Free Up System Memory Mac

/Mac Cleaner /How Much RAM Do I Need On My Mac? [Tips to Free up RAM]

How Can I Free Up Memory On My Mac
Free Memory On Mac

How much RAM do I need Mac? Well, I have one MacBook Pro. I use it to do a lot of things--watch movies, create documents, edit videos and images, and even surf the web. I multitask all the time and have more than one screen on me when using my MacBook Pro. But the thing is it seems like my Mac is slowing down. The reasons can be that the disk space is full due to the duplicate files and photos or the RAM issue. They told me to upgrade my RAM. So, how much RAM do I need on Mac?

Select ‘About This Mac.’. On the window that opens, go to the ‘Overview’ tab. Here various details of your Mac are shown, including Memory usage. For more information, click on the ‘System Report’ button. Under hardware, find the Memory tab. On the right pane, you will see the slot details. 4: Free Up Disk Space: Look out for the Disk space too. If you see RAM usage on Mac is more than it should be, then you need to free up the disk. When the main memory runs out, the system depends on the hard drive space to keep your apps going. It is a classic rule to keep at least 20% of the disk space free on the startup drive.

~MacBook Pro User

Article GuidePart 1. Can I Add RAM to My Mac?Part 2. How Do I Know if I Need More RAM Mac?Part 3. How Much RAM Do I Need on Mac?Part 4. How to Free up RAM to Enhance Mac Performance?Part 5. Conclusion

Part 1. Can I Add RAM to My Mac?

How much RAM do you really need on your Mac device? Well, the best possible thing would be to have the largest amount of RAM as you can accommodate. Too much memory is not a bad thing and it won’t hurt your device. However, too little memory (RAM) can affect your Mac device’ performance causing it to slow down. It might also cause apps to crash or become frozen.

Unfortunately, adding RAM to your device is not as simple as it may seem. Adding memory to your device whether you do it upon purchase or at a later time will cost you a bunch of cash. So, when we answer the question to 'how much RAM do I need on Mac', we are depending on factors such as budget and the benefits you will get from shelling out a specific amount of money.

Why Do You Need To Upgrade The RAM On Your Mac Device?

Before knowing the answer of 'how much RAM do I need on Mac', we should learn why do we need to upgrade the RAM first. During the past, putting an additional amount of RAM on your device will enhance its performance with almost each and every task you do. But computers have now evolved. The load placed on your Mac device’ main RAM is less compared to before.

This is because of better management of memory, super-fast GPUs (graphics processing units) that contains its own dedicated memory (RAM), and quicker storage especially for caching data that is cannot possibly be put in storage in your RAM.

For example, when it comes to games, the work of actually generating frames is executed by the GPU and its actual RAM. But, if you work with seriously large images, bigger than that of 100MB, for example, you might need an actually larger amount of RAM. The same is true if you need to work with huge databases and humongous spreadsheets.

Part 2. How Do I Know if I Need More RAM Mac?

So, you want an answer to the question of 'how much RAM do I need on Mac'? Well, the simplest way to check whether you really need more RAM is to check the device’ RAM usage. You can do it with some tools that allow you to check the system status of your device.

But, you can also do it manually. Here’s how to check RAM usage on Mac step by step:

Visit the Applications folder.
Launch the Utilities folder.
Launch Activity Monitor.
Press the tab labeled Memory. This is located at the tap.
Check out the Memory Pressure graph. This is located at the bottom part of the screen.
Look at the right side of the graph. Within it, you’ll be able to see a table. The Physical Memory part states the amount of RAM your Mac has installed.

Make sure you keep the said window open while you are currently working. Check it every now and then. Knowing the different colors mean will help you more with the question 'how much RAM do I need on Mac'. If the graph you are looking at is always green, then there is not much pressure on your RAM. This means, more memory is not necessary for your device.

