Yesterday, Microsoft EVP Pavan Davuluri announced Windows 11 memory optimisations that make 8GB RAM PCs faster and more responsive.
Today, we’re sharing updates from the team on memory improvements, including work that makes experiences on 8 GB @Windows 11 PCs faster and more responsive.
Windows quality is an ongoing journey. We’ll keep listening, building on what we learn, and sharing our progress 🚀.…
— Pavan Davuluri (@pavandavuluri) November 3, 2026
Windows 11 memory optimisations for 8GB RAM PCs
On 8GB PCs, Windows is now up to 20% more responsive, and multitasking is up to 40% faster in the company’s lab test.
Making better use of memory
When you have more open tasks than the desk can hold, Windows moves something to a drawer and fetches it back when you need it again. The drawer is your drive, and going to it is slower than reaching across the desk. Windows puts spare capacity to work keeping useful apps and data ready, then reclaims or reprioritises it as your needs change.
One way Windows avoids the drawer is compression: folding less-active data into a smaller form so it can stay on the desk, where it’s still within reach. The company has now turned how much to compress, when to use the drawer, and when to fetch something back specifically for 8GB PCs.
As a result, Windows can now keep up to 2GB more of your active data in memory instead of moving it to slower storage, so an app or tab you left open is less likely to reload when you return.
Protecting the moments that need to feel immediate
Opening Start, searching, right-clicking, opening Settings, launching Snipping Tool, and opening File Explorer are all moments when you’re asking Windows to respond right now. Compared with the January 2026 update, those interactions respond up to 20% faster.
Windows delivers these improvements by briefly prioritising the work you ask for and backing off background tasks such as search indexing while you’re active.
When you click a link or open Edge from Start, Edge is often already running in the background, so Windows connects to it directly instead of searching for it first which can open it up to 33% faster. Teams can turn on Efficiency Mode by default on 8GB PCs, helping it launch up to 20% faster and reducing the system resources it uses while it runs.
During meetings, it can adjust camera resolution to preserve processor capacity for audio, so your call stays clear when the PC is working hard.
Improving memory efficiency across key apps and Windows
Across Windows, Microsoft Edge and Microsoft 365 apps, those improvements add up: in multitasking tests on 8GB PCs, they reduced committed-memory growth by up to 900MB. Improvements across Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook add up to 360 MB savings.
On PCs with 8GB of memory or less, Widgets now loads only when you open it, reducing memory commitment by roughly 200 MB while it’s closed. In Microsoft Edge, inactive tabs go to sleep after 15 minutes by default, down from two hours, reducing the memory used by tabs you aren’t actively using.
Finding and fixing what matters most
Feedback Hub gives the Windows community a direct way to show what is getting in the way. Reports, screen recordings, and upvotes help the company understand which experiences people share. Diagnostic data then helps measure how widespread those issues are, which PCs see them most, and where a change could have the greatest impact. Together, those signals help Microsoft decide what to fix first.
The company tested those fixes across a broader collection of over 20,000 PCs in its labs, including current 8 GB models, using automated workloads based on activities such as browsing, working in Microsoft 365 apps, joining video calls, and downloading files in the background and even using high-speed cameras to measure the time from an action, such as opening Start or launching an app, to the moment the result appears on screen.
Testing doesn’t stop when an update ships. Microsoft returns to real-world data to confirm that improvements hold up across 8 GB PCs, especially during heavier sessions where slowdowns are easiest to notice.
Raising the ceiling with new silicon
Newer processors also expand what an 8 GB PC can do. In commissioned third-party testing, a 2026 8 GB Dell XPS 13 delivered up to 94% faster multi-core CPU performance than a 2021 8 GB model.
The same 2026 8 GB PC performed about as well as a 2021 16 GB configuration across CPU performance, web browsing, AI-powered web tasks such as background blur and face detection, and 4K video export. Memory still matters for heavier and highly multitasked workloads, but the results from this Dell PC show why the complete PC, not memory capacity alone, shapes the experience.
Commitment to Windows quality
- Memory compression already helps Windows keep more of your work in faster memory. Next, the company is making it even smarter and more efficient to get the most out of your system performance.
- Windows features and apps will share common parts instead of each carrying its own. Search and Widgets will share one web engine, and so will OneDrive and Photos for memory savings across all four apps.
- Apps and experiences built on WinUI 3, including File Explorer, Notepad, Paint, and the new Windows search, are being designed to open faster and use less memory.
- Together with PC makers and silicon partners, the company is optimising how much memory your PC needs to reserve for its hardware, leaving more available for Windows and the apps you use.
- Microsoft is also working with third-party app developers to help their apps use memory more efficiently.
Availability
To get the latest performance and memory improvements, update to Windows 11, version 26H2, build 26300.9818 or later.
Go to Settings > Windows Update, turn on Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available, and select Check for updates. Keep Microsoft Edge, Microsoft 365, and Teams updated as well, since some improvements arrive through app updates or through Microsoft Store.
