How to Increase Virtual Memory in Windows??

 

💾 How to Increase Virtual Memory in Windows (Step-by-Step Guide)

If your Windows computer feels slow, freezes, or shows errors like “Low Memory”, increasing virtual memory can help improve performance—especially on PCs with low RAM.

In this guide, you’ll learn what virtual memory is and how to increase it safely in Windows 10 & Windows 11.

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🧠 What Is Virtual Memory?

Virtual memory is a part of your hard drive or SSD that Windows uses as extra RAM when physical RAM is full.
It is also called the paging file.

✔️ Helps run multiple programs
✔️ Prevents system crashes
✔️ Useful for low-RAM computers

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⚠️ When Should You Increase Virtual Memory?

Increase virtual memory if you notice:

• Slow PC performance

• Apps crashing or freezing

• “Out of memory” error messages

• Heavy software usage (editing, browsing many tabs)

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🛠️ How to Increase Virtual Memory in Windows 10 / 11

🔹 Step 1: Open Advanced System Settings

1. Press Windows + R

2. Type sysdm.cpl

3. Press Enter 
   

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🔹 Step 2: Open Performance Settings

1. Go to Advanced tab

2. Under Performance, click Settings

3. Open the Advanced tab again

   
   
   

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🔹 Step 3: Open Virtual Memory Settings

1. Under Virtual Memory, click Change

2. Uncheck Automatically manage paging file size for all drives

   
   
   

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🔹 Step 4: Set Custom Virtual Memory Size

1. Select your C: Drive

2. Choose Custom size

   
   
   

📌 Recommended Virtual Memory Size

RAM Size	Initial Size	Maximum Size
4 GB	4096 MB	8192 MB
8 GB	8192 MB	16384 MB
16 GB	16384 MB	32768 MB

3. Click Set

4. Click OK

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🔹 Step 5: Restart Your Computer

Restart your PC to apply the changes.

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✅ Should You Use SSD or HDD for Virtual Memory?

✔️ SSD (Recommended) – Faster performance
❌ HDD – Slower but still usable 

If you have an SSD, always set virtual memory on it.