Dealing with memory leaks, any workaround known?

I'm no longer seeing this issue on LrC 15.0.1 with NVidia Studio Driver 581.29, even after letting LrC sit open for a week while making changes in Lr Mobile. Anyone else seeing the same relief?

More than a year has passed since my original post, and this critical performance issue in Adobe Lightroom remains unfixed. Despite numerous users confirming the problem, there has been no noticeable improvement.

I'm still forced to restart Lightroom approximately every 20 minutes because many operations become unacceptably slow. For example, the Denoise function, which takes seconds after a fresh launch, can stretch into many minutes within a short period of use. This severely disrupts my workflow and productivity.

This isn't an isolated incident. The sheer volume of posts I easily found across forums, in addition to the responses in this thread, definitively shows this issue to be widespread and consistently reported.

Adobe Community Forum Threads:

• https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/lightroom-classic-lrc-is-too-slow-windows/m-p/15400975 - Users widely report general slowness and the need for frequent reboots (e.g., every 5-7 minutes) to restore normal performance.

• https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/denoise-takes-several-minutes-to-complete/m-p/13762171 - A user reports Denoise taking 6 minutes for a 50MB file, and the primary workaround is restarting Lightroom.

• https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-ecosystem-cloud-based-discussions/denoise-boggs-down-after-a-few-uses/m-p/14425991 - The Denoise process becomes "painfully slow" after a few uses, with the only way to restore speed being to reboot the computer (closing and reloading Lightroom alone does not help).

• https://www.lightroomqueen.com/community/threads/running-lightroom-classic-denoise-causes-periodic-system-crash.50985/ - A user details how Denoise causes the UI to become unresponsive for 30 minutes, with a restart being the only resolution.

• https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/ram-usage-memory-leak-on-mac-os/m-p/14439192 - This thread describes Lightroom Classic's memory leak that necessitates quitting and restarting LRC to clear.

• https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-bugs/p-win-consumes-ram-during-import-and-fails-to-release-afterwards/idc-p/14433167 - Lightroom consumes significant RAM during import (e.g., up to 17GB from 1.5-3GB initial), fails to release it afterward, and users find restarting Lightroom clears the memory. It also mentions that Lightroom lays claim to most of the GPU memory (e.g., 12GB dedicated VRAM) when "Use Graphics Processor" is set to "Auto".

• https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/regarding-my-lightroom-classic-memory-utilization-surges/m-p/14347337 - A user reports Lightroom Classic's memory utilization surging (e.g., from 6-8GB to over 15GB on a 32GB system) causing freezes, and restarting Lightroom resolves the issue temporarily, often with low initial RAM usage (2-3GB). This post also states that "Dedicated GPU memory use... seems to be the problem" and that it can get "too large."

• https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/lightroom-classic-10-3-memory-leak/m-p/12357500 - This old but relevant thread describes a severe memory leak where RAM usage (starting at 4GB) steadily climbs even while idle, requiring multiple daily restarts of Lightroom to function.

Reddit Threads:

• https://www.reddit.com/r/Lightroom/comments/1iwylyl/why_does_ai_denoise_speed_drop_to_5_sometimes/ - AI Denoise processing speed drops to ~5% of normal after a while and a simple reboot of the operating system consistently restores the function, indicating a bug within Lightroom.

• https://www.reddit.com/r/Lightroom/comments/1cic5cv/lightroom_classic_ai_denoise_slows_down_after/ - The first Denoise operation is quick (20-25 seconds), but subsequent images take drastically longer (10+ minutes), with the only fix being to close and reboot Lightroom, which resets the cycle. The thread also notes it could be a "bug in the GPU driver that leads to gpu memory filling up."

• https://www.reddit.com/r/Lightroom/comments/1ks7494/finally_fixed_the_lag_in_lightroom_on_windows/ - This post describes "massive slowdowns, especially after using masks and AI tools," forcing frequent restarts, and suggests a fix involving custom GPU settings and increasing Camera Raw Cache size to mitigate the issue.

• https://www.reddit.com/r/Lightroom/comments/1i7hpfb/very_bad_performance_in_lightroom_classic/ - A user reports menus are slow, switching from Library to Develop takes 10 seconds, and flagging a photo takes 4 seconds, indicating pervasive sluggishness.

• https://www.reddit.com/r/Lightroom/comments/1fc41u1/ai_denoise_taking_too_long/ - Users discuss Denoise taking 30+ seconds per image, with some noticing slowdowns if Denoise is applied after intense editing.

It's incredibly frustrating to see such a significant and widely reported bug persist for over a year. Could Adobe please provide an update on the status of this fix and an estimated timeline for its resolution?

I'm seeing this on 14.0.1 after editing for a couple of hours on multiple photos using AI masks, generative remove, and denoise. When using Camera Matching profiles and mousing over them back and forth, it appears LrC is re-rendering the live preview every time and just reallocates GPU memory over and over faster than the app's garbage collection can handle it. Why doesn't LrC show an existing cached render or pause rendering until the mouse stops? I don't think I should be able to do this but it's a common workflow as I am comparing the various profiles for looks.

