Figma Helper (Renderer) is using excessive memory, why?

Hey @Figma_Support what can we do to solve this? I got this problem out of nowhere 3 days ago and I just can’t work like a normal person

I’m running the native app on my Macbook Pro.
Processor: 2,8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
Graphics card: Radeon Pro 555 2 GB, Intel HD Graphics 630 1536 MB
Memory: 16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Figma ver.: 116.5.18

I’ve had NO issues running Figma for YEARS until now.

I got the same problem described above since 2-3 weeks ago. And it is getting worse by the day even though I’ve followed all the tips in the following article that I’ve been provided by the support team when I emailed about the problem: [Reduce memory usage in files](https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/360040528173.

I’ve also deleted plugins from the organisation and my private user… I think, according to this article [Remove_plugins_for_the_organization]https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/4404239055127-Save-plugins-for-the-organization#Remove_plugins_for_the_organization].

I’ve moved the entire design system, that was basically one file with several pages, into smaller single files with just one page.
I’m using Props, such as booleans, text etc to reduce memory usage.
Most components does not have that many variants.

I can’t be productive at work. And my client is now talking about changing from Figma to Penpot or Framer. Because they are now getting the same issues. And they have monster-hardware computers, both new Macbooks with more memory and the M2 processor & PC’s with gaming styled specs.

So, @Figma_Support any updates? Or at the bare minimum at least confirm that you’ve heard our complaints and are trying to deal with the root of the problem?

Something I want to add to my prior comment, everything was running flawlessly before, with really good performance.

@Figma_Support experiencing the same issue as @jonasbroms .

My Macbook Pro is relatively new and is normally super fast. (Apple M1 Pro, memory 32Gb)
Regardless of whether I am using app (Figma ver.: 116.5.18) or operating Figma in Chrome or Firefox, it is super slow and unusable. I cannot even add text override to instance without it getting stuck.

There are no alerts to memory usage however Figma Helper (Render) uses up to 100% CPU.

I am on a deadline and need this resolved ASAP.

@Ida_Melank I’ve been having communication with the @Figma_Support thru email.
It has taken them app. 5-6 weeks now and I’m no where close to figure out this problem. In the beginning they were sending me “advise” that the error message already provided… and if I didn’t read that, I could easily find their email advise on their website by just performing a easy Googling.

Me and my client are at a stage right now were we’re looking at converting to Framer instead. Not because we want to. Because none of us want to do it. But because the “help” & communication we’re getting from Figma is soooo poor and are taking sooooo incredible long time to get.

I really hope you will get better service than I did. But if I were you, try to find/create another solutions so you won’t miss your deadlines.

Thought to share this.

Only some portions of my file were unusable, others were fine, not consuming the CPU.

I ended up finding the issue on my end. It seems that some of the components using variants have gone corrupt. I had to ungroup the variants and regroup them and that solved the problem for me. CPU is working normally.

So it seems that this issue can happen for a multiple reasons, not saying that it is like that on your end, but perhaps worth trying - especially if trying to over-ride instances of components using variants.

Same here. Just upgraded to a base Mac Studio and am suddenly enable to type comments without it lagging every other letter for large amounts of time when typing a comment. Using the latest build ( 116.5.18).

Opening in the browser has the same issue.

Two days ago I was working on this same document on a 2018 Mac Mini (i3, 32GB ram) and it was flawless, so it seems like an M1 thing to me.

@Figma_Support any thoughts here?

@Figma_Support why is Figma suddenly is CRUSHING my CPU? Cannot get any work done. Have been kicked off multiple video meetings across both google meet and zoom when I am trying to show them designs done in figma.

Looks like your team has been entirely unresponsive to multiple threads I have found in this forum, all relating to this same issue. For the love of god to you have an update? I run an agency and this is making my machine entirely unusable. Even with all other programs shut down and only figma running, rendering is spiking to over 75% system CPU usage.

I’m having the same issue here. Has anyone managed to solve it? 😕

This, exactly. I already closed all my files and even the most simple light file will trigger an Application Memory notification, to a point where my computer freezes and restarts. This is not only annoying but also impacting my productivity and my ability to deliver projects on time. This is absolutely unthinkable. @Figma_Support, please update us on this matter.