# Severe memory use / OS “out of application memory” after updating to Cursor 3.0.12 (MacBook Pro M1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Bug Reports\ **Tags:** performance, macos\ **Created:** [April 6, 2026, 8:35am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/severe-memory-use-os-out-of-application-memory-after-updating-to-cursor-3-0-12-macbook-pro-m1/156798 "2026-04-06T08:35:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Olex\_Kolesnykov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/db5fbb/32.png) [@Olex\_Kolesnykov](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Olex_Kolesnykov)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 8:35am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/severe-memory-use-os-out-of-application-memory-after-updating-to-cursor-3-0-12-macbook-pro-m1/156798/1 "2026-04-06T08:35:10Z")
### Where does the bug appear (feature/product)? Cursor IDE ### Describe the Bug After updating Cursor, the Mac became unusable under a workload that was stable for about a year. macOS showed “Your system has run out of application memory.” In Force Quit Applications, Cursor was reported at ~65.80 GB RAM. Activity Monitor / top also showed multiple large Cursor Helper (R …) processes (hundreds of MB each) when several project windows were open. ### Steps to Reproduce Open 4 projects in Cursor on MacBook Pro M1 macOS: 26.3.1 ### Expected Behavior Expected: Memory use scales roughly with number of windows/projects (GB range, not tens of GB for Cursor alone). ### Operating System MacOS ### Version Information Cursor: 3.0.12 (Universal), Stable, Default track VS Code base: 1.105.1 Commit: a80ff7dfcaa45d7750f6e30be457261379c29b00 Build date: 2026-04-04T00:13:18.452Z Electron: 39.8.1 Chromium: 142.0.7444.265 Node.js: 22.22.1 OS: macOS Darwin arm64 25.3.0 ### Does this stop you from using Cursor Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor ---
**Author:** ![mohitjain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/mohitjain/32/100229_2.png) [@mohitjain](https://forum.cursor.com/u/mohitjain)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 8:50am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/severe-memory-use-os-out-of-application-memory-after-updating-to-cursor-3-0-12-macbook-pro-m1/156798/5 "2026-04-06T08:50:06Z")
Hi @Olex_Kolesnykov, This is a known class of issue on macOS, particularly when running multiple project windows. There are a couple of known causes our team is actively working on, and I need one piece of diagnostic info to narrow down which one is hitting you\_ **Could you run this in Terminal while the memory is high?** `ps aux | grep -i "cursor" | grep -v grep` This will show all Cursor processes including any that may be orphaned (still running from previously closed windows). Look for any extension-host processes with high CPU (80%+) — those are the likely culprits. **Immediate workarounds:** - **Always fully quit Cursor with `Cmd+Q`** rather than just closing individual windows. Closing windows can leave helper processes running in the background. - **Restart Cursor periodically** if you’re keeping multiple projects open for extended sessions\_ - To kill any currently orphaned processes right now: `pkill -9 -i cursor` in Terminal, then relaunch Cursor. You may also find this related thread helpful: [Cursor Helper processes never terminate on macOS](https://forum.cursor.com/t/cursor-helper-processes-never-terminate-on-macos-causing-memory-exhaustion-and-system-crashes/152642) Let me know what that `ps aux` command shows — it’ll help confirm the exact cause. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/system/32/99069_2.png) [@system](https://forum.cursor.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2026, 8:50am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/severe-memory-use-os-out-of-application-memory-after-updating-to-cursor-3-0-12-macbook-pro-m1/156798/6 "2026-04-28T08:50:26Z")
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