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[app][macOS] ChatGPT uses 3–5 GB RAM and makes an 8 GB Mac unusable even with no project open #36920
Description
What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?
ChatGPT 26.727.51351 (build 6119), bundled Codex app
What subscription do you have?
Paid ChatGPT account (exact tier not shown in app diagnostics)
What platform is your computer?
Darwin 25.5.0 arm64 arm; macOS 26.5.2 (25F84); MacBook Air M2 (Mac14,2); 8 GB unified memory
What issue are you seeing?
The new unified ChatGPT desktop app continuously grows to approximately 3–5 GB of memory and makes the entire Mac unresponsive.
This happens even after fully quitting ChatGPT, rebooting the Mac, and launching the app without any project or local folder connected. It is therefore not limited to indexing a large workspace.
Activity Monitor evidence from 4 Aug 2026:
- ChatGPT main process: 3.33 GB
- Codex (Renderer): 393.3 MB
- second Codex (Renderer): 198.8 MB
- Codex (Service): 147.6 MB
- visible ChatGPT/Codex total: at least approximately 4.07 GB
- physical memory: 8.00 GB
- memory used: 7.02 GB
- compressed memory: 2.26 GB
- swap used: 4.01 GB
- memory pressure: continuously yellow
The memory usage regularly rises to 4 GB and sometimes 5 GB. At that point the whole Mac stalls and normal work becomes impossible. Restarting temporarily resets the condition, but it returns.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
- Fully quit ChatGPT with Command-Q.
- Restart the Mac.
- Launch ChatGPT 26.727.51351.
- Do not connect or open any project, repository, or local document folder.
- Leave the app open or use a normal Chat/Work session.
- Watch memory usage in Activity Monitor.
- ChatGPT grows to about 3–5 GB; memory pressure turns yellow, compression and swap increase, and the system becomes unresponsive.
The issue is reproducible after restart and without project files.
What is the expected behavior?
ChatGPT/Codex memory usage should remain bounded during normal use and while idle, including on a supported 8 GB Apple-silicon Mac. The app should not consume roughly half of physical memory by itself, force several gigabytes of swap, or make the operating system unresponsive. Background renderer and service processes should release unused memory.
Additional information
This appears related to the following open reports:
- App UI gets extremely slow and laggy during long sessions #11984: renderer becomes slow around 4 GB and unresponsive above 5 GB
- Codex Mac app high memory usage after latest update on macOS ( Codex 26.422.21637 ) #19333: high memory usage on an 8 GB M2 Mac, including while mostly idle
- [app][macOS] Browser-use Node workers accumulate to 10–18 GB, exhaust swap, and suspend unrelated apps #33319: unified ChatGPT/Codex app workers accumulate memory and exhaust swap
The attached Activity Monitor screenshot shows the measured state. The macOS username visible in the screenshot is the reporter's own local account name. No project content or private documents are shown.
Activity
github-actions commentedon Aug 4, 2026
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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kevinmarty69 commentedon Aug 27, 2026
Additional reproduction on a newer macOS build:
26.820.60940This looks consistent with the memory-retention/leak behavior reported here, and may indicate that large/long-lived session history aggravates the issue. The process is idle from the user's perspective when the ~6 GB footprint is observed.
A full app quit/relaunch is currently the practical way to reclaim the memory.
ellahyyan commentedon Oct 12, 2026
Related macOS workaround documented in my report: #53427 (comment)
I had a 1–2 second delay per typed character even in a blank conversation, severe desktop UI lag, renderer memory above 2 GB per process, and yellow macOS memory pressure. Safari and a new macOS user account using the same ChatGPT account were normal.
What worked in my original macOS user account:
~/.codexfolder to~/codex-backup-test, keeping the original folder intact.Typing, overall app performance, renderer memory usage, and memory pressure have now returned to normal in my case. Reinstallation had not helped. Keep the old folder: local sessions/configuration may temporarily be unavailable in the fresh profile, and the backup allows recovery.
Your report also describes high memory pressure without an open project. The fresh-state comparison may help identify whether local state contributes, but my Mac has 16 GB rather than 8 GB and I cannot confirm the same root cause. This is a workaround from my own test, not a general fix.