Windows 11 26H2 update quietly shipped with vital RAM improvements
Windows 11’s newest update lowers RAM usage, and it’s unclear what has changed
Windows 11 26H2 has shipped, and many users have noticed the OS uses much less RAM than before. While Microsoft has not documented the change, Windows Latest has noticed a clear drop. When idling, Windows 11 now uses much less RAM. Windows Latest notes a drop from around 10GB to 7GB, a 3GB reduction. They also noted that several Reddit users reported idle RAM usage decreases of around 2GB.
For low-RAM laptops, these changes can dramatically affect usability. 8GB and 16GB laptops remain commonplace, so any gigabyte-level RAM reduction is a good thing. That said, Microsoft has stated that it wants to optimise Windows 11 for “8GB and above” PCs. While Windows 11 has improved its memory usage, 8GB laptops still don’t offer a good experience and often use almost all their RAM at idle. Clearly, there’s still room for improvement.
My RAM numbers look similar. Right after a restart, Task Manager showed 7.0GB in use out of 15.7GB, which is 45%, with 4GB cached and 8.8GB available. Before, this laptop would often cross 10GB before I even opened an app. The 7GB shown could’ve been smaller if it weren’t for the startup apps: Lenovo Smart Connect, Plex, Quick Share, PowerToys, WhatsApp, Teams, and more.
– Windows Latest
More Windows 11 RAM improvements are coming
Tackling Windows 11’s memory usage is now a priority for Microsoft. High RAM prices have made high-memory laptops and PCs much more expensive. In today’s market, Microsoft cannot ask PC makers and consumers to pay for more memory. Microsoft needs to optimise Windows 11 to reduce its memory usage. Avoiding the issue is no longer an option.
While Windows 11 26H2 appears to reduce Windows 11’s idle memory usage, more features are coming that will further optimise Windows 11. Microsoft’s Windows team is working to make Windows 11 more efficient, which means using memory and other system resources more effectively.
Over the past year, Windows 11 has quietly become faster and more efficient. 26H2 delivers some memory optimisations. The update also makes Windows 11’s performance-boosting Low Latency Profile feature available to everyone. This feature can reduce app boot times by enabling a momentary CPU boost. In time, Microsoft aims to further improve Windows 11, slowly making the OS what it always should have been.
Credit where credit is due, Microsoft’s Windows team under Pavan Davuluri has made some major improvements. That said, all of the OS’s big changes this year should have been part of Windows 11 at launch. Windows 11 is now five years old, and while the OS is on the right path, it still has a long way to go before it reaches its full potential.
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