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Why Is Finalizer Consuming the Java Heap (Doc ID 2835794.1)

Last updated on APRIL 07, 2022

Applies to:

Java SE JDK and JRE - Version 8 and later
Information in this document applies to any platform.

Goal

Consider a scenario in which the utilization of the Old Generation of the Java heap is much more than expected for an application, but there are no memory leaks or OutOfMemoryErrors (OOMEs).  A Full Garbage Collection (Full GC) is able to clear space for allocation of new objects to continue, but the Old Generation remains highly utilized.  Also, GC may run more frequently, or you may notice an application performance or latency issue.  Upon review of a Java heap dump, you see a significant portion of the heap is being used by java.lang.ref.Finalizer.  The following example shows more than half the heap is consumed by objects awaiting finalization:

Your situation may not be this severe, but why are so many objects still in the Finalizer queue?

Solution

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In this Document
Goal
Solution


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