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Unity Memory Profiler Cheatsheet

· Performance & Optimization ·
#Unity#Optimization#MemoryProfiler#Memory

This note distills the essential workflow for Unity’s official Memory Profiler: installing the package, capturing snapshots, reading a single frame, and using the compare view to chase leaks or suspicious references.

Use it whenever memory keeps climbing, a device-only build crashes unpredictably, or you simply need to audit resource usage.

1. Installing Memory Profiler

The tool ships as a package. Two ways to add it:

  1. Add by name

    • Window → Package Manager
    • Add package by name…
    • Enter com.unity.memoryprofiler

  2. Search in Unity Registry

    • In Package Manager choose Unity Registry
    • Search for “Memory Profiler”
    • Click Install

After installation a new Memory Profiler entry appears in the Window menu.

2. Opening the window & capturing snapshots

Menu path: Window → Analysis → Memory Profiler

Menu entry

Inside the window you can:

  • Connect a device build or simply run the Editor play mode
  • Click Capture to grab the current frame
  • Each capture produces a *.snap file that stores the exact memory state

Snapshot files

Select a snapshot from the list to jump into its detailed views.

3. Single-frame analysis: large objects & fragmentation

Use a single snapshot to find assets or allocations that hog memory.

Tree Map

Tree Map

  • The top chart groups usage by type (Texture2D, Mesh, AnimationClip, ComputeShader…)
  • The bottom table lists individual objects sorted by size
  • Quickly reveals oversized textures or meshes

Fragmentation

Fragmentation view

  • Colors mark different memory regions (managed heap, native allocations, reserved space…)
  • Clicking a block shows details for that address range
  • Great for spotting tiny uncollected chunks or uneven heap layouts

4. Comparing two frames: leak hunting

Use Compare Snapshots to catch leaks:

  1. Capture Snapshot A during a clean state
  2. Perform the suspect action (repeat scene loads, play 10 minutes, etc.) and capture Snapshot B
  3. Select both in the window and click Compare Snapshots

Summary tab

Summary

  • Shows total memory, managed heap, textures, meshes, etc. for both frames
  • The delta column highlights which area grew

Objects and Allocations

References panels

Object relationships

Recommended workflow:

  • Switch the filter to Diff and Match → New to display newly-created objects only
  • Sort by Size to triage the heaviest entries
  • Inspect Type / Name to guess the culprit
  • Use Referenced By / References To to follow the retainers and figure out who keeps the object alive

This exposes:

  • GameObjects, textures, or meshes that never get released
  • Static dictionaries, singletons, or events that secretly hold references

5. What Memory Profiler is good at

  • Auditing large resources
    Find heavyweight textures, models, or audio clips to compress or resample.

  • Identifying leaks
    Compare before/after snapshots to locate objects that keep increasing and never return.

  • Understanding reference chains
    The reference views answer the classic “what is holding onto this asset?” question.

Learning to read snapshots is a core skill for Unity optimization: you can only fix what you can see.

Original article (Chinese) on CSDN “uniGame”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
https://blog.csdn.net/alla_Candy/article/details/133272285