How to Increase Virtual Memory on Windows 11

Key Takeaways

• Increasing virtual memory on Windows 11 is only helpful if your PC has an SSD instead of a physical HDD.
• You can increase Virtual Memory on Windows 11 under Device specifications > Advanced system settings > Performance.

Steps to Increase Virtual Memory on Windows 11

Increasing virtual memory on Windows 11 isn’t rocket science. If your PC has capable hardware such as a Solid State Drive (SSD) instead of a mechanical Hard Disk Drive (HDD), you’ll get optimum performance gains from increasing the virtual memory on Windows 11. Here’s how:

Step 1: Press the Windows key, search Device specifications, and click to open its system setting.

Step 2: Click on Advanced system settings.

Step 3: Select the Advanced tab and click on Settings under Performance.

Step 4: Open the Advanced tab in the popup that opens and select Change.

Step 5: Uncheck Automatically manage paging file size for all drives at the top > select Custom size > enter new values to increase the virtual memory.

The Initial size (MB) and Maximum size (MB) must be 1.5 and 3 times your PC’s RAM size (in MB) respectively.

For instance, if your PC has 8 GB of RAM (8192 MB), the Initial size should be 8192 MB x 1.5 = 12288 MB, while the Maximum size should be 8192 MB x 3 = 24576 MB. Click on Set to Apply changes.

Step 6: Once set, click on OK to save changes.

What Happens When You Increase the Virtual Memory on Windows 11?

Increasing virtual memory on your PC enhances its performance to run more programs when your system has limited memory. While it isn’t a substitute for a physical memory, it provides you with the following benefits:

• You can run resource-heavy apps without getting any memory-related errors.
• Reduces your PC’s unresponsiveness while running multiple apps.
• Provides short bursts of performance to run more programs simultaneously on Windows 11.