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I've got the 16GB M1 MacBook Pro and windowserver is using huge ammounts of RAM, meaning that my swap is over 3GB. Is this normal behaviour?

I don't have any external displays connected and it's pretty annoying when trying to run an Android emulator.

Activity Monitor

Tom J Nowell
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Charlie Niekirk
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    I'd be bothered by how much RAM Firefox is using - bearing in mind that doesn't include any open tabs, that's just the app itself. Safari here with 30 or more tabs is only eating 300MB. & appleeventsd at 4GB, mine is 7MB. Even mds is running high. – Tetsujin Oct 21 '21 at 10:41
  • The linked question is concerned with CPU rather than RAM, though there's a possibility they may be linked. – Tetsujin Oct 21 '21 at 13:08
  • this eclecticlight article was informative for me, remember that M1 machines don't have separate graphics memory like Intel machines, it's all shared, and windowserver memory usage can go higher when connecting external monitors: https://eclecticlight.co/2022/02/22/windowserver-is-hungry-for-memory-on-m1-macs/ – Tom J Nowell Jul 09 '22 at 16:07
  • @TomJNowell - you should probably add that as an answer - would make it more searchable for future users. – Tetsujin Jul 09 '22 at 16:14
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    honestly I'm not sure what the question is, it's phrased as a statement, is Charlie asking why it's taking up memory, or is Charlie asking how to reduce its footprint? Prevention steps? I don't feel I could write an answer, or that a hyperlink answer would be appropriate, it's fine as a comment though :) – Tom J Nowell Jul 09 '22 at 17:16

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