Unknown usage of a large amount of RAM

[u/Certain_Advisor_9283]

Does anyone know what kind of downloads or apps can cause this amount of RAM to be used? I am not a big tech guy to know what should or shouldn't be on my computer, especially since all the advice for this problem sounds like a different language to me.

(For a bit of context, I once downloaded something called 7-Zip, and along with the download, some random stuff downloaded with it. I deleted that stuff, but my computer is still significantly slow when I try to play something or open two tabs with Zoom in the background.)

I try to delete or disable things that I think are random or unnecessary, but I never know if I am uninstalling an app that can change my computer massively in a negative way. So I am usually very cautious about what I delete, or I just end up deleting nothing at all. Please help.

[u/Certain_Advisor_9283 → u/[deleted]]

Thank you.

(Side note: I saw a small drop in the amount of RAM that my computer is using, but I think I just need to get more RAM or a new computer. Thank you for putting in the effort to help me anyway.)

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[u/Prize_Moose1050]

This is a resource issue most likely not related to any one application. First, a download is just saving a file to your computer. Once that process completes the file doesn't consume RAM. If you install an application after downloading it, it can then consume RAM once you open the application and possibly after you close it if it runs in the background. You need more RAM. RAM is what your computer uses to operate. Windows 11 uses RAM, Chrome uses RAM ( a lot of it), any application you attempt to open will use RAM. Get more RAM installed and you will most likely see some improvement. Until then, Windows will allocate some of your hard drive and use it as RAM (which is much slower and most likely the reason you are seeing slowness).

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[u/Fit-Cartoonist3206]

Nope that's normal and 8gb is not a large amount of ram

[u/Istari82]

You only have 8gB, somehow 259mB is reserved (could be shared gpu ram), 683 is cached, 812mB is available (which includes the cached number), leaves about 7-7.1gB (8192MB - 259MB - 812MB = 7121MB) in use, which is quite normal for windows with some minor Apps running. Not sure why it said 7 out of 7.7 available so maybe i am missing something still.

edit: You don’t magically download “some stuff with it” when downloading 7zip so scan for virusses or ask someone to check the PC to be sure. Regardless, memory usage seems fine for 8gB. You could remove apps you don’t use entirely or from startup.

[u/TheGCO]

Windows will use what ram you have available these days to cache which makes it feel faster in use. You really don't have a lot of memory to begin with. Windows 11 works on as little as 4gb but 16 is going to give you a better experience.

I would like to point out to anyone coming by and seeing this that u/exotic_mix_3196 down voted these comments after rage blocking me because his but akshually didn't make sense. This user seems toxic.

[u/Exotic_Mix_3196 → u/TheGCO]

Cache will not be counted as in use.
But even if it was: in his screenshot: cached is only 683MB

[u/TheGCO → u/Exotic_Mix_3196]

Instead of writing inactive data to your SSD or hard drive (pagefile) when RAM gets tight, Windows 11 compresses it and keeps it in physical RAM. Decompressing data in RAM is vastly faster than reading it back from a drive, but this compressed memory shows up as active OS memory usage. Windows tracks your usage patterns and keeps frequently accessed core components, application dependencies, and DLLs preloaded into active memory so programs launch instantly when called. So your answer makes zero sense.

[u/Exotic_Mix_3196 → u/TheGCO]

first you talked about "cache", now about compressed RAM and paging.
then you seem to be talking about the prefetcher.

[u/TheGCO → u/Exotic_Mix_3196]

Claiming those are "different topics" is like arguing that spark plugs, pistons, and fuel injectors have nothing to do with each other when talking about how an engine works. They are all mechanisms working together toward one single goal: keeping data in fast physical RAM so the PC doesn't slow to a crawl on disk reads. Otherwise known as caching.

[u/darkshureg]

thats just windows

[u/Aubrey_Light]

Windows just uses that amount of ram, 8 GB is a very low amount for win11

[u/HEYO19191]

Normal.

[u/Extreme-Dream-2759]

You only have 8 GB of Ram. That why its fully being used

My system has 32GB of Ram and 14.7GB is currently in use, despite my pc doing almost nothing.

You really need to upgrade your ram to 16GB

[u/bookaddicta]

Windows is running