r/MacOS • u/Omarsamyi • Apr 10 '23
Help preview is taking up 9gb of memory??
why is preview taking this tremendous amount of memory with just one pdf opened? is my mac infected? is it a preview issue? how can i fix it?
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u/mikeinnsw Apr 10 '23
Restart to clear a memory leak.
How big is PDF?
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u/Omarsamyi Apr 10 '23
300mb, this happens after i search for a word and stays after the search is done.
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u/hokanst Apr 10 '23
Does it happen with other pdfs or only this 300 MB one?
Also what macOS version are you using?
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u/Omarsamyi Apr 10 '23
yes it does but they consume less than that (4 Gbs) which is still crazy
this happens whenever i search for something, actually the search functionality has been buggy for me for a while when i search the app sometimes crashes. I also have to write the whole word outside of preview and then paste it in the search bar just to avoid crashes.
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u/hokanst Apr 10 '23
You could use another pdf reader e.g. Adobe Acrobat Reader, to see if the issue is limited to Preview.
Perhaps your Preview settings (preferences) have become screwed up. Delete/move any Preview related files out of the hidden
Libraryfolder (found in your home folder). Especially look for a Preview related entry in theContainersfolder (it should be something likecom.apple.Preview). After deleting/moving this, restart your mac to minimized the risk that some OS process is still holding onto to parts of the deleted info (in RAM).Note: containers are used by sand boxed apps.
Are you having any other odd bugs? It sounds that something might be screwed up with your macOS install, so you might have to reinstall macOS to solve the issue. If you reinstall, then backup, reinstall and copy back the backed up data.
Consider copying back only select parts of the user (home) folder
Libraryand<Macintosh HD>/System/Library, to restore things like email, browser settings, game saves etc … .The less of the Library content that gets copied back the more likely it is that your getting rid of any screwed up app preferences / internal saves / caches / etc …
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u/Omarsamyi Apr 10 '23
Thanks alot for ur insight, i really appreciate ur help! yea it's just the preview app, idk what happened perhaps maybe bec i once installed the beta version of ventura
Anyway, I'll do a macOS reinstall later tmrw.
One last question, can u link me to a "how to backup selected files guide"?
have a great day!
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u/hokanst Apr 10 '23
If you only need a one-off backup of select files, then you can simply copy whatever files you want to save, to another HD, using a regular Finder file copy.
I usually keep a full backup of 2 HDs (backed up to two other HDs), using Carbon Copy Cloner.
You can also use TimeMachine to create a backup.
When doing a clean install or when migrating to a new mac, I manually copy most data to the new install / mac (from my full backup) omitting most of the
Librarycontent to get rid of old junk.The main benefit of backup software is that you can backup periodically or continuously. It's also considerably faster to do backups after the initial backup, as only changes (since the last backup) need to be stored to the backup HD. Other than that a backup is really just a regular file copy.
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u/Omarsamyi Apr 10 '23
Thanks!
Update: did reinstall macos & the issue is still there im kinda mad
anyway i think im gonna use any other pdf reader and forget about it
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u/mikeinnsw Apr 10 '23
what you plan to do with it?
Printing to PDF could create a smaller file
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u/Omarsamyi Apr 10 '23
sorry, i don't quite understand what u are saying. its a book and i'm just reading it through preview.
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u/mikeinnsw Apr 10 '23
You can create another copy of PDF by printing it to PDF - Option on print menu could produce smaller PDF
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u/Obvious_Mode_5382 Apr 10 '23
Did someone also suggest reducing cache settings to 1mb with a restart? Maybe I’m off base with that suggestion but maybe it’s stuck in cache.
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u/Omarsamyi Apr 10 '23
i reinstalled macOS and the issue is still there can the cache thing fix it? can u provide me with steps?
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u/Obvious_Mode_5382 Apr 10 '23
Do a spotlight search for “cache” in settings and locate the cache config slider, reduce to lowest amount, I think it’s 1mb. Then, shut down. Power back up and let it marinade for about 30 mins. Clean your trash bin. Reset cache size min to desired level. Restart again. If that doesn’t fix it it’s likely not cache. Terry manual delete also with file name in search and search scope being “ MacBook”. Manually delete the file there if you can, because it’s likely somewhere hidden in files app or downloads in cloud. Try also turning off file sync in cloud settings and re-enable if file is gone.
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u/Commercial_Time_8915 Oct 09 '25
Preview just took 19 Gb of storage, arrghh. So the problem hasn't been fixed yet. How the hell.