Among the PC community, there is a well-known rumor that Windows 10 has a lot of memory ram usage. And it doesn't matter what you do, sometimes your screen just crashes or freezes because the software takes up all the memory space in one process.

So, does Windows 10 use more ram than other operating systems? 

If you are a regular Windows 10 user, you may have encountered an issue with this operating system that affects how much ram (Random Access Memory) is consumed when you use it. In case you haven’t, let us tell you that you are one of the lucky ones.

But, if you are among the vast majority of people with this problem and still haven’t found an answer, here we’re going to explore 11 proven ways for you to fix this memory space issue.

How is Ram Used On a Computer?

Windows Operating systems – like all OS – use part of the RAM installed to run smoothly in the computer. 

But how does RAM exactly work?

The Random Access Memory (RAM) coexists in the memory along with the Read Only Memory (ROM) and Cache – the connection between them. They allow you to access data, programs, and information as quickly as possible.

In regards to RAM, you can use it to store operational data temporarily from the CPU. This way, you can run and send the results once the operation is completed. 

So, each time your computer starts a program, like a game or software such as Office, or even when you transfer files, the RAM intercedes and is consumed. When you finish, RAM restarts.

Windows 10 Memory Usage Problem

Windows 10 is well known for using too much memory. The problem is that this issue is not because the OS needs those resources but more due to a defective software design.

The Windows 10 official website says the amount of RAM needed to run on a 64-bit computer is 2 GB. Theoretically, 4 GB would be enough RAM for personal computers.

However, what happens is that your computer’s memory gets so loaded up that you can’t even perform basic tasks. When you open Task Manager, you can see that you have your memory running at 100%.

This occurs when some processes take more resources than they need. And as a consequence, you can’t even do simple things such as word processing or checking your hard disk space, not to mention other more complicated stuff like HD video editing.

Windows 10 is well known for these problems in many computer hardware pieces – like your hard drives, CPU, or even GPU. This time, we will only address those problems related to the RAM.

You can tell your PC has memory issues because it freezes when using a program that requires a lot of resources – for example, Adobe Photoshop, running virtual machines, etc.

Windows 10 Memory Management Problems

Below we’ve listed 11 ways you can use to solve these problems and avoid frustration. 

Many users have solved their issues and improved their Windows 10 performance after these solutions.

Close Programs with the Task Manager

If you’re having issues with your Windows 10 even though you have 8 GB of RAM or more, it may be because you’re running multiple programs at the same time. It can also happen that some apps or processes use lots of memory because of activity in the background.

A fast solution could be opening the Task Manager and clicking “end task” in the process that is having a memory hog.

This should improve the Microsoft Windows’ performance and your machine as well.

Reinstall Windows 10

Windows 10 sometimes has memory leaks which can heavily affect how your computer performs. For example, a memory leak could deplete your memory so badly that a 16Gb of RAM PC can’t complete rendering activities. It also can provoke a bottleneck without you even noticing.

This is because the devices keep losing memory resources to different processes until there’s nothing else to take from. And as such, it will generally consume all until nothing’s left.

It greatly influences the total amount of memory you have available and how much you can consume. Whether it is a personal computer, a workstation, or an enterprise PC, memory leaks must be solved.

To do this, the best thing you can do is to reinstall Windows 10 from scratch. To ensure you use original software and you don’t downgrade to Windows 7, you can get a Windows 10 CD key from a trustable site like RoyalCDKeys.

The cost of these serial keys is around $2,50 - $3,40, so you’ll be able to restore your PC without having to pay a lot of money or navigate through endless websites.

Disable Startup Programs

Some programs have an auto-run feature which makes them start whenever you turn on or restart your computer.

Perhaps the system supports them, or they don’t spend lots of resources, but this could still lead to unwanted memory leaks.
If you have a program installed that starts automatically, you can disable it in the Task Manager. Here’s what you need to do:

• Go to the Startup section in the Task Manager.
• Find the app you want to stop from starting up.
• Select Disable.

If everything works fine, after restarting Windows the programs shouldn’t start on their own after restarting Windows.

Improve Your Virtual Memory

If you have enough disk space, you can use some of it as compatible virtual memory and speed up your laptop or desktop a bit. This is not like you download RAM – because there’s no such thing – it’s more like learning to manage your hardware to relieve memory stress.

Here’s how you do it:

• Open the File Explorer and make right-click on a blank space.
• Find the Advanced System Settings on the page.
• Scan the small window and click Performance on settings.
• In the Performance tab, go to the Advanced tab. Look at Virtual Memory and click on Change.
• A new window with different tabs will appear.
• Keep unchecked the “Automatically Manage Paging File Size For All Drives.”
• Choose partition C, click on “No Paging File” and Set.
• In this new setting, select a Non-system partition and click on Custom size.
• Follow the same instructions as in partition C, setting the same values in both Initial size and Maximum size.
• Click on set once more and then save.

