@cindex memory full
@cindex out of memory
- If you get the error message @samp{Virtual memory exceeded}, save your
-modified buffers with @kbd{C-x s}. This method of saving them has the
-smallest need for additional memory. Emacs keeps a reserve of memory
-which it makes available when this error happens; that should be enough
-to enable @kbd{C-x s} to complete its work.
-
- Once you have saved your modified buffers, you can exit this Emacs job
-and start another, or you can use @kbd{M-x kill-some-buffers} to free
-space in the current Emacs job. If you kill buffers containing a
-substantial amount of text, you can safely go on editing. Emacs refills
-its memory reserve automatically when it sees sufficient free space
-available, in case you run out of memory another time.
+ If you get the error message @samp{Virtual memory exceeded}, save
+your modified buffers with @kbd{C-x s}. This method of saving them
+has the smallest need for additional memory. Emacs keeps a reserve of
+memory which it makes available when this error happens; that should
+be enough to enable @kbd{C-x s} to complete its work. When the
+reserve has been used, @samp{!MEM FULL!} appears at the beginning of
+the mode line, indicating there is no more reserve.
+
+ Once you have saved your modified buffers, you can exit this Emacs
+session and start another, or you can use @kbd{M-x kill-some-buffers}
+to free space in the current Emacs job. If this frees up sufficient
+space, Emacs will refill its memory reserve, and @samp{!MEM FULL!}
+will disappear from the mode line. That means you can safely go on
+editing in the same Emacs session.
Do not use @kbd{M-x buffer-menu} to save or kill buffers when you run
out of memory, because the buffer menu needs a fair amount of memory