I have updated to latest NVidia Studio drivers (566.14 as of this writing) on RTX 4070 Super. Screenshot below, video link to watch it in action: https://youtu.be/5GnytSB80WY  Can't upload the video here because it's too large.

Lightroom Classic version: 14.0.1 [ 202410161356-30922cfc ]
License: Creative Cloud
Language setting: en
Operating system: Windows 11 - Business Edition
Version: 11.0.22631
Application architecture: x64
System architecture: x64
Logical processor count: 20
Processor speed: 3.6GHz
SqLite Version: 3.36.0
CPU Utilisation: 3.0%
Power Source: Plugged In
Built-in memory: 32528.7 MB
Dedicated GPU memory used by Lightroom: 12564.9MB / 11999.0MB (104%)
Real memory available to Lightroom: 32528.7 MB
Real memory used by Lightroom: 12343.0 MB (37.9%)
Virtual memory used by Lightroom: 24043.2 MB
GDI objects count: 1305
USER objects count: 3606
Process handles count: 10641
Memory cache size: 2000.4MB
Internal Camera Raw version: 17.0 [ 2043 ]
Maximum thread count used by Camera Raw: 5
Camera Raw SIMD optimization: SSE2,AVX,AVX2
Camera Raw virtual memory: 2746MB / 16264MB (16%)
Camera Raw real memory: -12314MB / 32528MB (-37%)

Cache1: 
Final1- RAM:189.0MB, VRAM:0.0MB, DSCF9798-Enhanced-NR.dng
Final2- RAM:224.0MB, VRAM:0.0MB, DSCF9797-Enhanced-NR.dng
Final3- RAM:37.0MB, VRAM:0.0MB, A05BF1B4-AA52-436E-BD7F-DB5612AAEE0E.dng
Final4- RAM:189.0MB, VRAM:0.0MB, DSCF9800.RAF
Final5- RAM:394.0MB, VRAM:3586.0MB, DSCF9805.RAF
NT- RAM:1033.0MB, VRAM:3586.0MB, Combined:4619.0MB

Cache2: 
m:2000.4MB, n:832.3MB

U-main: 153.0MB

System DPI setting: 96 DPI
Desktop composition enabled: Yes
Standard Preview Size: 2560 pixels
Displays: 1) 2560x1440
Input types: Multitouch: No, Integrated touch: No, Integrated pen: No, External touch: No, External pen: No, Keyboard: No

Graphics Processor Info: 
DirectX: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER (32.0.15.6614)
Init State: GPU for Export supported by default
User Preference: GPU for Export enabled
Enable HDR in Library: OFF

Application folder: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Lightroom Classic
Library Path: C:\Users\thedo\Pictures\Lightroom\Lightroom Catalog-v13-3.lrcat
Settings Folder: C:\Users\thedo\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom

Installed Plugins: 
1) AdobeStock
2) easyHDR 3
3) Flickr

Config.lua flags: 

