How to Check Memory Usage on a Mac

This wikiHow teaches you to check how much of your Mac computer's memory is currently being used.

EditSteps

1. Open a new Finder window. It's the blue and white face icon in the dock at the bottom of your Mac desktop.
   
2. Click . It's in the left pane of the Finder window.
   
3. Open the Utilities folder. It's a blue folder with a screwdriver and wrench icon near the bottom of the Applications folder.
   
4. Double-click . It's the app with the icon that resembles a heart rate monitor.
   
5. Click the tab. It's at the top of the window next to the "CPU" tab.
   
6. Check the "Memory Pressure" graph. It's at the bottom-left of the Activity Monitor window.
   
   • If memory pressure graph is green, you have plenty of memory.
   • If memory pressure graph is yellow, your Mac is starting to use a lot of memory.
   • If memory pressure graph is red, your memory is being depleted. Close one or more apps. You may need to consider upgrading the memory on your Mac.

EditTips

Some helpful terms for understanding the Activity Monitor:

• Physical Memory: the total amount of memory installed on your Mac.
• Memory Used: the total amount of memory currently being used.
• Cached Files: memory that was recently used by apps that is now available.
• Swap Files: memory borrowed by other apps.
• App Memory: memory being used just by apps.
• Wired Memory: memory reserved by apps that cannot be used by other services.
• Compressed Memory: memory that has been compressed to make more memory.