free up memory in ubuntu

free_memory.txt

Check Memory Usage in Real-Time

You can check your current memory usage using this command:

watch -n 1 free -m




This command will also display in real-time your system memory usage:

watch -n 1 cat /proc/meminfo

In the returned outputs, focus on these memory details:

MemTotal:        1027104 kB
MemFree:          302836 kB
Buffers:           24212 kB
Cached:           297364 kB
SwapCached:            0 kB
Active:           478336 kB
Inactive:         164844 kB
Free Up Unused Memory

   Command 1

You can free up unused memory under Ubuntu/Linux Mint using this command:

sudo sysctl -w vm.drop_caches=3

NOTE: this action won't make your system faster nor it will affect its stability and performance, it will just clean up memory used by the Linux Kernel on caches.

   Command 2

Here is another command that can help you free up memory either used or cached (page cache, inodes, and dentries):

sudo sync && echo 3 | sudo tee /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches

NOTE: You can use cron jobs to schedule the commands above to run at specific time intervals.

If you have more useful commands for releasing/flushing memory in Ubuntu/Linux Mint, use the comment form below.