How to Free Up Memory on Mac:
The Ultimate Guide

Have you ever wondered why your Mac seems to be running a little low on memory? It is sometimes frustrating to work using such a computer, since there will be lags whenever you try to accomplish various tasks, such as opening programs. You might even get late on a project and lose some clients when your Mac is slow. Perhaps you have been wondering whether there is a way to free up some of the computer's memory and improve its performance. There are a few things you can do to accomplish that.

If you have enough RAM, but your Mac still suffers from slow performance, there may be a hardware issue. One way to address this is to install more RAM. However, if you do not have the budget for new RAM or want to fix the problem first - what can you do? Read through our guide to get some proven tips.

How to free up memory on a Mac

Understanding how to free up memory on your Mac is critical; here are a few pointers to keep the Mac running smoothly.

  1. Restart your Mac. This is the easiest method of freeing up RAM on your computer, which explains why IT people always advise you to turn your Mac off and then on. When you restart your Mac, it will clear its current RAM and any cached data. That way, when it boots up again, it should run more smoothly.
  2. Update your macOS. Your Mac's memory problems may be due to the specific macOS version being outdated. We recommend that you check and ensure you are running the latest version. If not, consider updating it.
  3. Examine the Activity Monitor. The Activity Monitor application is preinstalled on every Mac computer. You can locate it in the "Utilities" as well as at the "Spotlight" by typing "Activity Monitor". To open the Spotlight window, you can click "Command" and then space.
  4. Clean your Desktop. MacOS developers made the software in such a manner that it assumes that Desktop icons are less active. Therefore, with more icons, comes heavy memory usage on the Mac. To clean up some memory, we recommend that you cleanse the Desktop.
  5. Delete Cached files. We recommend that you rid your system of junk, for instance, cached files, incomplete downloads (old logs), and other temporary files.
  6. Configure Chrome's Task Manager.With Chrome's Task Manager, you are able to discard heavy memory processes within your browser, besides being able to see how pages weigh on your Mac's CPU usage.
  7. Use a Mac memory cleaner.
  8. Close the Finder windows.As you know, every window in Finder utilizes memory. You can free some up by pressing on Finder, going to the windows, and then select "Merge All Windows".

How to free up memory using Parallels Toolbox

Parallels Toolbox is extremely simple to use and effective at helping you free up some memory on your Mac. You only have to press a button and you can use it as many times as you need to consecutively. Here are the steps you will follow to use the tool:

  1. Launch your Parallel Toolbox (If you do not have it, you can download it and install it on your Mac by double-clicking on the downloaded file)
  2. Go to the "Library" section and scroll down to the section that says "Clean Up"
  3. Under "Clean Up" select "Delete". From here, you can delete again by pressing the "Clean Up" that pops up at the bottom, followed by "Delete"
  4. Repeat the process until the "Disk Cleanup Complete" shows up

Conclusion

In this guide, we have discussed numerous aspects of managing memory on your Mac. We hope these tips have been helpful! If you would like to learn more about the Parallels Toolbox, please check out its specific qualities on our website.