How much memory should be used when idle?

Apr 11, 2018
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HI there,
I have noticed whenever I open my task manager I have about 30% of the memory being used when no apps/windows are open. I was first wondering if "memory" is the same thing as RAM, and also if this is a normal amount to be used when nothing is running on my computer. I understand that background processes are running to make the system run, but should it really be 30% of the memory?
 
Solution
Windows will try to optimize memory usage, the more you have free the more it may try to use which is a good thing as it better than windows using local Page file since that is much slower. I personally use to set my local page file as small as possible to force windows to take advantage of my physical memory.
Apr 11, 2018
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Okay, but i have 16gb of ram, so if 30% of memory is being used, doesn't that mean that about 5gb of ram is being used at idle? That seems like a lot.
 

ikaz

Distinguished
Dec 27, 2005
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Windows will try to optimize memory usage, the more you have free the more it may try to use which is a good thing as it better than windows using local Page file since that is much slower. I personally use to set my local page file as small as possible to force windows to take advantage of my physical memory.
 
Solution

dudeman509

Estimable
Jan 23, 2015
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My W10 image idles ~ 25-30% as well (I have a few Chrome tabs, Outlook, and some other things open). ~4-5 GB is pretty normal usage for Windows 10. It tries to cache a lot of frequently used stuff in RAM to speed up access to those applications.
 
Echoing/reaffirming what the OP and others have said: Background processes will take up some memory, even at idle, and Windows will cache a fairly large chunk of available memory for quick(er) access.

Task Manager should itemize services/applications, telling you how much of system resources are being allocated to each item. You can go over those if you're concerned about a resource heavy application, or for any possible memory leak issues.