The point of this improvement is that you get some extra memory for gaming or other programs that require extra power that your computer isn’t capable of giving.

Use an SSD

The use of the HDD is obsolete now. The new SSD technology allows you to save and open information x10 faster than with the old drives. A new computer server has this type of drive for better performance and so does a machine dedicated to Graphics Design or similar works.

When you use an SSD, you’re also disabling the Superfetch service, which is designed for traditional drives to increase their reading and writing speed. This process needs more than the bare minimum to work and doesn’t help to have a fast system.

So, what you should do is change your internal storage to have less RAM use. Then, disable this service as follows:

• Press Windows+R and go to “services.msc.”
• Find Superfetch and disable it.
• Reboot your system to ensure everything is correct.

Regedit Solution

Disclaimer: This is an advanced method to solve some of the issues that users report. If you don't know how to get full access to these registers, skip it.

The Regedit solution can help you delete a page file and release some Gb of RAM of virtual memory.

Follow these steps to complete the method:

• Use the Windows + R shortcut. Type Regedit and then open the Registry Editor.
• Copy and paste this address: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > Session Manager > Memory Management.
• Search ClearPageFileAtShutDown, right click it.
• Change the value to 1.
• Save the information and restart your computer.

Hard Drive Defragmentation

Hard Drive defragmentation only works on HDD. This means that if you have an SSD, you can skip this “upgrade” method.

If you love multitasking, your hard drive would probably need defragmentation. Follow these steps to save memory space.

• Open File Explorer and choose your main partition.
• Click Manage and then Optimize.
• Wait until the process finishes.

This process can take a lot, depending on the device.

Google Chrome Memory Usage

As Google Chrome was developed, this program started to consume more and more memory from your computer system. 

At some point, this was considered an issue because the internet community saw that Chrome consumed more RAM than Windows itself.

You see, this browser uses resources according to “tabs open.”

This means that the more tabs with different information, the more services are started. A computer with limited resources can’t stand this. And modern PCs generally start to become slower as they reach the RAM’s limits.

This is what you can do to return Chrome to a normal state:

• Launch Google Chrome.
• Go to settings and then to the advance section.
• Unselect "Use a prediction service to help complete searches and URLs typed in the address bar” and "Use a prediction service to load pages more quickly.”

Windows Defender

Part of the times when Windows 10 uses more ram is with Windows Defender. It doesn’t matter if you have a 32-bit or a 64-bit PC, there’s no difference.

This is because there is either a virus or a conflict within the antivirus itself.

As such, here’s what you can do in both cases:

• The first thing you should do is find Windows Defender among the rest of your applications. Once you do that, start a deep scan looking for viruses.
• The second thing, if there aren’t any threats, then the antivirus should be the problem. Open the Task Manager and delete the process.

Buy More Ram

Last, but not least – buying RAM and adding it to your Motherboard. Before you modify the number of rams available on your computer, you should check the Motherboard manual to see the version and generation it accepts. 

You can’t use a DDR3 model when the board uses DDR4. If you do this, you will cause a boot error because they are incompatible. They also come in different sizes based on the type of computer – laptop or desktop.

A product you can consider for laptops is the Crucial 8GB DDR4 3200MHz. On the contrary, for desktops, you could look at the VENGEANCE LPX 8GB DDR4 2400MHz from Corsair.

Can Your Computer Run Windows 10?

If you want to know if your computer can run Windows 10, here you can see its minimum requirements based on the official website:

• Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor.
• RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit.
• Hard disk space: 16 GB for 32-bit OS or 20 GB for 64-bit OS.
• Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver.
• Display: 800 x 600.

Now, even though the official website mentions that 1-2 GB of ram are enough to run Windows 10, the actual minimum is 8 GB. This is due to all its features and updates.  If you’re not a Windows 10 user, we’ve developed a table comparison below that shows you the RAM Consumption of the last 3 Microsoft’s operating systems.

What this table comparison is showing, is that a clean Windows 10 install will run smoother than any previous versions. The problem comes when there are glitched services and processes that over-consume your RAM and deplete it in a way that you can’t even open a Google Chrome tab.

As such, when this happens, it is necessary to use one of the fixes mentioned above to solve this problem.

Does Windows 10 Use More RAM - Summary

Even though Windows 10 may use more RAM than you can expect, there are methods you can follow to fix this issue and finally experience the operating system as you should.

The best option, however, will always be making a clean installation of your software to erase most issues that you could have.