My virtual memory for SketchUp 2024 is at 34G with no files open. What size should it be?
The size will depend on what else loads as SketchUp starts. If you have somehow set a default template that has a lot of large material textures and/or have a lot of extensions it will take more. However, 34GB seems absurdly large in any case. It seems possible that some extension has a memory leak that runs away. With just my default template, on my Mac SketchUp takes around 280MB. With one of my simpler models it uses 380MB.
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Thanks, Doubt it’s my template template, will investigate the extensions.
I deactivated all the extensions, my template file is 20KB, still 34G.
Virtual memory is entirely controlled by the OS.
Applications run from memory and the Os shuffles it to storage if it’s not currently in use.
SketchUp doesn’t use 34GB of RAM in any situation beyond an absurd model that would be hellish to work with even if it was in the real memory.
SketchUp shouldn’t be using that much after a clean boot.
As you are on Mac it’s not uncommon for people to have 10 documents open as they never closed any and rarely reboot - that’s the only normal situation I can think of that would cause that.
It will clear it when you restart your Mac.
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Hey thanks for the reply. Second thing I did was reboot the whole machine after restarting just SketchUp didn’t do it. Just did it again to be sure, same 34G of virtual memory. 
EDIT: It’s not just SketchUp, Google Chrome is apparently using 129G of virtual memory. Is my Mac dying? It is quite old…
I wonder if it is reporting the amount of virtual memory available rather than the amount actually used?
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SO I asked Gemini “apple virtual memory for chrome is at 129G, is this normal?”
The reply:
Yes, 129GB of virtual memory (VM) for Chrome on a Mac is considered normal, especially if you have many tabs open, use extensions, or have left the browser running for a long time.
While 129GB sounds alarming (it likely exceeds your physical RAM and possibly your disk size), it is important to understand what “Virtual Memory” means in macOS.
Why Is Virtual Memory So High?
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It’s Not Physical Usage: Virtual Memory size (often listed in Activity Monitor as “VM Size” or “VIRT”) is not the amount of RAM or disk space actually being used to store data. It is the amount of address space the application has requested to be mapped.
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Chromium Architecture: Chrome (and other Chromium-based apps like Slack) acts as a “special snowflake,” often reserving huge, TB-scale amounts of virtual memory. This is a design choice that helps with security and performance, allowing it to easily map memory for many different tabs and processes.
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“Caged Pointers” Security: Modern Chrome uses a security feature called “Caged Pointers,” which creates a large virtual address space for all Javascript objects.
What You Should Watch Instead: “Memory Pressure”
Do not worry about the “Virtual Memory” number. Instead, look at the Memory Pressure graph in the Activity Monitor:
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Green: Everything is normal. The system is managing memory efficiently, even if it is using swap space.
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Yellow/Red: Your Mac is running out of physical RAM and is heavily swapping data to the SSD, which can slow down performance.
How to Reduce Chrome Memory Usage
If your Mac feels sluggish, or memory pressure is in the yellow/red, you can take these steps:
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Enable Memory Saver: In Chrome Settings > Performance, turn on Memory Saver. This frees up memory from inactive tabs.
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Restart Chrome: Periodically closing and reopening Chrome clears the cached “virtual” space it has reserved.
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Check Extensions: Some extensions are resource hogs. Disable ones you don’t need.
If your Mac is functioning smoothly, you can ignore the 129GB figure completely.
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