If the graph is color yellow and green, some pressure is being placed on your device’ RAM. However, this is still okay. But what if the color is always red? This means, your RAM is being put on serious pressure. It also means that the startup drive of your Mac is being utilized for storage of data that should be placed in the RAM. This results in the slowing down of your Mac device.

But what if the graph is red? Well, that doesn’t mean you have to upgrade your RAM instantly. You can try to turn off browser tabs you’re not actually using. Plus, you can have more memory freed by quitting applications you’re not actually using. You can also try to log out of accounts that you don’t use. This is true especially if you are logged into more than a single account.

In the Activity Monitor, you can simply press the down arrow located at the top part of the Memory Column to check out which processes, apps, and browser tabs are currently taking up the use of most of the memory. This will sort them in the order of the processes (or apps and browsers) that use up the most RAM up to the least one. If you find out that you are using some apps or pages or processes that use up a lot of RAM and you don’t necessarily need them, then simply close these apps (or pages and processes).

You can also use third-party tools that give you a report of memory usage. Some of these tools can help you clean your RAM to free up space when you simply close applications. Thus, the memory is made free for utilization by other apps and tools.

Can RAM Be Upgraded?

So you roughly understand 'how much RAM do I need on Mac', then you may be confused with upgrade RAM. There are Mac devices that can be upgraded. There are devices that can’t be upgraded. If you have a MacBook Air, MacBook, or MacBook Pro and you bought it within the last 5 years, you will not have the option to upgrade its RAM.

However, if you currently have an iMac, you might have the ability to do a RAM upgrade. This depends on when the actual iMac has been created and if it currently has free RAM slots. To check out which iMac devices can be upgraded, you check out the list here. The iMac Pro can be upgraded however it has to be done by an authorized service provider or by Apple themselves. The Mac mini and the Mac Pro can be upgraded as well.

Part 3. How Much RAM Do I Need on Mac?

After all that we’ve put in here, how much RAM do you really need in your Mac device? Well, for a lot of users, 8GB of RAM would be okay. You’ll have the ability to work on docs, videos, and photos comfortably. Plus, you’ll be able to surf the web as well.

If you have to work on huge-sized databases, images, spreadsheets and if you need to open a lot of applications simultaneously, you might want to have it upgraded to 16GB. However, you still need to weigh the costs of actually getting the RAM with that of the benefits you’ll get.

Now you know 'how much RAM do I need on Mac', when your Mac is slowing down, you may need to consider free up your RAM to make it run faster.

Part 4. How to Free up RAM to Enhance Mac Performance?

Will adding memory increase iMac speed? The answer is Yes. The reason why you would upgrade your RAM is to enhance the performance of your Mac device making it faster in the long run. However, there are also other methods you can do to enhance the performance of your Mac device. For example, your hard disk drive can be converted into a solid-state drive (SSD). This leads to enhanced startup times. It also results in improved performance because Mac’s operating system utilizes the startup drive in order to cache files.

Another thing you can do is to check and free up more disk space on the startup drive. You need to remove the unnecessary files that clog your system up. Mac cleaning tools may help you achieve this. It is recommended that you use iMyMac PowerMyMac for this. It supports all kinds of Mac devices such as MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac... Below are the steps to use this tool.

Here’s how to use the said PowerMyMac to free up RAM step by step:

Download the software from the official website.
Launch the said software within your Mac device. The main interface will show you updates of your Network condition and system status.
Visit the left-hand side of the screen. Click the option named Master Scan.
Press the Scan button to start screening your entire Mac device for junk files. Wait until the entire process is complete.
Once the process is complete, it will show junk files in various categories such as Application Cache, Photo Cache, Email Cache, System Logs, System Cache, and System Trash, etc. Select a category you want.
Select the data you want to delete per category. If you want, you can preview the files first.
Click the button named Clean. Wait until the cleanup process is complete.
Go back to the left-hand side of the screen and repeat steps 01 to 08. However, step 03 would be different. In this case, you have to select Large & Old Files or Duplicate Finder to remove other unnecessary files in your system.

