Microsoft retuned memory compression for 8GB PCs, improving basic responsiveness by up to 20% and multitasking by up to 40%. Combined changes across Windows, Edge, and Microsoft 365 also reduce memory consumption by up to 900MB.
Key points
- What happened: Retuning memory compression for 8GB PCs keeps up to 2GB more data in RAM, improves responsiveness by up to 20%, and makes multitasking up to 40% faster
- Where savings came from: Microsoft 365 saves 360MB, widgets save 200MB, and changes including earlier Edge tab sleeping reduce growth in committed memory by up to 900MB overall
- What to watch: Further memory compression improvements, a shared web engine for Search and Widgets, and reduced hardware-reserved memory are planned over the coming months
The 2GB once pushed to the page file stays in RAM
On November 3, local time, Microsoft published an official blog post under Windows + Devices Executive Vice President Pavan Davuluri's name, detailing the results of memory optimization efforts begun in March (in Japanese).
At the heart of the improvements is retuned memory compression.
Windows 11 has long compressed infrequently used data and kept it in memory. Keeping it in RAM makes access fast, but compression and decompression consume CPU resources. Moving it to the page file on disk frees RAM but takes longer to read back. Where that balance is struck affects responsiveness.
Microsoft has retuned the criteria for compression and paging for 8GB PCs. Changing the thresholds for when to compress data and when to write it to the page file allows up to 2GB more active data to remain in RAM. Returning to browser tabs or apps left idle for a while triggers fewer reloads.
Alongside this tuning, a mechanism temporarily suppresses background tasks, such as search indexing, when user activity is detected. The design aims to let users open a browser quickly after an update restart even while setup work runs in the background.
Microsoft's measurements show response times for Start, Search, context menus, Settings, Snipping Tool, and File Explorer up to 20% shorter than with the January 2026 update. The measurements cover PCs with 8GB of memory and are based on telemetry, response data collected from actual user environments.
The multitasking figure is larger. In a lab test using an HP OmniBook 3 with 8GB of memory and an eight-core Snapdragon X Plus, completion time fell by up to 40% in a scenario that opened 20 Microsoft Edge tabs, a 4K video, large Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files, Outlook, and File Explorer in succession and kept them all open.
However, Microsoft itself specifies in a footnote that this 40% comes from an internal test on one particular device, processor, and scenario, rather than a benchmark. Real-world experience varies with configuration and usage.
Breaking down the 900MB
App-level savings are substantial alongside OS improvements. Combined changes to Windows, Microsoft Edge, and Microsoft 365 apps reduced growth in committed memory by up to 900MB during multitasking on 8GB PCs. Committed memory is the total virtual memory committed by the OS. This is based on Microsoft's September 2026 tests.
The breakdown highlights apps' contribution. Microsoft 365 improvements alone, covering Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook, delivered 360MB in savings, attributed to more efficient memory allocation and management overhead.
The widget change is straightforward. On PCs with 8GB or less, widgets no longer load until opened, freeing about 200MB of memory while closed. Measurements on actual hardware (in Japanese) also found significantly reduced memory usage after the 26H2 update. Given that widgets previously stayed resident even when the panel had never been opened, this is a sensible fix.
In Microsoft Edge, the interval before inactive tabs sleep was shortened from two hours to 15 minutes, freeing unused tabs' memory sooner. When Edge opens from Start or a link and is already running in the background, a new mechanism skips discovery and connects directly, making startup up to 33% faster (requiring build 26300.9818 or later and Edge 150 or later).
Microsoft Teams also has changes for 8GB PCs. Efficiency Mode is enabled by default, making startup up to 20% faster while reducing resource consumption during operation. When the PC is under heavy load during a meeting, camera resolution is automatically reduced to preserve audio quality. This reflects the judgment that uninterrupted speech matters more than video in meetings.
The benefits extend to third-party software. Microsoft says the WhatsApp Windows app showed double-digit percentage improvements in memory usage.
The 8GB ceiling
The improvements are substantial, but they do not mean 8GB of RAM can now handle everything.
Microsoft acknowledges in the same official blog that 16GB or more is advantageous for demanding work such as 3D modeling, advanced video editing, and large-scale data processing. These 8GB improvements target everyday activities—browsing, Office documents, and video meetings—beyond which physical memory capacity becomes a barrier.
The blog's comparisons between new and old PCs also require careful interpretation. Its finding that a 2026 8GB Dell XPS 13 is up to 94% faster than a 2021 8GB model in Cinebench multithreaded performance, a benchmark of 3D rendering capability, comes from Principled Technologies, a third-party testing organization commissioned by Microsoft. The 2026 8GB PC also reportedly performed roughly on par with a 2021 16GB configuration in CPU performance, web browsing, and AI processing.
These figures mean five years of processor advances can partly compensate for limited 8GB memory, rather than OS optimization alone nearly doubling performance. Even with identical memory capacity, a newer processor can substantially change the experience. Conversely, OS optimization alone may not dramatically transform an 8GB PC with an older processor.
The origins of these figures also matter. All the reported improvements come from Microsoft's own telemetry, internal lab tests, or third-party tests it commissioned. Running automated workloads on more than 20,000 PCs and measuring response times with high-speed cameras is certainly extensive, but no independent third-party testing is included.
What comes next
These improvements are an interim report on the memory optimization effort Microsoft announced in July (in Japanese). Plans for the coming months were also disclosed.
Microsoft plans to further improve memory compression algorithms. It will also share one web engine between Search and Widgets, and similarly between OneDrive and Photos, addressing the current duplication of four apps each carrying an engine. Today, Windows 11 apps using WebView2, a Chromium-based rendering engine, each launch their own instance, leaving multiple copies of the same engine consuming memory. Sharing them could theoretically produce substantial savings.
File Explorer, Notepad, Paint, and the new Search, built with WinUI 3, Windows' newer UI development framework, are moving toward designs that start faster and use less memory. Microsoft will also work with PC and chip manufacturers to reduce hardware-reserved memory, which GPUs' shared memory allocations and firmware keep from the OS. On an 8GB machine, the proportion reserved directly affects the user experience.
Cooperation with third-party developers will also continue.
How to get the improvements
Update to Windows 11 version 26H2, build 26300.9818 or later. Under "Settings" → "Windows Update," enable "Get the latest updates as soon as they're available," then select "Check for updates." Some improvements arrive through Microsoft Edge, Microsoft 365, Teams, or Microsoft Store updates, so apps must also be kept current.
Microsoft pledged quality improvements in March (in Japanese), added 8GB memory optimization as a priority in July, previewed it in October, and began the official rollout in November. Unusually for Microsoft, it delivered promised improvements within the promised timeframe. Even allowing for all the figures being Microsoft's own measurements, the modest, concrete approach of retuning memory compression and disclosing individual apps' savings deserves credit. For people continuing to use 8GB PCs, this update is worth installing.
Originally published on Joho no Todai. The Japanese original is here.
Top comments (1)
This is honestly good news. A huge number of the budget laptops I deal with still ship with 8GB, and once you've got a browser with a few tabs plus Teams open they really struggle. Curious if anyone's noticed the difference yet on older hardware, or if it's mostly a newer-machines thing.