2.5GB RAM used, but only 400MB showing?

Can you make a screenshot of the entire Activity Monitor readout or print it via CMD+P and attach it to your next post?


I guess, you have at least 4 GB RAM in your Mac, forgot the specifics from one of your three dozens of other threads.

Not that above that column, it says "Real Mem". Your computer can also use Virtual Memory, which stays on the hard drive. The total memory used in Activity Monitor is Real + Virtual Memory. You are only adding up real memory, so you have an incomplete number.

MisterKeeks said:

Not that above that column, it says "Real Mem". Your computer can also use Virtual Memory, which stays on the hard drive. The total memory used in Activity Monitor is Real + Virtual Memory. You are only adding up real memory, so you have an incomplete number.

Click to expand...

Really? I just looked at the Virtual Mem column and my Windows Server process was using 2 EB for a brief moment.

simsaladimbamba said:

Really? I just looked at the Virtual Mem column and my Windows Server process was using 2 EB for a brief moment.

Click to expand...

You know, I may be wrong. I took a screenshot, and it looks like the total memory used number is found by adding the Wired, Active, and Inactive numbers together. Whoops.

OK, make sure that in Activity Monitor, the view is turned to "All Processes" and not "My Processes". "All Processes" is highlighted in the picture I attached.

You also have to take into account the amount of Inactive RAM.

There is a link in the second post of this thread to an article describing what that is.

2012Tony2012 said:

Inactive RAM? What is that exactly?

And why is 2.5GB RAM being used, but when I do a reboot, it goes down to really low amount of RAM being used, why? Can't Imac free up RAM better? So I always need to do a reboot whenever my RAM starts being used up by "INACTIVE RAM"?

Isn't there a better solution?

Is there a freeware app that helps free up this "INACTIVE RAM" so I don't need to reboot so regularly?

Click to expand...

Read the last sentence of my post you just quoted. Then click on that link and read to learn more about RAM reporting in Mac OS X.

And you do not need RAM cleaning apps, but if you want to, try "purge" in Terminal or look on the App Store for "memory clean" or "free memory" and so on.

PS: I have 8 GB of RAM and lots of Inactive RAM and it does not bother me, that the RAM I have is getting used. Maybe you should leave the worrying, known when being a Windows user (and I was one and worried for a year or two too after switching to Mac OS X back in 2006), to someone else and just use the computer.