Office Performance Issues

Fix PowerPoint Memory Leak and Lag During SharePoint Co-Authoring on Mac

WPS Editor Sep 28, 2026 869 views

Question details

Users experience excessive memory usage and severe application lag when co-authoring PowerPoint presentations hosted on SharePoint.

Fix PowerPoint Memory Leak and Lag During SharePoint Co-Authoring on Mac

Product: Microsoft PowerPoint, SharePoint
Device & OS: macOS Sequoia (Apple Silicon Macs)
Scenario: Co-authoring large presentation files stored in SharePoint with a large team.
Observed behavior: PowerPoint exhibits severe memory growth (memory leak) and performance lag, requiring frequent application restarts to continue working.

Before you start

Ensure you have saved all recent changes to your presentation locally or confirmed they are fully synced to SharePoint before force-quitting or restarting PowerPoint to avoid data loss.

Solution 1Recommended

Submit Diagnostic Data via Microsoft Office Feedback

Report the memory leak directly to Microsoft while the issue is occurring so they can capture the necessary real-time diagnostic logs.

Since this issue is tied to a specific build (e.g., 16.93 on macOS Sequoia), Microsoft requires diagnostic logs to identify and patch the underlying code causing the memory leak.

Keep PowerPoint running

Do not force quit the application immediately. Keep PowerPoint open while experiencing the lag to allow the system to capture real-time memory usage.

Access the Help menu

Click on the 'Help' tab in the top menu bar of the PowerPoint application.

Navigate to Feedback

Select 'Feedback' and then choose 'Report a Problem' from the dropdown menu.

Provide detailed information

Include your specific PowerPoint version, macOS version (Sequoia), Mac hardware (Apple Silicon), presentation size, co-authoring details, and how often you need to restart the app.

Submit the report

Click 'Send' or 'Submit' to send the diagnostic information directly to the Microsoft engineering team for analysis.

Submit Diagnostic Data via Microsoft Office Feedback

Diagnostic Data Requirement: Submitting the report while the issue is actively happening is crucial, as it includes background logs that help developers identify the root cause of the memory leak.

Solution 2

Limit Concurrent Co-authors or Edit Offline

Mitigate memory growth by temporarily reducing the live synchronization overhead associated with multiple users editing simultaneously.

Free Microsoft Office alternative

Experience Smooth Co-authoring with WPS Office

If Microsoft PowerPoint continues to experience memory leaks and lag on your Apple Silicon Mac, consider switching to WPS Office. It provides a lightweight, highly compatible alternative for creating and co-authoring presentations without draining system resources.

1. Download WPS Office: Visit the official WPS website and download the Mac version optimized for Apple Silicon.
2. Open your Presentation: Launch WPS Presentation and open your existing .pptx files directly without any formatting loss.
3. Collaborate seamlessly: Use WPS Cloud to share the document link with your team for real-time co-authoring without performance lag.

Highly compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx, .ppt) formats.Optimized for smooth performance on macOS and Apple Silicon devices.Lightweight architecture prevents severe memory leaks and application lag.Built-in cloud collaboration tools for seamless team co-authoring.Familiar user interface ensuring a seamless migration from Microsoft Office.

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does PowerPoint use so much memory on my Mac during co-authoring?

Co-authoring requires continuous background synchronization with SharePoint to update changes made by multiple users in real-time. In certain application builds, a memory leak occurs where the software fails to release memory after these sync operations, leading to excessive RAM usage and lag.

Will reinstalling PowerPoint fix the memory leak on macOS Sequoia?

Reinstalling usually does not fix a memory leak if it is an inherent bug to a specific version (like 16.93). The best approach is to report the issue directly to Microsoft with diagnostic data and await a patch in a future software update.

How can I monitor PowerPoint's memory usage on my Apple Silicon Mac?

You can monitor memory usage by opening the 'Activity Monitor' application on your Mac (found in Applications > Utilities). Click on the 'Memory' tab and locate Microsoft PowerPoint in the list to see its active RAM consumption.

Can clearing the Office cache help improve co-authoring performance?

Yes, occasionally clearing the Microsoft Office cache can resolve minor syncing anomalies and improve general performance. However, for a confirmed memory leak bug, it acts only as a temporary workaround rather than a permanent solution.

Office App Problems