Would you like to improve your computer’s performance? Don’t worry, we won’t throw a bunch of options or a software at your face. However, one of the several methods to achieve this is by clearing the RAM cache of your Windows computer.
We will explain what RAM cache is and how to view it. Additionally, we will explore three quick ways to clear the RAM cache on Windows 11. So, let’s begin.
What Is RAM Cache
RAM cache refers to a small part of your computer’s Random Access Memory (RAM) that contains data related to frequently accessed files and instructions. Windows creates a RAM cache to improve your computer performance by reducing the time it takes to retrieve data.
A duplicate copy is stored in the RAM cache when you use a file or application. Consequently, when you require the same file or application again, the computer can quickly retrieve the data from the cache memory instead of accessing it from your storage device.
Why Should You Clear RAM Cache on Windows
Clearing the RAM cache not only improves computers performance but also has a range of additional benefits. Let’s check out each one of them one by one.
- Clearing the RAM cache is one of the best ways to fix application freezing issues on computer. Many applications freeze due to insufficient memory, but by clearing the cache, the application gets access to an ample amount of memory, eliminating the occurrence of freezing.
- Memory-intensive applications, such as games and photo editing apps, can experience performance issues due to a lack of memory. You can delete the RAM cache so that they get enough resources to work without an issue.
- Cached data, such as website files might be outdated. You can clear the cache data to allow your computer to store latest data in the RAM cache.
Things to Keep in Mind When Clearing RAM Cache
Like, anything else in this world, clearing the RAM cache also has its downside. Here are a few important points you must keep in mind when deleting the RAM cache on Windows:
- After clearing the RAM cache, your computer starts rebuilding the cache from scratch. Generally, this process has minimal impact on computer performance, but it can sometimes slow things down. This happens because the cache rebuilds itself with new data as you continue using your computer’s files and applications.
- As aforementioned, the RAM cache stores temporary data of frequently accessed files and applications. When you clear the cache, this data is removed. Consequently, you may experience a slight delay when accessing the same files and applications because the computer needs to retrieve the data from the slower storage devices instead of the RAM cache.
- When trying to clear the cache, it’s possible that some programs are using the cached data. Therefore, before clearing the cache, ensure there are no important programs running in the background. You must complete any important tasks beforehand and then proceed with clearing the cache to avoid any potential disruptions.
Now that you have a brief knowledge of RAM cache and how to view it, let’s check out how to clear it.
If you want to see how much RAM cache your computer has stored, you can do that using the Task Manager. Below is a step-by-step instruction to view the RAM cache on Windows 11:
Step 1: Press the Windows + X keyboard shortcut to open the Power User Menu.
Step 2: Choose the Task Manager option.
Step 3: Click the hamburger icon at the top-left corner.
Step 4: Choose Performance from the left sidebar and click the Memory option in the right pane.
Step 5: The Cached value displays the current RAM cache your system uses.
That’s how you find out how much RAM cache does your computer use. Let’s figure out ways to clear that number.
How to Clear RAM Cache on Windows 11
There are three ways to clear the RAM cache on Windows. Let’s explore each method one by one.
1. Clear RAM Cache by Restarting the Computer
The simplest way to clear the RAM cache is by restarting your computer. When you restart your computer, Windows closes all the background running applications, which automatically purges the RAM cache.
To restart your computer, press the Alt + F4 keyboard shortcut and choose Restart from the drop-down menu. Then, click OK to restart your computer. But it’s not wise to keep restarting your computer while you’re in the middle of something.
2. Clear RAM Cache Using Desktop Shortcut
If you want to clear memory cache within a few clicks, you can create a desktop shortcut for it. You can do that by following the below steps:
Step 1: Right-click on the desktop, hover the cursor to New and choose Shortcut from the context menu.
Step 2: Paste the following address in the location field and click Next.
%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks
Step 3: Give a name to the shortcut and click the Finish button.
Double-click on the newly created shortcut to delete the RAM cache. Note that if you have some applications with pending work open, this shortcut my force-close it and you may lose some data.
3. Clear RAM Cache Using RAMMap
Microsoft offers a tool called RAMMap for memory analysis to monitor the RAM cache and clear it. This tool can come in handy when you want to clear RAM cache without restarting your PC. Here’s how to download RAMMap and use it to delete the RAM cache:
Step 1: Download RAMMap using the below link.
Step 2: Right-click on the downloaded RAMMap.zip file and choose Extract all from the context menu.
Step 3: Use the Browse button to choose the location where you want to extract the files, and then click the Extract button.
Step 4: Navigate to where you have extracted the file and double-click on the RAMMap folder to open it.
Step 5: Double-click on the RAMMap file.
Step 6: Click the Empty tab at the top and choose ‘Empty Standby List’ from the menu that crops up.
Whenever your system runs low on memory, use the above methods to clear the RAM cache.
Optimize Your Computer
Whether you want to improve performance or eliminate memory-related issues, clearing your computer’s RAM cache can come in handy in various situations. There are multiple ways to do it; you can check them all in the guide.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
