How To Free Up RAM on Windows and Mac: 10+ Ways

August 21, 2024 By Johan Curtis No Comments 12 minutes

It could be frustrating when your phone or your computer just won’t work like it normally did. You experience a drop in speed and quality of the normal tasks that you previously did easily but now it takes time. Even when searching for something on Google starts draining you mentally, this is where you must learn how to free up RAM on your devices. 

NOTE: If your RAM is low on storage, you may experience an unusual crash while performing normal computer tasks. This may also occur because you have visited third-party websites and been redirected to repetitive malware ads. This malware gets into your PC and slows down your computer. This is why you need to be connected to a premium FastestVPN subscription. With FastestVPN, you will never bump into shady websites and unsolicited ads because of its industry-standard protocols!

So what is RAM, and why must you free it up? How will you clear your RAM storage? You must have a lot of questions right now. Don’t worry, let’s have a look at their answers in detail. 

What Is RAM?

Random Access Memory, frequently called RAM, stores short-term memory in a device. It’s a chip located in your computer’s CPU. RAM helps a user multitask. So, it basically acts like the computer’s powerhouse, similar to how a human multitasks.

But what happens when RAM slows down? The entire system starts working slowly. To cool down your frustration if you are facing a RAM problem right now and to save yourself from future troubles if you have yet to encounter any RAM-related problems, follow our guide. 

Why Do You Need to Clear Your RAM?

People may get stuck in a void where their phone takes too long to load. Whether loading apps or the content of these apps or browsing basic stuff on Google, the phone works exceptionally slowly. 

If this is the first time it has happened to you, especially on your phone, you might wonder if it is your internet. But once you check with your colleagues or family members and conclude that their devices are working fine, what next? 

This is where you need to learn how to free up RAM on your devices, computers, or smartphones. 

5 Essential Ways To Free Up RAM on Any Computer

Are you asking yourself how to clean PC RAM right now? Here are some of the most basic steps to easily clean up RAM on your Windows or Mac. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Restart Your Device

The first and foremost thing you would have heard from the beginning whenever your computer ran into a problem was to restart it. So, without wasting any time, please restart your computer properly, i.e., don’t shut it down and power it back on. 

Instead, it would be best to look for the restart option in your power options and click on it.

2. Clear RAM Cache

Is your RAM still not freed up? Try clearing the RAM cache. So, how do you clear the RAM cache on your computer? It is very simple.

You just have to empty the cache from your RAM. How do you do so? Open your task manager and see the process of your RAM. End the task immediately.

Furthermore, disable any visual effects in the background on your PC and keep a minimal number of files or apps opened simultaneously. 

3. Close Recent Apps

Open a few apps at a time as a best practice to keep your RAM clean for a long time. If you aren’t using four of the five apps currently opened in your taskbar, close all of them. 

You must also avoid opening a vast, unnecessary number of tabs on your browser. 

4. Use Another Browser

After the system storage and cache, your browser is another app that eats up a lot of your memory. If you turn on your browser and see the speed of normal tasks like searching up for a celebrity’s name, it takes half a minute instead of milliseconds, and it’s something about your browser. 

You can end the task from your task manager. Moreover, what you must do is, change your browser. Nowadays, a PC comes well-equipped with at least three different browsers trusted by millions worldwide. 

5. Update Your Software

Software updates are very important for your computer. Windows 10 and 11 have regular updates to keep your device up to the latest in terms of intel. So, you must regularly update your PC. You have to do nothing, as these updates are free. Just keep checking them in the power options on your computer. 

How to Free up RAM On Windows 10 and 11

Learn how to free up RAM on Windows 10 and 11 in this section:

1. Run Task Manager and Check RAM Usage

Is your Windows laptop showing worrying signs of low performance lately? Don’t worry; let’s begin with the first steps and learn how to free up RAM on a laptop:

Open your Task Manager through your Start menu. You can also do it by either pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc or Ctrl+Alt+Delete. Now click on More Details and expand the window. Go to Processes and click Memory.

Make sure you remove and delete every app or task that is significantly slowing down your computer.

2. Close Background Apps

Another reason your RAM has been continuously taking up a lot of space and slowing down your tasks is that plenty of background apps are opened on the taskbar, and you barely use them.

The task is happening in the background, so not using the apps affects RAM. However, you must always quit the apps and files you no longer use. This keeps your RAM focused on the task you are currently performing. 

3. Close Browser Tabs

Closing browser tabs is also helpful in increasing efficiency on your Windows PC and freeing up RAM. The more tabs you open, the more memory and cache get stored on your browser. This makes the RAM work slow and interferes with other operations on your device. When you open your Task Manager, you will see the browser you use getting the most RAM on your device. 

Close the browser tabs the instant you no longer need them.

Do you visit third-party websites frequently and click on random links because you don’t have an adblocker or its equivalent? The FastestVPN app for Windows will ensure you never bump into fishy websites or click on random, suspicious links.

4. Uninstall Unused Software

You may have been extremely enthusiastic back in the day and have gotten software like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc., or game development software you have yet to use. These apps sit on your computer and gather a lot of space. The best thing to do is delete these unused apps from your PC. 

Navigate to settings > apps > apps & features. Click Uninstall to remove unused apps from your device.  

5. Disable Visual Effects

Animated computer visuals, such as on your desktop background and browser wallpaper, can cause ultimate PC Slowdown. Therefore, you must always exchange visuals and graphics for performance.

