Fix macOS "Finder" High Memory Usage

Is Finder using 10GB+ of RAM and slowing down your Mac?

Recommended Troubleshooting Tool

Before proceeding with manual fixes, we recommend using CleanMyMac X. Quickly identify high CPU apps and optimize system memory with one click.

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The Symptom

Activity Monitor shows Finder using an astronomical amount of "Memory," and the system warns "Your system has run out of application memory."

The Fix

1. Relaunch Finder

Option + Right Click the Finder icon in the dock and select Relaunch.

1. Disable Desktop Stacks

Right-click your desktop and uncheck Use Stacks. Sometimes the indexing for stacks causes a memory leak.

1. Clear Finder Preferences

Open Terminal and run:

rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
killall Finder

Fix 3: The Advanced Memory Management

When "Memory Pressure" becomes critical due to background indexing.

Finder often leaks memory when it's trying to generate thumbnails for corrupted image or video files in a specific folder.

Recommended Tool: CleanMyMac X

- Free Up RAM: When you get the "Out of Memory" warning, use the CleanMyMac menu bar tool to instantly flush the inactive memory and kill the leaking Finder process.

- System Junk: Delete the "Image Caches" and "Thumbnail Caches" that Finder uses, forcing it to start with a clean slate.

[Link: Fix Finder Memory Leaks with CleanMyMac X]