# R: Garbage Collection

gc {base} | R Documentation

## Garbage Collection

### Description

A call of `gc` causes a garbage collection to take place. `gcinfo` sets a flag so that automatic collection is either silent (`verbose=FALSE`) or prints memory usage statistics (`verbose=TRUE`).

### Usage

    gc(verbose = getOption("verbose"), reset=FALSE)
    gcinfo(verbose)

### Arguments

`verbose` | logical; if `TRUE`, the garbage collection prints statistics about cons cells and the space allocated for vectors.
`reset` | logical; if `TRUE` the values for maximum space used are reset to the current values.

### Details

A call of `gc` causes a garbage collection to take place. This will also take place automatically without user intervention, and the primary purpose of calling `gc` is for the report on memory usage.

However, it can be useful to call `gc` after a large object has been removed, as this may prompt R to return memory to the operating system.

R allocates space for vectors in multiples of 8 bytes: hence the report of `"Vcells"`, a relict of an earlier allocator (that used a vector heap).

When `gcinfo(TRUE)` is in force, messages are sent to the message connection at each garbage collection of the form

        Garbage collection 12 = 10+0+2 (level 0) ...
        6.4 Mbytes of cons cells used (58
        2.0 Mbytes of vectors used (32

Here the last two lines give the current memory usage rounded up to the next 0.1Mb and as a percentage of the current trigger value. The first line gives a breakdown of the number of garbage collections at various levels (for an explanation see the ‘R Internals’ manual).

### Value

`gc` returns a matrix with rows `"Ncells"` (cons cells), usually 28 bytes each on 32-bit systems and 56 bytes on 64-bit systems, and `"Vcells"` (vector cells, 8 bytes each), and columns `"used"` and `"gc trigger"`, each also interpreted in megabytes (rounded up to the next 0.1Mb).
If maxima have been set for either `"Ncells"` or `"Vcells"`, a fifth column is printed giving the current limits in Mb (with `NA` denoting no limit).
The final two columns show the maximum space used since the last call to `gc(reset=TRUE)` (or since R started).
`gcinfo` returns the previous value of the flag.

### See Also

The ‘R Internals’ manual.

`Memory` on R's memory management, and `gctorture` if you are an R developer.

`reg.finalizer` for actions to happen at garbage collection.

### Examples

    gc() #- do it now
    gcinfo(TRUE) #-- in the future, show when R does it
    x <- integer(100000); for(i in 1:18) x <- c(x,i)
    gcinfo(verbose = FALSE)#-- don't show it anymore

    gc(TRUE)

    gc(reset=TRUE)

[Package base version 2.6.0 Index]