Your Computer Is Low on Memory in Windows 11? Free RAM and Fix the Page File
A balloon or banner pops up saying “Your computer is low on memory” (sometimes “low on virtual memory”), and Windows asks you to close some programs.
Why: Windows tracks committed memory — the total each running program has reserved. That demand is satisfied by your physical RAM plus the page file (pagefile.sys) on disk. When committed memory approaches the combined limit, Windows fires this warning. It’s almost always one memory-hungry app (a browser with 80 tabs, a game, a photo/video editor) rather than a hardware fault.
Fix 1: Find and close the memory hog (fastest)
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- On the Processes tab, click the Memory column header so the biggest user is at the top.
- Close the app that’s eating the most — save your work first, then close it normally (or right-click → End task if it’s frozen).
Web browsers are the usual top entry: each tab and extension is its own chunk of memory. Closing tabs you’re not using, or restarting the browser, often clears the warning instantly.
Fix 2: Restart to clear leaked memory
If an app has been open for days, it may have slowly leaked memory that it never gave back. A reboot returns all of it to the system.
- Select Start → Power → Restart.
- After it comes back, reopen only the apps you actually need and close them when you’re done.
This is Microsoft’s own first suggestion for sluggish, memory-pressured PCs — many “low on memory” episodes never come back after a clean restart.
Fix 3: Make sure the page file is set correctly
The page file is disk space Windows uses as overflow when RAM fills. By default Windows manages it automatically, which is the right setting for most people. Check it’s enabled — and if you keep hitting the warning, set a fixed size so it can’t run short.
- Press Win, type Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows, and open it.
- Go to the Advanced tab → under Virtual memory, click Change.
- For most users: leave Automatically manage paging file size for all drives ticked. Click OK.
- If you keep getting low-memory warnings, untick that box, select your system drive, choose Custom size, and set both:
- Initial size and Maximum size to roughly 1.5 times your installed RAM in MB (e.g. 16 GB RAM ≈ 24576 MB). Microsoft calls 1.5× installed RAM “a good starting point.”
- Click Set, then OK, and restart when prompted.
Setting the initial and maximum to the same value stops the file from having to grow on the fly, which avoids the brief out-of-memory stalls that happen while it expands.
Fix 4: The real fix if it’s constant — add RAM
The page file is overflow on a disk, which is far slower than RAM. If you see this warning daily, you’re simply asking the machine to do more than its RAM allows.
- Check your installed RAM: Settings → System → About, look at Installed RAM.
- 8 GB is tight for modern browsing plus apps; 16 GB is the comfortable baseline. Adding a stick (or moving to a higher-capacity one) ends the warnings for good — the page file should be a safety net, not your daily workspace.
FAQ
Should I disable the page file to force everything into RAM? No. Some Windows features expect a page file, and without one you’ll get hard crashes when RAM fills. Keep it on.
Is “low on memory” the same as low disk space? No. Low memory is RAM/page-file pressure; low disk space is the drive filling up. They’re separate — though a nearly full drive can also stop the page file from growing.
How big should the page file be? Microsoft’s general guidance is about 1.5× your installed RAM. If disk space is plentiful, a larger file does no harm.
Sources: Microsoft Support — Tips to improve PC performance in Windows, Microsoft Learn — RAM, virtual memory, pagefile, and memory management in Windows