How to increase virtual memory on a Windows 10 computer

Your computer may be running out of memory if it takes you too long to open, run and close programs. To solve the problem, you can increase your RAM (RAM cards). Temporary fixes can be used to speed up your computer if you don’t want to change the hardware. Here are some ways to increase virtual memory on Windows 10.

What is Virtual Memory?

Virtual memory allows your computer to think it has more memory that it actually does. Programs that use more RAM than your computer actually has won’t work correctly without virtual memory. This virtual memory copies data from RAM to your hard drive (HDD, SSD) to free up storage.

Virtual data can be a thousand times slower that reading from RAM. Virtual memory can slow down your computer’s performance. In certain circumstances, your computer might display an error message indicating that your virtual memory is low.

What does “Low on Virtual Memory” mean?

If your virtual memory runs out, you may get an error stating that it is too low. This means you have both run out of RAM space and hard disk space. This can also happen when you are running multiple memory-intensive commands or programs at once, such as video files or large files.

Windows will show this message if your virtual memory gets too low: “Your system has low virtual memory. Windows is increasing your virtual memory paging files. Some applications might be denied memory requests during this process. See help for more information.

This error means that Windows doesn’t have enough RAM to store your data. This could cause your programs or data to crash.

How to Increase Virtual Memory

The Task Manager can be used to increase virtual memory. It will locate and terminate memory-intensive programs. Disk Cleanup can also be used to delete inefficient files. You can also manually adjust the size of your paging files from Control Panel. These are the steps to follow for each method.

How to Close Programs That Take Up Too Much of Your Memory

1. Use the Ctrl + alt + delete keys to get rid of your keyboard . All keys must be pressed simultaneously
   Note: The “delete” key is not the exact same as the “backspace”. Some keyboards also have a delete key labeled “Del”.
2. Next, click Task Manager. This is the last option that appears on the list.
   Notification: The Task Manager can be accessed by clicking on the Taskbar at bottom of screen and choosing Task Manager from the pop up menu.
3. Next, click on the Processes Tab.
4. Next, click Memory for a list of programs that are memory-intensive.
5. Click on the program you wish to close . Choose a process that takes up more RAM than others.
   Be aware: Closing some processes may cause damage to your computer. If you don’t know what a process is or what it does, do not close it.
6. Click Finish Task. This button is located in the bottom-right corner.

Virtual memory takes up space on your hard drive so it is crucial to delete files that are taking up too much. You might also want to backup your files to another drive before you do these steps.

How to delete unneeded files using Disk Cleanup

1. Open Windows search bar. This icon can be found in the lower-left corner. To see this option, click on the Taskbar at your bottom and hover over Search. Select Show search icons from the pop-up menu.
2. Type Disk Cleanup.
3. Next, click Open.
4. Choose the drive that you wish to clean. You will most likely want to choose the “C” drive. This is the drive on which your operating system runs.
5. Click OK. Wait for the app’s calculation to complete about how much space you have on your selected drive.
6. Click the Disk Cleanup tab and tick the boxes for files that you wish to delete. Click on any file type to see a brief description.
   Warning! Delete certain files could cause irreparable damage to your computer. You should not delete files without knowing what they are.
7. Click Clear out system files.

How to manually adjust the size of your paging file in Control Panel

1. Open the Windows Search Bar. Click the magnifying glass icon at the bottom-left corner.
2. Type “Performance”
3. Next, choose To adjust the appearance and performance Windows.
4. Choose the Advancedtab. This will appear at the top.
5. Click the Edit button from the Virtual Memory panel.
6. Un-select Automatically managing paging files size for all drives. This will be at the top of your window.
7. Next, click on the radio button to select Custom Size. For the boxes, type the values in. Initial size (MB) And Maximum size (MB). .
   Microsoft recommends setting virtual memory at 1.5 times your RAM size and not exceeding three times your RAM. If you have 2GB RAM, you can type 6,000MB (1GB = around 1,000MB) in the Initial size and Maximum size boxes.
8. Click Next and OK.

Our guide explains how to find the amount of RAM that you have.