Advantages:

It helps you scan your entire Mac device for junk files, unnecessary files, clutter, and old files.
You are free to use the application for the first 500 megabytes of data. This means you get a free trial. At least, you get to try out the software first before actually paying out of your pocket.
After it scans your entire Mac device, you are free to preview each file before actually deleting it. In this way, you know that you are actually deleting the right thing. Say bye-bye to mistakenly delete files.
The processes of scanning and cleaning up your Mac device can be implemented with only a few clicks of the button.
The files you preview can be sorted into various categories depending on what you want. These categories include size, date, type, etc.
You get free email support and one on one support from the iMyMac. This is to help you learn more about the software and it helps you troubleshoot problems in case you encounter some.

Disadvantages:

We can’t find any.

Part 5. Conclusion

How Can I Free Up Memory On My Mac

Checking your RAM is very easy and important as this lets you know 'how much RAM do I need on Mac' and if you need more of it to improve the performance of your Mac device. Although, there are times when you don’t need more RAM and you simply need to clean up your Mac for improved performance.

For this, you need a tool called iMyMac PowerMyMac. It can help you delete unnecessary files and free up more space on your Mac device to boost its speed and performance.

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What is System storage on Mac?

System storage, obviously, contains the macOS itself but what else is there? Part of this storage includes applications, drivers, volume data, and Library. While the nominal size of the macOS is around 12 GB (for macOS Big Sur), the Library is the real space-hogger. It contains piles of old cache files and supporting data.

Why does the system take so much space on Mac?

Your system is mainly stored in both the System and Library folders. If your system is taking up too much disk space on Mac, explore those two folders and see what's stored in them.

If you’re having a lot of your space allocated for “system,” you may have Time Machine snapshots stored on your Mac. Later in this article, we’re going to explain how to remove Time Machine backups.

How to reduce system storage on Mac

1. Check for unnecessary files in System storage

Much of the storage space used by the OS for system-related tasks is cleared when macOS deletes the files automatically, but sometimes that doesn’t happen, which is why the System category can grow very large. Apple doesn’t explain what comprises this category of storage, but it’s likely that the following are part of it:

Time Machine backups
Old iOS backups
File Vault files
App cache files
Unused disk images

Not knowing what files are included in System storage makes finding them tricky. However, it’s far from impossible. My favorite tool for clearing unnecessary system junk from my Mac is CleanMyMac X. It has lots of tools for clearing out junk files, but for our purposes, there’s one that really helps: System Junk. This handy utility scans your Mac and identifies things like temporary files, translation files in apps, broken preferences files, old updates, and system cache files that are no longer needed. You can then remove them with one click. Or you can choose which ones you want to get rid of and remove just those. If you want to give it a go, you can download a free version of CleanMyMac X here.

Once you’ve downloaded and installed it, do this:

Launch CleanMyMac X.
Choose System Junk in the sidebar.
Press Scan.
Once it’s finished, if you’re happy to remove the files CleanMyMac recommends, press Clean.
If not, choose Review Details and go through the list of results.
Uncheck the box next to any items you don’t want to delete.

That will help you to get rid of system storage on Mac.

As you can see from the screenshot, the app offers to remove my Unused Disk Images (the remains of DMG installers), broken downloads, old app updates. If you use Photoshop or other media editor you’ll see the option to delete Document Versions — intermediate edits of your files. In other words, you have many options for freeing up space at your disposal.

2. Manually remove Time Machine backups

Aside from using CleanMyMac X, one of the most straightforward ways to clear system storage on a Mac, is to get rid of Time Machine backups. Wait, what? You thought Time Machine backups were stored on an external or network drive? They are! But macOS also keeps a copy of your backup on your startup drive, in case the external drive isn’t available when you need to restore files. That way you can restore data on a MacBook even when you’re on the move.

macOS should delete Time Machine backups when your Mac runs low on storage, but it doesn’t always work out that way. And besides, you might not want to wait until your Mac is short of space before you delete them. So, here’s how to reduce system storage on a Mac by deleting Time Machine backups. Remember that will delete local copies of your backups, so if you think you might need them, don’t do it.

