If you close all or most of the applications on your PC and open the task manager, you might find your system uses over 30% or 40% of your RAM. Is this normal?
This happens due to the Superfetch (or Sysmain) service, which loads the programs and files you often use in your RAM cache to launch them quicker. This RAM will be freed up whenever it is needed elsewhere. So, there is nothing wrong with your PC.
Here are some important takeaways:
- It is perfectly normal for 40-50% of your RAM to be used when nothing is running on Windows. This happens to boost your PC’s performance.
- The more RAM you have, the more will be used at idle. Do not focus on absolute numbers; we are talking about percentage rates. It is nothing to worry about since unused RAM is basically wasted resources.
- What if you still want to reduce RAM usage at idle? Follow the suggestions below to disable Windows Tips, tricks, and suggestions, or even disable Superfetch to reduce your RAM usage at idle.
(You should be more concerned about the Desktop Window Manager memory leak affecting all Windows 10/11 PCs. I’ve written an article with an instant fix for that.)
Two Methods to Reduce RAM Usage at Idle
As explained above, the two methods to reduce RAM usage are to disable Windows Tips, tricks, and suggestions and disable Superfetch.
Fix 1: Disable Windows Tips, tricks, and suggestions
This suggestion was given by the Reddit user rangaming and worked for thousands of users. There is no drawback to trying it since most users don’t use Windows suggestions.
Here is how to do it:
- Enter notifications & action settings on Windows search and press Enter.
- On Windows 10, disable Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows:
On Windows 11, disable both Offer suggestions on how I can set up my device and Get tips and suggestions when I use Windows.
- Restart your PC.
(Did you know you can change your notification settings to make them bigger or smaller, to change how long they appear on screen, or even to disable them?)
If you want to take your optimization one step further, you can disable Superfetch altogether.
Fix 2: Disable Superfetch
As explained above, the Superfetch service loads up the apps and files you often use in your RAM cache. If you believe this is slowing down your PC, you can disable Superfetch through Windows Registry.
Here is how to disable Superfetch:
- Enter Registry on Windows Search and click on Registry Editor.
- Click yes to allow the Registry Editor to make changes to your device.
- On the Registry Editor address bar, input the address below and press Enter:
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters - Right-click on the Enable Superfetch key and select Modify.
- Change Value data to 0:
- Restart your PC.
This will disable Superfetch. If you want to enable it again later, redo the steps above and change the Value data to 1.
Conclusion
The RAM usage is high when nothing is running because the Superfetch feature loads apps and files on the RAM cache to launch them quicker.
This RAM will be freed up as soon as you need it to run any application or task, so you shouldn’t worry about it.
If you want to free up this RAM usage at idle, try to disable Windows tips, tricks, and suggestions, or disable Superfetch altogether.
(You can also free up more RAM by disabling the Windows Input Experience and preventing it from running in the background on Windows 11.)
