Why does Windows 11 keep using more and more ram the longer it's on?

Grantelicious

Grantelicious

Grantelicious

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6 Apr 2010
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I have 128GB of ram and it slowly creeps up until it's full and nothing is running, I look at task manager and according to that I'm using barely anything. I've tried reinstalling a fresh install, but Windows 11 always does this and the problem is it slows the whole thing down over time. I'm someone that likes keeping their PC on 24/7, so right now it's been on three months, but that is no excuse to be using all my 128GB of ram. My Macbook hasn't been off since I bought it in 2020, yet that is still fine, it is barely using anything still.

What is Windows doing? Cause Resource Manager and Task Manager do not show what is really going on.
 
I have same 128GB RAM but it never been slowed creep up until it's full when nothing is running, it always stayed at 15% used about 19GB memory. I kept PC on for about 15 hours a day then put it to sleep. Memory always slowed creep up to over 60% after few days when I used internet browsers because internet browsers are memory resource hogs, only way to reset memory back down to 25% is to update internet browsers to latest version or closed browsers and restarted it.

Your PC could be infected with trojans/malware. Best to format fully and clean install Windows 11, not reinstall Windows 11. If you not want to format fully when you have important data on drive, try create new drive partition and install Windows 11 on other partition and see if 128GB RAM stopped creeps until full when nothing is running.
 
What does Task Manager show on the Performance tab for Memory?

Windows will use all the memory you have available, it will cache as much data into "standby" as it can. This memory can be instantly reclaimed if an active application comes along and actually needs it. The exception to this is if you have something leaking (and not releasing) memory over time, in which case your system would eventually grind to a halt. The performance tab in Task Manager should give you an indication of whether or not this is happening.
 
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As mentioned above, is it actually being "used" or is it just part of the cache?

If a program is gobbling it up then you can see that in task manager (expose the commit size column in the details tab, if you're not sure).

Browsers can slowly consume your memory if left open (never closed) and you don't restart the PC regularly.

The cache is not a problem, you'd usually want that memory to be used because it improves responsiveness and loading times.

To be blunt, 3 months is a VERY long time for any OS to be up for (assuming that's without a restart) and in my experience, many programs have poor memory hygiene if they're left open.
 
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