Go to Applications > Utilities and launch Terminal.
When a Terminal window opens, type: tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates
Press Return.

You will now see a list of stored Time Machine backups, listed by date.

Type: tmutil deletelocalsnapshots xxxxxxx where ‘xxxxxxx’ is the name of one of the backups listed . This will take the form of a date followed by a text string.
Press Return.
Repeat steps 1 and 2 for as many backups as you want to remove, checking the Storage tab in About this Mac each time to see how much space you’ve cleared.

3. Optimize your storage

If you’ve faced a cluttered storage situation, there’s another way to fix it. Apple has anticipated such an issue and equipped the macOS with some features to optimize your space.

Go to the Apple menu and select About This Mac. Select the Storage tab and press Manage. In the window that appears, you can see some of the useful suggestions. 'Store in iCloud' lets you transfer all your data to cloud storage and reclaim some GBs on your Mac. The second option allows you to delete the heaviest files, like movies and programs.

Turning on 'Empty Bin Automatically' can be a useful option if you forget to do it regularly.

By pressing Review Files, you will jump into the Documents section. Review the files that are stored on your Mac and pay attention to the Unsupported Apps category. It can contain some programs that can no longer run on your macOS version.

Bonus tip: remove duplicate files

Aside from the bizarre system files, another thing that nibbles on your storage is duplicates. Remember that track you’ve accidentally added twice? Or a mail attachment you’ve opened several times? All these files just sit on your Mac and take up precious space.

Here’s how you can quickly delete them in a few clicks.

Download and open Gemini 2
Choose a folder and click Scan for Duplicates
Wait for the scan to finish

Now you can Click Smart Cleanup to get rid of detected duplicates and delete system storage on Mac. Or click Review Results if you want to double-check what’s being deleted.

What else can you do to reduce System storage on Mac?

Believe it or not, one thing you can do is wait. When you first choose the Storage tab in About this Mac, macOS seems to allocate quite a lot to System that it then reallocates elsewhere. For example, some users have reported that after waiting for a few minutes, much of the storage that was labeled System, is moved to the iCloud label. So if you wait, you might find that the System isn’t taking up disk space in the huge quantities that it seemed to be at first.

The other thing you can do is investigate what files are designated as ‘System’. We’ve already talked about Time Machine backups, but everything stored in your Mac’s System or Library folders comes under the ‘System’ heading in About this Mac. That is:

/Library

/System

~/Library

Free Memory On Mac

~/System

Click on the Go menu in Finder and select Go to Folder, then paste in each of the paths above in turn.

Go through the subfolders in each and press Cmd-I to Get Info and check how much data is in each. You’ll quickly discover where your precious storage has gone.

It’s likely that much of it is accounted for by cache files for apps like Photos and Safari. MacOS caches as much data as it can to avoid having to re-download it, which boosts performance. And it’s smart enough to know that it must delete cache files when you run low on storage.

If you decide that you don’t want to leave it up to the operating system to free up storage, don’t just start trashing cache files or folders randomly, you might delete something you shouldn’t. So be careful

Another way to go about it, is to use a storage analyzer. There are nice apps that search for hidden space on Mac and reveal your largest folders. You can use a free version of CleanMyMac X and inside it, it has a feature called 'Space Lens.'

Those bubbles show your largest folders and you can zoom in and out and delete junk files right from there.

A fun and visual way to delete system storage on Mac.

System storage can occupy tens of gigabytes of space on your Mac for Time Machine backups and cache files. It should be managed by macOS so you’re never short of space. But if you want to do a system storage cleanup, or just free up more space on your Mac, give CleanMyMac X a go. You might be surprised by how much space you get back.

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