Microsoft is accelerating efforts to make Windows 11 use memory more efficiently, targeting personal computers with 8 gigabytes (GB) of RAM or more to deliver faster system responsiveness, reduce lag and enhance multitasking capabilities.
The performance boost is part of a broader push to elevate the quality of Windows, announced by Microsoft in March 2026, following sustained criticism about sluggishness, instability and resource-heavy features that bogged down the operating system.
Pavan Davuluri, executive vice-president of Windows+Devices at Microsoft, said that over recent months, the tech giant has overhauled memory efficiency and reduced latency across multiple areas of Windows 11 by lowering the RAM footprint of both applications and system components.
Key improvements have been directed at WinUI 3, the framework used to build applications and various system elements in Windows 11. Microsoft has worked to trim memory usage from the ground up, allowing WinUI 3-based applications to launch faster while consuming significantly less RAM.
Additionally, the company has refined components built on Chromium and WebView2, which power numerous applications and built-in features across Windows 11. Even though users might not actively open a web browser, these background processes often run continuously and consume persistent memory.
File Explorer, one of the most heavily criticised aspects of Windows 11 due to frequent freezing and slow loading times, has undergone a major internal restructuring. The update aims to ensure folder opening, file searching and scrolling are far more responsive while mitigating unexpected crashes.
The overhaul also resolves secondary annoyances, including blurry file thumbnails on the Home page, jittery display switching and clunky keyboard navigation, alongside improving file renaming and size rendering.
Elsewhere, the Widgets panel has been updated to use less baseline memory and release unused RAM more rapidly, while reducing background data preloading on low-memory devices. Both the Start Menu and Search are also receiving speed and responsiveness enhancements.
For the second half of 2026, Microsoft explicitly outlined a roadmap focused on “memory optimisation for 8GB and above”. The goal is to lower system-level memory consumption, ensuring entry-level devices run Windows 11 far more smoothly than before.
Source: Microsoft, videocardz, Platform X
