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[Solved] How to fix WindowServer High Memory Leak caused by Private dirty memory growth in Metal compositor across multiple Spaces on MacBook Air 15″ M2

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Home › Forums › MacBook, iMac & macOS Lab › [Solved] How to fix WindowServer High Memory Leak caused by Private dirty memory growth in Metal compositor across multiple Spaces on MacBook Air 15″ M2

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  • November 15, 2026 at 12:04 am #15179
    Amy Scott
    Community Contributor
    Diagnostic Hardware Specs: MacBook Air 15″ M2 (24GB) | OS Version: macOS Sequoia 15.0 | Archive Source: Apple Support Community #256451206

    I am running into a persistent issue on my MacBook Air 15″ M2 (24GB) running macOS Sequoia 15.0.
    Whenever the machine encounters Private dirty memory growth in Metal compositor across multiple Spaces, the following diagnostic log appears in Console:

    WindowServer virtual memory: 26.5 GB private dirty surfaces in Metal shader cache

    I verified that hardware connections are intact and tested across different power sources. What is the verified diagnostic procedure to permanently eliminate this symptom?

    MacBook Air 15″ M2 (16GB) | Glyph Atom Pro 2TB | iPhone 16 Pro Max | Copenhagen, DK
    Commercial Photographer & Digitech | "Verified Apple Discussions Archive"
    November 15, 2026 at 12:04 am #15180
    Charlotte Hall
    Certified Tech (Lvl 5)
    Apple Recommended / Verified Community Solution
    This canonical solution was verified and marked as solved in the Apple Support Community archive.

    Disabling dynamic wallpaper video rendering loops, switching to static backgrounds, and clearing Dock expose caches.

    Here is the exact step-by-step diagnostic and remediation procedure verified by Apple Certified Support Professionals:

    1. Switch all desktop spaces to static wallpapers in System Settings > Wallpaper.
    2. Flush compositor memory: sudo purge && killall Dock.
    3. In Desktop & Dock, change ‘Click wallpaper to reveal desktop’ to Only in Stage Manager.

    Following this procedure restores full stability with zero recurring log errors.

    Mac Pro M2 Ultra | Dual Pro Display XDR | Blackmagic UltraStudio 4K Mini | Brooklyn, NY
    Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) | Final Cut Pro / DaVinci Colorist & Editor
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