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

[Armageus]

I disagreed and also Microsoft disagreed with you.

Microsoft have posted numerous conflicting advice on this over the years but yet you couldn't even quote them?

250GB is not enough if you got 128GB RAM.

Since back to Windows XP, Microsoft recommended to set page file 1.5 to 2 times the size of total system RAM.

How to Manage Your Virtual Memory (Page File) In Windows

Introduction A Page File acts as an overflow for your system memory (RAM) when you have too many applications running at one time. However, it is constantly being used by Windows to store temporary data regardless of how much RAM you have instal...

dovetailgames.freshdesk.com

And you'd be wrong because the 1.5-2x ram thing for paging file is rubbish and has been debunked numerous times.

I have servers at work with 512Gb of RAM, they run 24/7 without having a 2TB paging file.


Here's what Mark Russinovich (of sysinternals and now Azure CTO fame amongst other things) had to say:

How Big Should I Make the Paging File?
Perhaps one of the most commonly asked questions related to virtual memory is, how big should I make the paging file? There’s no end of ridiculous advice out on the web and in the newsstand magazines that cover Windows, and even Microsoft has published misleading recommendations. Almost all the suggestions are based on multiplying RAM size by some factor, with common values being 1.2, 1.5 and 2. Now that you understand the role that the paging file plays in defining a system’s commit limit and how processes contribute to the commit charge, you’re well positioned to see how useless such formulas truly are.

Pushing the Limits of Windows: Virtual Memory

learn.microsoft.com

My previous system had 32GB with completed memory dump but when I upgraded to current system with massive 128GB RAM, Windows changed settings and I noticed system used small memory dump (256KB) instead.

What happened when I tried to changed to completed memory dump?

I received a warning message.

Full memory dump is of no use to anyone other than people debugging and has nothing to do with paging file.

 

[Armageus]

My previous system had 32GB with completed memory dump but when I upgraded to current system with massive 128GB RAM,

Try setting your page file to 4Gb. Honestly I bet it will still run absolutely fine.

Think about it logically, why would you need more slow page file if you have more ram?

And equally (taking your example) if you only have 4Gb RAM, why is 6Gb or 8Gb page file enough? What if I run something that needs 12Gb of memory.
If you need memory then you need memory, whether physical or virtual. Setting a bigger page file does exactly what you'd expect and allows Windows to swap into that space when you run out of physical RAM.

 

[Armageus]

More recent Microsoft advice:

Introduction to the page file - Windows Client

Learn about the page files in Windows. A page file is an optional, hidden system file on a hard disk.

learn.microsoft.com

Page files in Windows with large physical memory
When large physical memory is installed, a page file might not be required to support the system commit charge during peak usage. For example, 64-bit versions of Windows and Windows Server support more physical memory (RAM) than 32-bit versions support. The available physical memory alone might be large enough.

However, the reason to configure the page file size hasn't changed. It has always been about supporting a system crash dump, if it's necessary, or extending the system commit limit, if it's necessary. For example, when a lot of physical memory is installed, a page file might not be required to back the system commit charge during peak usage. The available physical memory alone might be large enough to do this. However, a page file or a dedicated dump file might still be required to back a system crash dump.

So unless you need a full crash dump (which 99% of people don't) and aren't massively exceeding your physical memory, you don't need a huge page file if you already have plenty of ram

 

[Name]

What would be good is allowing me to flush the cache instead of having to restart.

Have you looked into intelligent standby list cleaner? You can set limits on how much ram gets eaten up and it forces a memory flush when it reaches the cap iirc.

 

[Rroff]

Try setting your page file to 4Gb. Honestly I bet it will still run absolutely fine.

Think about it logically, why would you need more slow page file if you have more ram?

And equally if you only have 4Gb RAM, why is 6Gb or 8Gb page file enough? What if I run something that needs 12Gb of memory.
If you need memory then you need memory, whether physical or virtual. Setting a bigger page file does exactly what you'd expect and allows Windows to swap into that space when you run out of physical RAM.

Yup, and if it wasn't for legacy reasons - how some parts of Windows work and some programs which track available memory to actively accommodate other programs, i.e. some older database software, you could disable it entirely (unless you want full crash dumps).

Some versions of Windows, usually older server versions, do advise leaving it on system managed - because it does require setting up correctly otherwise to accommodate your peak commit which not everyone might understand, but that is irrelevant here if the system is using up physical memory without anything running.

 

[Murphy]

Try setting your page file to 4Gb. Honestly I bet it will still run absolutely fine.

Personally I'd just set it to let Windows manage it, the reason there's loads of conflicting info out there is because the size of a fixed pagefile depends on a ton of factors like what your dump setting is, how much RAM you have, and other stuff I've forgotten about.

When i last looked into it decades ago i basically consider it not worth trying to workout what the ideal fixed size is because Windows is one of, if not the, best OS's when it comes to memory management so it's best to just let it do its own thing.

As others have said the OP needs to investigate what's supposedly using all this RAM, they said Taskmanager shows they're barley using anything so why do they suspect Windows is using all their RAM. If it's just the system slowing down how does that exhibit itself, are we talking about it being slow to load webpages, choppy video playback, lower than expected FPS in a game, what exactly.

Because if TM shows they're hardly using any RAM then it's more than likely not and the supposed slowdown is being caused by something else.

 

[Rroff]

System managed is a bit of a one size fits all setting which won't really cause problems but isn't necessarily optimal in all circumstances. For most people setting an initial size of 1024MB and then max size depending on their peak commit (and there is no harm going larger) is actually the best setting, unless they need a full crash dump as Windows can't resize the page file when it falls over to accommodate larger debug dumps.

This is all an aside here anyhow as Windows will use up to approx. 1/8th of the designated storage for the page file(s) if necessary when caching and will only spill into physical memory under pressure from an application(s)* - if it is filling up at rest that isn't an OS disc storage size issue.


* In a situation where it is limited by storage space.

 

[Rroff]

As others have said the OP needs to investigate what's supposedly using all this RAM, they said Taskmanager shows they're barley using anything so why do they suspect Windows is using all their RAM. If it's just the system slowing down how does that exhibit itself, are we talking about it being slow to load webpages, choppy video playback, lower than expected FPS in a game, what exactly.

Yup need screenshots of task manager, resource monitor and/or from Process Explorer showing what is going on or we can only guess at what is going on here.