TSG: Tablet driver using too much memory

Summary

Occasionally you might see a tablet driver consume a VAST amount of RAM - perhaps gigabytes - when you are looking at memory usage through Task Manager on Windows or Activity Monitor on MacOS. This is NOT normal.

Typical memory usage

Here are more typical values for Wacom for example

• MacOS: WacomDriver in Activity Monitor -> 47.5 MB

• Windows: TabletService for professional driver -> 5MB

Abnormal memory usage

Any values in the hundreds of MBs or GBs are very unusual.

Which brand of drivers are affected?

I have seen this happen with all brands of tablet drivers: Wacom, Huion, XP-Pen, etc.

What to do

Overall, there is nothing you can do to fix the problem directly. It is an issue in the driver code itself.

• First try restarting your computer and see if the problem comes back. The problem might be temporary.

• Your driver user interface may give you an option to restart the driver. This will reset the memory usage and is less of a headache than restarting the computer

• If the problem keeps happening though, then you need to contact customer support for your tablet.

Examples of high memory usage

MacOS / Wacom Center / 166.5GB