Search for File Explorer in the search bar and locate This PC in the left panel. Click on Properties > Advanced System Settings > Advanced. 

Now, you must click Adjust for Best Performance to choose which animation to keep and which to disable. 

How to Free Up RAM on Mac

First things first, if you are wondering how to free up RAM on your Mac, you must restart your device without further delay. Restarting the Mac every few days will empty the RAM itself, so it’s good practice to clear up RAM—not shut down and switch it back on, but actually restart the device. 

1. Examine Your Mac Activity Monitor

In Windows, you get Task Manager; in Mac, you get Activity Monitor. Once you open your activity monitor, you can see your computer’s memory and what tasks are performed by apps in the background. 

Here’s how you can access your Activity Monitor and terminate those apps that you are no longer using and are draining your RAM:

• Hold the Command +  Space bar.
• Type in Activity monitor.
• Locate the Memory and click on it.
• Check out those unused items taking up a lot of your RAM and delete them.

2. Check CPU Usage

Return to the Activity Monitor and go to the CPU tab. Here, you will see all the operations going on in the Central Processing Unit on your Mac. Examine and eliminate any problem that you understand is making your Mac slow.

3. Clear Cached Files

Examine your Mac and every other file and tab on your personal computer. Delete every file that you no longer need or are just sitting there with no tasks to perform, even if you have to do it individually, one by one. 

4. Keep the Finder Clean

It is well-known that every window in the Finder utilizes its memory. Make sure to Merge All Windows whenever you have opened many Finder windows to minimize RAM usage. 

Here’s how you can clean your Finder windows:

• Click on your desktop. The Finder dropdown will appear on the top left of the screen.
• Open the dropdown and look for Preferences
• Check the box Open Folders in tabs instead of new windows.

5. Use a Mac Memory Cleaner App

If it looks like you can’t clean the cache and junk on your Mac alone, do this instead. There are tons of trustworthy Mac Cleaner apps available on the app store. Download the one you feel is the most popular software and let it clean the junk.

Install FastestVPN for Mac to protect your PC against malware in the future and restrict unwanted software from entering.

6. Clean Your Desktop

Another important step is to keep your desktop from being stacked up with icons and icons of files. Mac developers have created the software so that the user doesn’t open tons of icons on their screen, as Mac renders to them as specific tasks. 

This is drawing your RAM and eating it up rather than freeing it by making smaller icons for every task. You must clean and delete these icons and folders at once. 

How to Free up RAM on a Phone

It’s not just computers that use RAM and need it freed up once in a while. Your phone also uses RAM; surprisingly, apps and browsers consume more smartphone memory than a computer. 

Let’s see how to free up RAM in a smartphone:

How to free up RAM: Android

You will see an instant boost in the performance of your Android’s RAM following these tips:

• Uninstall apps that you no longer need or barely use. Similarly, deactivate system apps that have nothing going on in the background.
• Use a moderate resolution for the screen results. Don’t use fancy wallpapers and themes; instead, use simple images and backgrounds.
• Frequently clear apps from recently used apps. The fewer the apps running in the background, the better the result. 
• Clear app cache frequently.
• Make sure to delete your photos and videos. The best practice would be to keep backing up your media on the Drive and keep minimal media items on your device if your smartphone is low on memory.

How to free up RAM on iPhone

iOS manages RAM automatically. An iPhone user won’t get into trouble frequently concerning their RAM. However, if you feel your phone is heating a lot lately or taking more time to load stuff than usual, go for a forced restart.

Here’s how to do it: 

• Long press the power button until the slider shows on the screen.
• Take your finger off the power button.
• Press the power button to see your iPhone turn off and back on. Meanwhile, this is when your iPhone will clean up the RAM, freeing space on your phone.
• Restart your iPhone and see a complete change in the performance of your iOS.

Additional Tips to Get More RAM

If you are mentally drained keeping up with the RAM situation on your computer, follow these instructions:

1. Install More RAM

The best option for getting more RAM storage on your computer is to install more RAM. This will not be a cheap alternative, but it can be a massive boost to system performance. People who work remotely, such as freelancers or gamers who need a good amount of RAM to ensure smooth operations, can always choose to install more RAM on their CPU. 

It depends on your computer’s requirements and how much you can afford, but RAM is inserted as chips on your motherboard in your CPU. 

2. Check And Eliminate Malware

If you haven’t installed a premium FastestVPN app on your device and have been visiting third-party websites, your computer could have malware. Malware is one of the reasons your device has started performing very slowly. To eliminate malware from your device, you must install a top-notch application that scans your device for malware and terminates every file, app, and program that includes malware.

3. Use Industry-standard RAM-Cleaning Software

Don’t download any malware-cleaning software without doing a bit of research on the software of your choice. Check the ratings, reviews, and features it offers to make sure your computer doesn’t get bumpy software full of malware instead of a malware-cleaning one. 

The Bottom Line

It gets on one’s nerves when the computer starts performing slower than usual, frustrating the user. So much so that one could even stop their daily tasks that require a computer and sit idle. However, you won’t be doing this since you already know how to clean up your RAM with our blog. Restart your PC, close background apps, and uninstall unused applications that are taking up too much space on your computer. Keep your background picture minimal so that it is optimum for your device’s performance. 

You can always install more RAM on your computer to increase your RAM. Also, keep clearing your device and browser cache every once in a while. Install FastestVPN on your PC today, and it will ensure that no malware ever enters your computer using its industry-standard protocols!

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