The latest Windows 11 update ushers in tweaks to memory usage that should result in a notably smoother experience across the operating system, particularly for those with just 8GB of RAM. Microsoft has recently shared details of these changes, claiming you can expect an uplift in multitasking performance of as much as 40%.
These improvements build on other recent efforts by Microsoft to make its operating system more memory efficient, with the firm sharing in October 2026 that it had made Windows 11 up to 20% more responsive, while using less RAM. That brand highlights that boost again in its most-recent Windows blog, while also showcasing its claimed multitasking uplift in action.
Microsoft compared general multitasking performance on a Windows 11 build from January 2026 to the latest version complete with memory optimisations. The workload included opening 20 tabs in Microsoft Edge, playing a 4K video, opening large Word, PowerPoint and Excel files, as well as launching Outlook and File Explorer in sequence, without closing any applications.
The newer build of the operating system took about 20 seconds to complete the benchmark, while the older version was just a little over halfway through. Importantly, wait times between applications practically disappeared on the former, while the other often took more time to swap between programs or open them.
In addition to inherent operating system improvements, Microsoft is also trimming back how much RAM its first-party applications demand. The firm has managed to trim back the memory used by 365 Suite and Edge by up to 900MB, which should make everyday multitasking much nippier on memory-starved Windows 11 machines.
Through these changes, Windows 11 can now store an additional 2GB of active data in memory instead of having to frequently swap between RAM and your much slower storage. Considering that’s 25% of total capacity on 8GB machines, that’s no small feat. Furthermore, such improvements will help higher-capacity systems, albeit to a lesser degree.
We’re glad to see Microsoft continue to improve Windows 11, particularly in terms of memory efficiency given how expensive and difficult it is to move past 8GB for some users.
