How to Identify and Fix High Memory Usage With Task Manager
2 min read
Summary
If you find your Windows PC is lagging, it could be due to high memory usage, and using the Task Manager to find the cause can help troubleshoot the issue.
Clicking on the Task Manager’s Processes tab will show you all currently running programs and Windows processes, and how much memory each is using, so you can easily identify any memory hogs.
Memory leaks happen when a program fails to return memory space after it has finished using it, and this can result in that memory being unavailable to Windows or any other program.
Using the Task Manager to close the offending program will resolve this and return the memory to the memory pool.
If you have a lot of programs set to start up when you boot Windows, this can slow down boot times and also use more memory than necessary, so limiting the number of startup programs can help.
The Task Manager’s Startup apps section lists all apps that start when Windows boots and allows you to disable any that are not needed.
The Services tab lists system services running on your system, and allows you to restart or stop them in the event of an unresponsive program.