Adapter #1: Vendor : 10de
	Device : 2783
	Subsystem : 513f1462
	Revision : a1
	Video Memory : 11999
Adapter #2: Vendor : 1414
	Device : 8c
	Subsystem : 0
	Revision : 0
	Video Memory : 0
AudioDeviceIOBlockSize: 1024
AudioDeviceName: 
AudioDeviceNumberOfChannels: 2
AudioDeviceSampleRate: 44100
Build: LR5x26
Direct2DEnabled: false
GL_ACCUM_ALPHA_BITS: 16
GL_ACCUM_BLUE_BITS: 16
GL_ACCUM_GREEN_BITS: 16
GL_ACCUM_RED_BITS: 16
GL_ALPHA_BITS: 0
GL_BLUE_BITS: 8
GL_DEPTH_BITS: 24
GL_GREEN_BITS: 8
GL_MAX_3D_TEXTURE_SIZE: 16384
GL_MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE: 32768
GL_MAX_TEXTURE_UNITS: 4
GL_MAX_VIEWPORT_DIMS: 32768,32768
GL_RED_BITS: 8
GL_RENDERER: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER/PCIe/SSE2
GL_SHADING_LANGUAGE_VERSION: 4.60 NVIDIA
GL_STENCIL_BITS: 8
GL_VENDOR: NVIDIA Corporation
GL_VERSION: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 566.14
GPUDeviceEnabled: false
OGLEnabled: true
GL_EXTENSIONS: GL_AMD_multi_draw_indirect GL_AMD_seamless_cubemap_per_texture GL_AMD_vertex_shader_viewport_index GL_AMD_vertex_shader_layer GL_ARB_arrays_of_arrays GL_ARB_base_instance GL_ARB_bindless_texture GL_ARB_blend_func_extended GL_ARB_buffer_storage GL_ARB_clear_buffer_object GL_ARB_clear_texture GL_ARB_clip_control GL_ARB_color_buffer_float GL_ARB_compatibility GL_ARB_compressed_texture_pixel_storage GL_ARB_conservative_depth GL_ARB_compute_shader GL_ARB_compute_variable_group_size GL_ARB_conditional_render_inverted GL_ARB_copy_buffer GL_ARB_copy_image GL_ARB_cull_distance GL_ARB_debug_output GL_ARB_depth_buffer_float GL_ARB_depth_clamp GL_ARB_depth_texture GL_ARB_derivative_control GL_ARB_direct_state_access GL_ARB_draw_buffers GL_ARB_draw_buffers_blend GL_ARB_draw_indirect GL_ARB_draw_elements_base_vertex GL_ARB_draw_instanced GL_ARB_enhanced_layouts GL_ARB_ES2_compatibility GL_ARB_ES3_compatibility GL_ARB_ES3_1_compatibility GL_ARB_ES3_2_compatibility GL_ARB_explicit_attrib_location GL_ARB_explicit_uniform_location GL_ARB_fragment_coord_conventions GL_ARB_fragment_layer_viewport GL_ARB_fragment_program GL_ARB_fragment_program_shadow GL_ARB_fragment_shader GL_ARB_fragment_shader_interlock GL_ARB_framebuffer_no_attachments GL_ARB_framebuffer_object GL_ARB_framebuffer_sRGB GL_ARB_geometry_shader4 GL_ARB_get_program_binary GL_ARB_get_texture_sub_image GL_ARB_gl_spirv GL_ARB_gpu_shader5 GL_ARB_gpu_shader_fp64 GL_ARB_gpu_shader_int64 GL_ARB_half_float_pixel GL_ARB_half_float_vertex GL_ARB_imaging GL_ARB_indirect_parameters GL_ARB_instanced_arrays GL_ARB_internalformat_query GL_ARB_internalformat_query2 GL_ARB_invalidate_subdata GL_ARB_map_buffer_alignment GL_ARB_map_buffer_range GL_ARB_multi_bind GL_ARB_multi_draw_indirect GL_ARB_multisample GL_ARB_multitexture GL_ARB_occlusion_query GL_ARB_occlusion_query2 GL_ARB_parallel_shader_compile GL_ARB_pipeline_statistics_query GL_ARB_pixel_buffer_object GL_ARB_point_parameters 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GL_EXT_framebuffer_multisample GL_EXTX_framebuffer_mixed_formats GL_EXT_framebuffer_multisample_blit_scaled GL_EXT_framebuffer_object GL_EXT_framebuffer_sRGB GL_EXT_geometry_shader4 GL_EXT_gpu_program_parameters GL_EXT_gpu_shader4 GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays GL_EXT_multiview_texture_multisample GL_EXT_multiview_timer_query GL_EXT_packed_depth_stencil GL_EXT_packed_float GL_EXT_packed_pixels GL_EXT_pixel_buffer_object GL_EXT_point_parameters GL_EXT_polygon_offset_clamp GL_EXT_post_depth_coverage GL_EXT_provoking_vertex GL_EXT_raster_multisample GL_EXT_rescale_normal GL_EXT_secondary_color GL_EXT_separate_shader_objects GL_EXT_separate_specular_color GL_EXT_shader_image_load_formatted GL_EXT_shader_image_load_store GL_EXT_shader_integer_mix GL_EXT_shadow_funcs GL_EXT_sparse_texture2 GL_EXT_stencil_two_side GL_EXT_stencil_wrap GL_EXT_texture3D GL_EXT_texture_array GL_EXT_texture_buffer_object GL_EXT_texture_compression_dxt1 GL_EXT_texture_compression_latc GL_EXT_texture_compression_rgtc GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc GL_EXT_texture_cube_map GL_EXT_texture_edge_clamp GL_EXT_texture_env_combine GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3 GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic GL_EXT_texture_filter_minmax GL_EXT_texture_integer GL_EXT_texture_lod GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias GL_EXT_texture_mirror_clamp GL_EXT_texture_object GL_EXT_texture_shadow_lod GL_EXT_texture_shared_exponent GL_EXT_texture_sRGB GL_EXT_texture_sRGB_R8 GL_EXT_texture_sRGB_decode GL_EXT_texture_storage GL_EXT_texture_swizzle GL_EXT_timer_query GL_EXT_transform_feedback2 GL_EXT_vertex_array GL_EXT_vertex_array_bgra GL_EXT_vertex_attrib_64bit GL_EXT_window_rectangles GL_EXT_import_sync_object GL_IBM_rasterpos_clip GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_KHR_context_flush_control GL_KHR_debug GL_EXT_memory_object GL_EXT_memory_object_win32 GL_NV_memory_object_sparse GL_EXT_win32_keyed_mutex GL_KHR_parallel_shader_compile GL_KHR_no_error GL_KHR_robust_buffer_access_behavior GL_KHR_robustness GL_EXT_semaphore GL_EXT_semaphore_win32 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I have experienced similar issues on multiple platforms (changed primary computer recently).   In general, my experience is, Lightroom leaks in multipe areas, not just GPU usage.

Most likely a bug specific to your graphics driver. Please do the LR menu command Help > System Info and copy/paste the entire contents here so we can see exactly which versions of hardware and software LR thinks you're running and important LR options that are set.