Mac Guide: Your System Has Run out of Application Memory

There are users who have reported online that they received the Force Quit Applications message prompting “Your system has run out of application memory” on their Mac. Some of these users find that the annoying prompt pops out when they are using a specific app or when fewer processes are running, etc. If you are also bothered by such a “Force Quit Applications” notification, take it easy! We will provide a full guide on fixing and preventing the issue of “application memory runs out on macOS”. For more details, let’s move on.

Part 1. When Does "Your System Has Run out of Application Memory" Prompt Appear

To better understand when “application memory runs out on your Mac” happens, let’s learn about what application memory is first. Application memory is the temporary data used by running apps on your Mac, commonly stored in RAM. When the space in RAM is insufficient, application memory will be stored on the Macintosh HD(boot drive) as virtual memory. If both of the RAM and boot drive are full and application memory can’t be stored successfully, then you will see a pop-out written with “Your system has run out of application memory”.

Why is Application Memory so Full on Your Mac

So why is RAM too full to save application memory? It’s most likely that too much application memory is generated and here are some common cases.

• Many apps are launched simultaneously.
• Numerous tabs are opened on your browser.
• You are running resource-intensive applications.
• Some apps don’t release RAM properly.

Part 2. Quick Fixes for macOS Running out of Application Memory

To get rid of “Your system has run out of application memory”, the fast way is to clear application memory on Mac and you can follow the 2 ways below to get it done.

Fix 1: Close Memory-Heavy Apps

Check the app memory and completely quit the app consuming a large amount of memory. This way, application memory is cleared up and thus the error message is gone.

Step 1: Open a Finder window. Then, click Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor.

Step 2: Switch to the Memory tab. Next, find and note down the app whose processes use much memory.

Step 3: Access the Apple menu and choose Force Quit.

Step 4: Select the memory-heavy app you recorded before and click Force Quit to completely close it.

Fix 2: Restart Mac

Restarting Mac can fast refresh your RAM. This way, RAM storage is reclaimed and application memory is cleaned up.

Step 1: Click the Apple icon in the top bar, followed by selecting Restart.

Step 2: Hit Restart in the pop-out to confirm your operation.

Part 3. Useful Tips to Prevent Application Memory from Running Out on macOS

The fore part helps temporarily stop the “Force Quit Application” notification on your Mac and the error may occur again soon. Therefore, it’s suggested to take some action to avoid “macOS runs out of application memory” as much as possible. 8 Tips are summed up for you here.

Tip 1: Use Lightweight App Alternatives

If you find that memory runs low when you open specific software, simply check the memory usage of such an app in Activity Monitor to see whether it’s the culprit. If the app is, then consider replacing it with a lightweight one.

Tip 2: Clear Boot Disk

As a full boot drive can cause “Your system has run out of application memory”, clearing the boot disk and keeping enough available space is no doubt a handy tip. You can use a smart macOS cleaning tool, Macube Cleaner to securely and easily free up the boot drive. Macube Cleaner wipes junk from the system drive on your Mac in one click, including but not limited to system cache, system logs and user logs. This way, you are free from the possible risks of manual cleanup, which is deleting important system files and causing system issues.

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How to Clear Boot Drive on Mac

Step 1: Run Macube Cleaner after installing it on your Mac.

Step 2: Click Smart Scan in the main interface and all junk on your macOS will be found instantly.

Step 3: Check all items you want to remove and hit Clean to clear your system drive on Mac.

Tip 3: Run Less Apps/Browser Tabs at One Time

Sometimes, you may leave the unneeded apps opening, so does for browser tabs. It’s not recommended to do this, as the running apps or browser tabs will occupy memory indeed. So, don’t hesitate to close the apps or browser tabs you don’t need in time.

Tip 4: Manage Login Items

It’s possible that some startup programs are no longer necessary for you now. These startups could take a certain amount of application memory indeed. You can look through the login items on your Mac via the steps below.

Step 1: Access the Apple Menu to choose System Settings.

Step 2: Choose General > Login Items.

Step 3: Locate the Open at Login section and select the app you don’t want it to automatically run when you log in to your Mac. Then, click the “-(minus)” icon to remove it from the startup list.

Tip 5: Adjust the Memory Used by Finder

Do you know that the files in Recent of Finder used application memory for quick access? However, it’s not a big deal, as we can easily set what Finder shows when we open it and here is how.

Step 1: Run Finder and click Finder in the top menu. Next, select Settings from the drop-down menu.

Step 2: In the Finder Settings window, set the option “New Finder windows show” from “Recent” to another path.

Step 3: Right-click the Finder icon while pressing the Option key. Then, choose Relaunch to make your settings work.

Tip 6: Remove Unneeded Extensions

Browser extensions can also cause application memory exhaustion. You can remove the useless extensions from your favorite browser and release memory effectively. Following is how to uninstall extensions and plugins on Safari.

Step 1: In the upper pane of Safari, click Safari > Settings.

Step 2: Choose Extensions tab in the Preferences window.

Step 3: Scroll the extension list and tick the unneeded one. After that, click Uninstall to remove the plugins from Safari.

Tip 7: Update Apps

Besides adding new features, the latest version of an app usually fixes the previous bugs that may lead to the overload or hogging of application memory. Therefore, updating apps is a good habit for freeing up RAM and thus you are stopped from being stuck on “application memory is run out” issue. To update apps on Mac, only 2 steps are required.

Step 1: Launch Apple Store and click Updates in the sidebar.

Step 2: Click Update next to the target app or directly hit Update All in the top right corner to update all apps.

Tip: For the apps download outside App Store, you need to open the app, click the app name in the upper pane and select Check for Updates to see whether there is an available update.

Tip 8: Update macOS

Outdated macOS is one of the culprits of “application memory is filled fast”. You are recommended to keep your macOS latest.

Step 1: Select System Settings from the Apple menu.

Step 2: Click General and then Software Update.

Step 3: Click Update Now to install the newest macOS if there’s an update available.

Part 4. How to Add Application Memory to Mac

Upgrading RAM will enlarge application memory on your Mac, though it isn’t supported on all Mac. You can follow the official guides(iMac/MacBook) from Apple to check whether memory upgrade is allowed on your Mac and uninstall/install RAM on your Mac.

Alternatively, you can take your Mac to the physical Apple Store and seek help from professionals to make the memory upgrade easier.

Wrap Up

Believe that you now know well about how to get rid of the annoying Force Quit Applications notification “Your system has run out of application memory” on your Mac. To avoid the error message again, don’t hesitate to follow the 8 tips including clearing the boot drive with Macube Cleaner, managing login items and more.