tabs you don’t want to use at this time.
If you plan to revisit the same article later, bookmark it or add it to your reading list.
Step 4: Click the little “+” icon in the address bar and add the webpage to the reading list.
Step 5: Right-click the same “+” icon to bookmark the page.
2. Review Safari Extensions
Safari supports third-party web extensions to improve your browsing experience. The selection is slim compared to Chrome Web Store, but it still has plenty of extensions.
Not all extensions are regularly updated and updated. If several outdated and unnecessary extensions are running in the background, it can consume a lot of memory. You should review the installed Safari extension and uninstall irrelevant ones.
Step 1: Launch Safari on Mac.
2nd step: Select Safari in the upper right corner of the menu bar and select Settings.
Step 3: Click on the Extensions tab. Select Unknown Extensions from the left sidebar.
Step 4: Tap Uninstall and confirm your decision.
3. Force Quit Safari
Due to high memory usage, Safari may become unresponsive at times. You need to force quit Safari and try using it again.
Step 1: Launch Activity Monitor on Mac (refer to the steps above).
2nd step: Select Safari and tap the x mark at the top.
Step 3: Relaunch Safari and closely monitor memory usage.
4. Simplify Safari’s Home Page
Safari lets you customize the homepage with useful add-ons. But when you block your homepage with Siri suggestions, privacy report, background images and other menus, it can consume lots of memory. Here’s how to simplify Safari’s homepage on Mac.
Step 1: Open Safari and select the personalization button in the lower right corner.
2nd step: Disable the check mark next to irrelevant menus and relaunch the application.
5. Update macOS
Safari is closely related to macOS. Apple releases new Safari features and bug fixes with new macOS updates. An outdated version of macOS can cause high memory usage in Safari.
Step 1: Click the Apple icon in the upper left corner and open System Settings.
2nd step: Select General and open the Software Update menu.
Step 3: Download and install the latest macOS update.
6. Ditch Safari for Microsoft Edge
If you’re still having issues with Safari, it’s time to ditch Safari in favor of other alternatives. The Mac ecosystem is full of many capable browsers, and Microsoft Edge is one of the best of them. It has a long list of features, is compatible with all Chromium browsers and works on all platforms.
Smooth Safari experience on Mac
High memory usage of Safari on Mac is never a desirable situation. You can easily fix the problem using the above tips. What trick worked for you? Let us know in the comments below.