Forum Discussion

Sebastiansad's avatar
Sebastiansad
Tin Contributor
Sep 07, 2026

How can I free up or clear RAM on my Mac?

My MacBook Air has been feeling slower than usual lately, especially when I have several browser tabs and a few apps open at the same time. When I check Activity Monitor, the memory usage looks pret...
Features
AnthonyHarris's avatar
AnthonyHarris
Iron Contributor
Sep 08, 2026

Reduce login items and background processes. Login items and background processes are one of the sneakiest sources of wasted RAM on a Mac, because they're invisible unless you go looking for them. Every time you start your MacBook, a handful of apps quietly launch themselves in the background. This is why you need to disable them in order to free up more RAM cache on your Mac.

Go to System Settings > General > Login Items and remove apps you don't need launching automatically at startup.

Many apps (like cloud sync tools, messaging apps, or creative suite helpers) keep running in the background and quietly consume RAM even when you're not using them.

Bonus tip: macOS actually manages RAM pretty efficiently on its own using compression, so seeing high memory usage in Activity Monitor isn't always a problem. Please check the Memory Pressure graph at the bottom of the Memory tab to clear more RAM caches on Mac. If it's green, your Mac is handling things fine even if RAM looks "full."