LyX 2.5.1: increasing memory usage and typing slowdown when copying/pasting equations
Alessandro via lyx-devel <[email protected]>
| Newsgroups | gmane.editors.lyx.devel |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
Dear LyX developers,
I would like to report a performance issue that I am experiencing with LyX 2.5.1 on Windows. I installed it a few days ago. I had been using LyX 2.4 since 2025. I did not have any problem with LyX 2.4.
The problem appears to be specifically related to editing, and especially copying and pasting, mathematical equations. When I work intensively on a math-heavy document, I notice that copying and pasting equations causes LyX's RAM consumption to increase. As I continue doing this, typing progressively becomes slower.
I monitored LyX's memory usage in Windows Task Manager and observed the following pattern:
* Immediately after starting LyX: approximately 104–116 MB, with typing perfectly responsive.
* After about 5 minutes of editing: approximately 135 MB.
* After additional editing: approximately 159 MB.
* After continued math editing, including copying and pasting equations: approximately 331 MB, at which point typing becomes very slow.
* Closing and reopening the document without exiting LyX does not solve the problem.
* Completely closing LyX and restarting it reduces memory usage back to approximately 104 MB and immediately restores normal typing speed.
In particular, I can see the RAM usage increasing as I copy and paste equations, and the deterioration in typing responsiveness appears to become more pronounced as memory usage increases.
Overall system memory does not appear to be a constraint: total RAM usage is only around 44% when the problem occurs. Instant Preview is already disabled.
I noticed a December 2025 discussion on the lyx-devel mailing list describing what appears to be a similar issue: progressively increasing memory consumption and typing slowdown during intensive equation editing, with performance restored after restarting LyX. In that discussion, Scott Kostyshak also mentioned having seen a similar report from a Windows user.
I would be happy to perform additional tests to provide a reproducible example. Please let me know if there are particular diagnostics, debug logs, or tests that would be useful.
Best regards,
Alessandro
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