[▲ Vercel Community](/) · [Categories](/categories) · [Latest](/latest) · [Top](/top) · [Live](/live)

[Discussions](/c/community/4)

# How to fix Vercel serverless function timeouts by increasing memory allocation

26 views · 4 likes · 2 posts


Jayarbrul (@jayarbrul01-8727) · 2026-03-10 · ♥ 2

After deploying a `Node.js` serverless function to Vercel, I encountered timeouts despite the function working perfectly locally.

## Setup
* **App Framework**: `Node.js` API route with Vercel serverless functions.
* **Issue**: Function executes fine locally, but times out in production on Vercel.

## What I Tried
* **Increased Function Timeout**: Adjusted the timeout limit in the Vercel dashboard, but the function still timed out.
* **Memory Allocation**: Investigated the memory usage by logging memory consumption within the function. I found it was peaking at `200MB`, but Vercel’s default memory allocation was only `128MB`.

## Solution
* **Increased Memory Allocation**: I increased the memory allocation for the serverless function in the Vercel dashboard to `512MB`.

**Steps:**
1. Go to Vercel Project Dashboard.
2. Navigate to the “Functions” settings.
3. Increase the memory allocation to `512MB`.

* After the change, the function executed within the time limits, and the timeout issue was resolved.

## Outcome
* **Improved Performance**: Increasing memory allowed the function to handle the required data and complete processing within the allocated time.
* **Recommendation**: If you encounter similar issues, check your serverless function’s memory usage and adjust the allocation accordingly in Vercel.


Pauline P. Narvas (@pawlean) · 2026-03-11 · ♥ 2

Thanks for sharing this, @jayarbrul01-8727!