The Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation should use at most 20-30MB of memory on the task manager. However, many users report an issue where this process uses up a lot more memory, and the high memory usage keeps increasing as they use their PCs.
This issue is common and often happens due to a memory leak related to outdated drivers. The primary method to fix this issue is updating your audio card drivers. This is how to do it:
- Download Driver Booster and install it.
- Run Driver Booster and click on the Scan button to scan for outdated drivers on your PC:
- When the scan is finished, find Sound, video and game controllers and click on the Update button next to it:
You can also click Update Now in the upper-right corner to update all of your outdated drivers.
You can also update your sound drivers via Windows Device Manager or Windows Update. Since Windows native methods aren’t always reliable, I recommend using third-party software.
If you don’t want to use a third-party application, try to find your latest audio drivers on your laptop manufacturer’s official website.
(Do you get the notification “1 app is using your microphone” whenever you start Windows? If so, check my article on how to fix rundll32.exe and svchost.exe using my Microphone. )
If updating your drivers didn’t fix this issue, here are some alternative fixes you can try.
Disable Sound Effects to Fix Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation High RAM Usage
Since the Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation process is responsible for audio effects on your PC, a solution that works for some users is to disable all sound effects on your audio device in Windows sound settings.
This is how to do it:
On Windows 10
- Right-click on the Speaker icon in the notification area and select Sounds.
- In the Playback tab, right-click on the playback device you are using and click on Properties:
- Go to the Enhancement tab and select Disable all sound effects:
On Windows 11
- On Windows Search, input Sound Settings and open it:
- Now on Sound, browse down to More sound settings and click on it:
- In the Playback tab, right-click on the playback device you are using and click on Properties:
- On Speakers Properties, go to the Enhancement tab and select Disable all sound effects:
If this solution doesn’t work, look for software that can be running sound on your computer, and try to disable audio effects on these programs or close them temporarily to see if they are related to this issue.
(To learn how to hide an audio device without disabling it in Windows, read the article I’ve written about that.)
If you can’t see the enhancements tab under Speaker properties, try to check this video for a quick fix:
Conclusion
The Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation high memory usage is due to a memory leak. The best way to fix it is to update your audio drivers, preferably with a third-party application.
If you have this problem, likely, Windows couldn’t find the right driver through Windows Update.
Another solution is to disable your playback device’s audio effects (or enhancements) on sound settings. You can temporarily close any program that is running sound on your PC to try tracking the root of the problem.
If you want to reduce RAM usage and you never use Windows Widgets, check my article on how to reduce Windows Widgets high RAM usage on Windows.
Another memory leak that affects every Windows PC is the Desktop Window Manager memory leak. Read my article on how to fix the Desktop Window Manager high RAM usage on Windows to ensure it is not happening to you.
