Mac 'Your System Has Run Out of Application Memory' Error

Overview

The macOS 'Your system has run out of application memory' alert indicates RAM and swap are exhausted, requiring you to close applications.

Key Details

• macOS uses a combination of physical RAM and disk swap space
• When both are exhausted, this alert appears
• Compressed memory is shown in Activity Monitor > Memory > Memory Pressure
• Memory pressure graph turns red when the system is critically low
• Can cause applications to be forcefully terminated by the OS

Common Causes

• Too many applications or browser tabs open simultaneously
• Memory leak in an application consuming increasing RAM over time
• Insufficient RAM for the workload (common on 8 GB machines)
• Swap space exhausted due to low disk space
• Browser extensions consuming excessive memory

Steps

1. 1Open Activity Monitor > Memory tab and sort by Memory column to find the biggest consumers
2. 2Close unnecessary applications and browser tabs
3. 3Force quit memory-hogging apps via Apple menu > Force Quit
4. 4Restart the Mac to clear all memory and swap
5. 5If recurring, consider upgrading RAM (if possible) or using fewer concurrent applications

Tags

More in App Errors

Frequently Asked Questions